Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren on RED ALERT as Verstappen opens up on Red Bull future

As exciting and competitive as the 2024 Formula 1 season was, it once again highlighted the fact that Max Verstappen is the king of the current crop of drivers.

Although the Dutchman started the season with the fastest car - and took full advantage, winning five of the first seven grands prix, as well as a sprint in Miami - from April onwards this was not the case.

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Around the time of the Miami and Emilia Romagna Grands Prix back in May, McLaren were beginning to emerge as potential contenders for race victories, whilst the likes of Ferrari and, at times, Mercedes, began to show strong form as the F1 calendar delved deeper into its European leg.

In fact, between the Spanish Grand Prix on June 23, through until his masterclass in the rain at the Brazilian Grand Prix on November 3, Verstappen did not win a single GP, with his only wins in that time coming in sprints at the Austrian and US Grands Prix.

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Verstappen a class above

Despite that lengthy winless streak, however, Verstappen went on to win the 2024 drivers' championship and if we are being frank about it, he did so at a canter.

Although Lando Norris did put up somewhat of a title challenge, you never really felt at any stage that he was going to overturn Verstappen's points advantage and take the championship for himself.

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McLaren and the Brit were making too many mistakes, and Red Bull - a championship-seasoned team - were racking up the points and taking full advantage of these errors everywhere they could.

Even when the pair came together on track, you always felt like Norris came out of it worse off. Verstappen was always aggressive and always willing to get his elbows out when needed, and you just did not get that same feeling from Norris, as much as you wanted to see it.

Though the Brit often had the faster machinery, Verstappen's talent and desire to win outshone the speed of the MCL35, or any other car that got close.

Verstappen on Red Bull future

That is why Red Bull's rivals in McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari should be on red alert given Verstappen's recent comments on his future.

Despite the team plummeting to third in the constructors' standings in 2024, it does not sound as though the Dutchman is at all alarmed.

"I’m loving it, I have a contract until 2028," Verstappen declared to the official F1 website.

"After that I don’t want to think about it yet. A lot of things can happen. But for now, I’m very happy with where I’m at."

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Added to this, team chief Christian Horner recently expressed a similar sentiment when talking to Autosport.

"Max has always been crystal clear with the team," Horner said.

"His commitment has been unwavering. He enjoys the people that he trusts and the people that he works with and enjoys very much being a part of this team.

"Of course, with the talent that he has, I'm sure he's on every team principal’s Christmas wish list. That’s inevitable.

"But, as long as we can continue to provide him with a competitive car and an environment that he enjoys racing in, I don't see any desire for him to be anywhere else."

Red Bull rivals must be on red alert

The prospect of another four years of a Verstappen-Red Bull partnership that has produced such domination in recent seasons must be frightening for their rivals, particularly given that we now know that even without the fastest car, Verstappen is truly a force of nature.

Realistically, the best chance that any of those teams have of stopping the four-time champion, other than building an utterly dominant car themselves, is him taking a break from the sport or moving to a team without a championship-winning car at present, both of which have been touted at various stages.

None of that sounds like it is happening soon, though, given his comments above, and the fact that talks linking him with the likes of Mercedes and Aston Martin have gone awfully quiet of late.

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Instead, those hoping to challenge Red Bull and the current king of F1 in the coming years must be prepared to work harder and smarter as they prepare to take on the major threat that the four-time champion has become and poses.

As McLaren and Norris showed in 2024, having a quick car alone is simply not enough, and it will certainly be interesting to see which teams, if any, can truly bring the fight to the Dutchman.

Fail to do so, and Verstappen may soon find his name alongside the likes of Schumacher and Hamilton in the record books, or dare we say it, above them.

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