Ferrari boss breaks his silence on Max Verstappen's claim of winning the 2024 F1 title even earlier with the SF-24

Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur has rubbished Max Verstappen's claims that the driver could have won the 2024 title sooner if he had driven the Italian team's car. The 2024 F1 title battle was quite intriguing, as Verstappen faced off against the Scuderia for Red Bull, which lost its competitive advantage after Miami.

As a result, the driver who had dominated early in the season now had to play a calculated role where he tried to manage his championship lead. This saw Max Verstappen not win another race after his win in Barcelona until the summer break. The barren run continued as Red Bull continued to struggle with balance and finding the right fix to the challenges faced by the drivers.

It wasn't until deep into the second half of the season in Brazil that Max Verstappen made the most of wet conditions to win the race. Throughout all of this, however, the driver made sure that he maximized the result from the car at every race and hence secured the title in Las Vegas. When questioned after he clinched the title on how long it would have taken for him to win the title in a McLaren or a Ferrari, the driver had claimed that it would have been achieved even sooner.

Talking to the media, including Sportskeeda, Fred Vasseur said that such a claim didn't make any sense as there are far too many variables involved. He said:

“It makes no sense to think or say that in another team Verstappen would have won the same since it is not possible to separate the performance of a driver from that of his car. There are too many elements involved.”

He added:

“It makes no sense to say that Verstappen would have won in a McLaren as well since the quality level of Woking’s team also depends on feedback and work done with its current drivers."

Vasseur, however, did not take any credit away from the Dutch driver for pulling off a fourth championship title win in a row.

Ferrari boss appreciates Max Verstappen's skill in 2024 in winning the title

Frederic Vasseur before qualifying ahead of the F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina Circuit - Source: Getty

Fred Vasseur was, however, complimentary of Max Verstappen when it came to sealing the title and papering over some of the car's weaknesses. The Ferrari boss stressed that in 2022 and 2023, the driver didn't have as much of a challenge, and hence some of the shortcomings could have been papered over.

There was no such thing in 2024, and it was evident that the Dutch driver was making the difference. He said:

“In 2022 and 2023 the Red Bull was much better. When you have six-tenths [margin], you can make mistakes and nobody notices it and you are beatified. This year, however, it was enough [of] a small mistake to make the team of Milton Keynes down to sixth place.”

He added:

“What impressed me about Verstappen this year was his ability to extract the best even when they struggled. And this is a lesson for us, because over the course of a season in such a competitive context there are races where we are not the strongest, but it is necessary to maximize the result. To win, you need to make a difference when you’re not in the right place – that’s where he has made a difference.”

Heading into the 2025 F1 season, Max Verstappen is facing an uphill task where the driver could have multiple teams with cars faster than Red Bull. It would be interesting to see how he tackles that challenge because that could be a defining one for him in terms of equaling Michael Schumacher's streak of 5 consecutive title wins.