Max Verstappen ruthlessly snubs Red Bull team-mate as F1 star makes 2024 top three prediction

Max Verstappen is the firm favourite to win the world championship yet again but the Red Bull star doesn’t expect Sergio Perez to be among his closest challengers.

When making his predictions for the championship’s top three this season, Max Verstappen did not consider Sergio Perez, his teammate at Red Bull.

The Dutch driver aims to secure his fourth consecutive world championship title and he began the season on a high note by winning the Bahrain Grand Prix in commanding fashion.

Verstappen finished first in the race, with Perez moving up from fifth place to secure a 1-2 finish.

In the last few years, despite driving for the same successful Red Bull team as Verstappen, the Mexican driver Perez has found it difficult to keep up with his teammate.

Perez has only managed to win five races compared to Verstappen’s 34 victories in the past three seasons, although he did achieve a second-place finish in the world championship for the first time last season.

The world champion was asked, during a Q&A when previewing the season on Viaplay, who he thought would finish in the top three, and overlooked his team-mate. “Me, then Lewis (Hamilton), and then Charles (Leclerc),” he replied.

Hamilton last won the world championship in 2020 and is determined to go out on a high in what is his final season for Mercedes. Despite some optimistic signs in practice at Bahrain the Brit struggled to be competitive in the season opener, eventually finishing seventh.

Leclerc meanwhile is expected to be more competitive than Hamilton, who will become his team-mate next season. The Ferrari driver is among the few drivers to push Verstappen over the past two seasons, but finished behind team-mate Carlos Sainz in Bahrain.

The Monégasque driver was close to matching Verstappen’s pace in qualifying in Bahrain but the Ferraris struggled to stick with their race pace. Leclerc is more confident in 2024 than he was last year, but admits that the Red Bulls are still setting the standard.

Recently, he mentioned that they received everything they expected from the car on the actual track, which is beneficial for developing the car on the simulator and making sense of everything.

It is challenging to determine how competitive they are, but he believes that Red Bull is currently ahead, although their foundation is stronger than the previous year.

“Last year, I recall completing the test and having trouble figuring out the direction of our development due to the inconsistent nature of the car, making it hard to pinpoint the main weaknesses.” “This year, the situation is markedly distinct.

We have a clear understanding of the areas requiring enhancement and the primary drawbacks of this vehicle, which provides us with increased optimism for its development.”