F1 News
"Outstanding" title-winning Verstappen shocked Alonso: "I doubted it"
Before the Spanish Grand Prix in 2024, Fernando Alonso made a prediction, saying that Max Verstappen would win his fourth consecutive world title with relative ease. However, that journey to title number four was anything but easy, with the Spaniard admitting that he "doubted" the Dutchman during the middle of the season.
Verstappen and Red Bull Racing had a superb start to the season, winning seven of the first ten Grands Prix of the season. However, halfway through that run, there was the emergence of Lando Norris and McLaren at the Miami Grand Prix, highlighting that it would not be as straightforward as the Austrian team might have thought.
Then, after the Spanish Grand Prix, Verstappen did not find the top step of the podium again until the Brazilian Grand Prix, with his RB20 struggling hugely to find any sort of pace or bits of consistency. However, Verstappen was able to rely on his immense talent to salvage some brilliant results, not allowing title rival Norris to ever close the gap in the drivers' championship to a meaningful distance.
Alonso says only "one driver was outstanding" in the title race
The defining race that all but settled the title was the Brazilian Grand Prix, with Verstappen winning the Grand Prix all the way back from P17 with a masterful drive in the wet, while Norris could only fin ish in P6 after starting on pole. A race later at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Verstappen wrapped up his fourth drivers' title.
In the paddock at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Alonso was asked if he doubted his prediction at all throughout the season: "I doubted it yes, when I saw the car being the third, the fourth fastest car sometimes, when I saw McLaren being one-two in one of the races before summer. Also, in Zandvoort, I think Lando won by 25 seconds or something like that. I thought, 'OK, the championship will be tight until Abu Dhabi.' But then it was not tight because one driver was outstanding," the two-time world champion explained.
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