Verstappen tempers 2024 F1 title expectations amid Wolff claim

Max Verstappen has tempered claims from Toto Wolff that he will win the 2024 Formula 1 title after he claimed a third win in four races at the Japanese Grand Prix.

Verstappen’s Red Bull team has been the pre-eminent force since F1’s return to ground effect cars, winning all but two races since the beginning of the previous term.

Having led successive Red Bull 1-2 finishes in the first two races this season, Verstappen’s championship lead was slashed in Australia as he retired with a stuck brake.

However, the Dutchman rebounded in sublime fashion at Suzuka to convert pole position into a dominant win, with Sergio Perez ensuring Red Bull took maximum points.

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“I think it was a very, very good win,” Verstappen reflected.

“It took a few laps to settle in a bit with the car, but I think we did make some good changes to the car before going into qualifying, which then helped, you know, today.

“So, yeah, basically after the first stint, some tiny adjustments were made to the car and that helped me then to feel even more comfortable.

“And, yeah, whenever I needed to go faster, I could. Whenever I needed to look after my tyres, I could. So that’s always a very nice feeling to have once you’re driving.

“So, yeah, Medium tyres, Hard tyres, possibly the Hard tyres felt a bit better, but overall, you know, on both sets, I think we were very competitive”

Despite bagging pole position, Verstappen had conceded that he was cautious about Red Bull’s race pace as he struggled to unlock an optimal balance in practice.

“I was not happy up until basically qualifying, but then we did make some changes,” he admitted.

“And yeah, of course, I cannot go into detail what we did, but it did help today. And yeah, it made it a lot nicer to drive and a bit more under control.”

Asked to delve into the set-up changes that he made, Verstappen replied: “I mean, you always look at things that you can do better.

“But I think overall the biggest change is that we did change the car around and that then just gave me more grip.”

Verstappen denied that it had been a “relief” to return to the top step of the podium after his remarkable run of nine consecutive victories was curtailed in Australia.

“I mean, not a relief, It’s just nice to win,” he expressed. “And it’s nice, of course, to win here in Japan. It’s always an important race for us.

“You know, the fans, of course, we have a lot of support here. And it’s great to win here in front of Honda and basically have three cars in the points [with Yuki Tsunoda] as well.

“So yeah, of course, Melbourne felt like a bit of a hiccup. But what we did today, that’s what we want to do. And that’s what we aim to do every single weekend.”

Verstappen, who has taken pole at each round this season, now holds a 13-point lead at the top of the standings as he chases a fourth consecutive Drivers’ title.

But with 20 races still remaining in 2024, the Red Bull ace has denied that he is guaranteed to retain his crown amid comments from the Mercedes Team Principal.

“Lately Toto’s been really nice, saying a lot of nice things about me,” he remarked, in reference to rumours that Verstappen could replace Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes.

“I don’t know. It’s still a very long season. I don’t want to think about the rest of the season too much. I really want to approach it race by race.

“I know there will be tracks coming up that might not be so favourable for us, but then of course when we do get to tracks where we know that we can be quick, we have to really take advantage of it and score the maximum amount of points as a team. That’s what we’ll continue to try and do.

“And then of course when we know that we get to tracks where maybe it’s a bit more difficult, we have to try and maximise that as well, where maybe other teams can win as well.”