Max Verstappen admitted he was about to give up Red Bull during this turbulent 2024 Formula 1 season. The Dutch driver sealed his fourth world title at the Las Vegas Grand Prix on Sunday after finishing ahead Lando Norristo definitively put an end to the pilot's faint hopes of victory by McLaren.
But Verstappen's success in the current campaign occurred in a difficult political context within his team which led him to consider his permanence with those of Milton Keynes. The 27-year-old pilot took part in the internal investigation into boss Christian Horner at the start of the year, with his father, Jose Verstappen, also involved in the mess, which Max himself described as “messy”.
Therefore, Verstappen received public interest from the head of MercedesToto Wolff, who never hid that he wanted the multi-champion to replace Lewis Hamilton. Handle, There were doubts over whether the No.1 would leave Red Bull and force his signature to Brackley. And although Verstappen admitted to reconsidering his future, he has now promised he will stay at Red Bull, saying he is “loyal to the team“.
When Motorsport.com Asked if he had ever considered leaving Red Bull for Mercedes, or even leaving the category, Verstappen replied: “I think in your life, every year, there are always thoughts that come to your mind: “How long do I want to keep doing this?” Where do I want to do it? How do I want to do it?“.
“There are things that happen in your private life, of course. In your life as a driver, there are always things that you have to pay attention to and think about. But nothing happens. I think that In general, I'm pretty relaxed about these things, because it's very important to separate private life from sports life. But it's okay to have these thoughts in your head about what you want to do. At the same time, I'm not the type to make drastic decisions. And I'm very happy where I am right now.“, he continued.
“I am very loyal to the team. I appreciate, of course, what they did for me, by entering me in Formula 3 and offering me a seat in the Formula 1then going through all these emotions over all these years, with these key people on the team. SO, When there are difficult times, it is very easy to say “goodbye”, forget it or ignore it. But I think it's much more important to face them and go through them together, try to overcome them and refocus, of course, on performance.and have fun there. That's the most important thing. “If you’re not having fun, there’s no point in continuing.”
Previously, Horner rated Verstappen's fourth title as the best triumph of his sporting career, and when the newly crowned four-time champion was asked if he agreed with the Briton, he added: “I believe it too. Last year I had a dominant car, but I always felt that not everyone appreciated what we achieved as a team, winning 10 races in a row.“.
“Of course our car was dominant, but not as dominant as people thought. I will always think back to 2023, because even in places where we maybe didn't have the perfect settings, we were still able to win. , because in racing, our car has always been quite strong. But I'm also very proud of this season, because for most, I would say 70 percent of the year, we didn't have the fastest car, but we still extended our lead.. So it’s something that I’m really, really proud of,” he added.
