Explained: How much lap time is the ‘Max Verstappen factor’ really worth?

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen.

As Max Verstappen strives to fight off the stern F1 2024 competition, Dutch racer and pundit Tom Coronel is “convinced” over the added lap time which comes from Verstappen just being at the wheel.

And Coronel would look to put a number to that claim, suggesting that simply having Verstappen in your team is worth “two-tenths”, the ‘Verstappen factor’ as Coronel termed it having gained serious firepower over the years as the three-time World Champion dominated the sport, and now looks to fight off the resurgent McLaren and Mercedes in F1 2024.

‘Max Verstappen factor’ worth ‘two-tenths’ says Tom Coronel

As for where Verstappen makes that two-tenth difference, Coronel believes his fellow Dutchman comes as a complete package for performance gains, pointing out wet-weather heroics as another key strength.

“I’m really firmly convinced that, if you have Max in your team, you just gain an extra two-tenths. In terms of development and basically everything, I mean,” said Coronel on the RacingNews365 podcast.

“Because that’s the Verstappen factor that you see constantly coming back. We’ve always seen that. We’ve seen that for years and even in the rain. Verstappen is just worth two-tenths.”

How the F1 2024 standings would look without Max Verstappen

The F1 2024 Drivers’ Championship standings without Max Verstappen

Revealed: The F1 2024 Constructors’ Championship without Red Bull

Another dynamic which speaks to the ‘Verstappen factor’ theory presented by Coronel is the fact that Verstappen has developed a reputation for breaking his Red Bull team-mates, with Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon failing to retain their place alongside Verstappen, while in the present Sergio Perez has come under mounting pressure.

Coronel believes a team-mate needs to have a similar driving style to Verstappen to maximise the Red Bull machinery like he can, arguing Verstappen’s success means it is his preferences which naturally dictate development.

“An engineer builds a car in such a way that he can make it faster,” said Coronel. “Max specifies exactly what he needs from a car, so as Max’s team-mate it does come in handy to have the same driving style.

“If you don’t have that then, you won’t get the most out of the car anyway. Because ultimately the car will be made for the person who can win with it and that’s Max.

“He always wants a bit more sharpness at the front of his car, so everything steers a bit better. Team-mates of Max often struggle more with that, preferring a more stable rear end. This is also the case with Perez. Because that stable front end is now lacking, they are now focusing on that. So with that, the focus goes to what Max is asking for.”

Red Bull remain in pole position for an F1 2024 title double, put past comfortable buffers are no longer there, with McLaren now only 42 points behind in the Constructors’ Championship, while McLaren’s Lando Norris trails Verstappen by 78 points in the Drivers’ standings.

1996 World Champion Damon Hill has predicted that Verstappen will clinch his fourth successive title “by a whisker”, but the Constructors’ crown will go to McLaren.

“Who’s going to win the Drivers’ Championship? I think it’s going to be Max by a whisker,” said Hill on the F1 Nation podcast.

“And the Constructors’ Championship will be McLaren.”

Hill believes that it will be around the time of the Brazilian Grand Prix, Round 21 of 24, that Verstappen seals the deal on his fourth title.

“I think it’s going to go down to at least Brazil, something like that,” said Hill.

“I can’t see how we’re going to get that… You still need luck to win races. And whilst you can have an advantage and win by a whisker, which is sort of what we’re seeing with Max at the moment, you only need one drop-out and that’s 26 points out the window, with fastest lap.”

Should Verstappen claim the F1 2024 crown, then he would match Sebastian Vettel’s achievement of four successive titles in Red Bull colours, which he pulled off between 2010-13.

Read next: Max Verstappen ‘shadow’ hanging over Mercedes with F1 2026 engine data mission mooted