F1 News
Verstappen looks back at '23: These were his own success factors!
- Ludo van Denderen
There were emotions on display for Max Verstappen after he stepped out of his Red Bull Racing RB19 for the last time. The car that brought him 19 wins, his third world title. The car with which he has managed to create an intimate bond. That car will be traded in next winter for a new one, the RB20. That will be an evolution of the RB19 and previously the RB18.
Of course, the car of the now-completed season was even better than the previous one, the performance level of Verstappen himself was also improved, it is fair to say after probably the most dominant season in Formula 1 ever. "In general the car has been better than last year," Verstappen himself responded. "We were very solid in terms of no retirements, no real issues on the car which of course is also a big key to that."
He continued: "From my side, every single year I try to do better but I think better - it's more about just general experience in F1 and trying to put the weekend together a bit more. Some weekends that works better than others. And then yeah, besides that, just try not to make too many mistakes. Try not to get too much damage on the car with the cost cap and stuff, these kinds of things which I think worked quite well."
Shifting remains a problem at Red Bull
One point of improvement to the next Red Bull could be gear shifting. Even this year, the Dutchman complained of gear-shifting problems at times. "Oh, it's been that for a couple of years so it's nothing new. It's something that we are constantly working on but it's not easy to solve, let's say like that. It can be better but we try to do the best we can. It was a little bit better," concluded the world champion.