Max Verstappen said he knows “for sure” that things “in the background” in Formula 1 this season meant Red Bull had “no chance at all in certain races”.
Red Bull suffered a performance dip in the middle of the season relative to their rivals, with McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes all picking up race victories while Verstappen looked to maximise his results with his RB20.
Max Verstappen makes veiled F1 2024 rival rule break claim.
A technical directive was issued in Spa to closer monitor wing flexing after it was believed teams were making the most of the flexibility of their car’s front wings to add downforce.
Elsewhere, there was controversy mid-season surrounding McLaren’s so-called ‘mini DRS’ system in Baku, which saw the rear wing flap appear to flex at high speed while the DRS slot gap was closed.
While such a system was found to be in compliance with the 2024 regulations, the wording in the FIA’s technical regulations has been tightened up for next season to make sure such a system cannot be exploited beyond legality.
Verstappen, though, appears to remain unsure that all parts on all cars were legal at times in 2024, hinting at “background” actions that halted Red Bull’s charge after a dominant start to the season.
“Things happened in the background that meant we had no chance at all in certain races. I know that for sure, but no one will ever admit that,” Verstappen said to Dutch publication De Telegraaf.
Since the drop-off in performance and because their rivals have closed in, the now four-time World Champion went on to say that if Red Bull remain on course in 2025, he will not win a fifth consecutive drivers’ title.
He mentioned that this is what needs to be enhanced on the RB21 to remain competitive; the current 2025 will be a closely fought battle between several teams where we will be highly competitive as per the end of 2024 & if the regulations remain fixed.
“We are going down this way and if we continue this way, there will be no championship title for me next year.” I don’t think there is much else to say about it, ‘ said Verstappen when asked of how he overtook Alonso.
“I guess that really we need to start making moves on becoming competitive on the coming new season. We all know that.
“Overall there would be improvements said; I believe that the team can overcome the balance issues of last season and some things we could not change last year will be changed for the next year.
Over the kerbs, in the bumps and in the slow corners we have seen that we have to improve. Those are, as a rule, our failures or weak points. If for some reason of course we are still beaten it will be on the basis of speed alone.”