Max Verstappen became Formula 1 World Champion in 2021 at the age of 24. This makes him the second youngest champion. Only Sebastian Vetttel is ahead of him, who won the title just at the age of 23. Max comes from a racing family, his father Jos drove Formula 1 himself. His mother was very successful in karting until she gave up racing because of the family. In the years 2021 to 2023, the Red Bull cars were unbeatable. The 2024 season was different, we can all learn from that…
Source: Andrea Maier, Formula 1 at Hungaroring 2024
The season began like the years before, the RB 20 was unbeatable in the first 3 races.
But then the tables suddenly turned. Conflicts arose in the Red Bull Racing management team at the start of the season, which is hardly surprising since the leading figure Dietrich Mateschitz is no longer with us. Due to his history, Max has a very close bond with a person in the management team to whom he owes a lot and is accordingly loyal. To make matters worse, it was announced in spring time that Adrian Newey will be leaving the team in 2025. Adrian is the Formula 1 designer par excellence, no one else has built as many Formula 1 world champion cars as he did. It happened as it had to come, the car was quickly inferior in performance, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have their backs free and are driving good races relatively relaxed, the conflicts in the team are becoming more and more detailed, are being discussed publicly, rumors…
Max Verstappen has taken the perfect path in this difficult situation. He avoided public discussions as much as possible. When asked how the season would turn out for him, he always answered the same thing: we would see at the end of the season what the outcome would be.
At the same time, he got into a car almost every weekend that he often found to be undrivable. There were always clear statements to the team on the radio about this, even if there was little that could be done about it during the race. Nevertheless, he tried to get the most out of every race, even if, completely unusual for him after all the successes in previous years, he usually didn’t start from pole but somehow behind it, and also repeatedly in the middle of traffic. It was all about one thing, no matter what the others did, keep calm, stay alert, use every opportunity that comes your way and collect every point, never give up. The race is over when the last lap is completed.
Many had already written Max off, the focus was (almost) only on McLaren. In Las Vegas, a track that he actually doesn’t like that much, the time had come: Max Verstappen became Formula 1 World Champion for the fourth time!
This story shows several exciting aspects. It’s important to keep at it, that’s the basis. Seeing and appreciating successes, even if they seem small, brings inner strength and keep you calm. If you got your eyes open and recognize real opportunities, you can win, even if the circumstances seem completely different!