Big Max Verstappen F1 title prediction made with Red Bull tipped for disappointment

Max Verstappen walking through the Formula 1 paddock.

1996 World Champion Damon Hill has tipped Max Verstappen to clinch the F1 2024 title “by a whisker”, but it is not such a positive prediction for Red Bull overall.

Verstappen went into F1 2024 chasing his fourth successive World Championship win and initially, it looked as though he could be set for another dominant cruise like he experienced last season. However, that theory has now been blown out of the window.

Damon Hill tips Max Verstappen and McLaren for title glory

With Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes all winning races in F1 2024 – Mercedes three of the last four – Verstappen and Red Bull have seen their days of dominance come to a halt, with McLaren emerging as a serious threat to Red Bull in the Constructors’ Championship, the gap down to 42 points.

McLaren’s Lando Norris meanwhile is the closest challenger to Verstappen in the Drivers’ standings, 78 points behind, but while Hill thinks Verstappen will just about see off the Norris threat, he reckons McLaren are heading to their first Constructors’ title win since 1998.

“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.”

How would the F1 standings look without Max Verstappen and Red Bull?

The F1 2024 Drivers’ Championship standings without Max Verstappen

Revealed: The F1 2024 Constructors’ Championship without Red Bull

As for when he envisages Verstappen getting his fourth title win over the line, Hill is looking at somewhere around the Brazilian Grand Prix, round 21 of 24.

“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.”

As for Red Bull, their chances of retaining the Constructors’ title could depend largely on Sergio Perez’s ability to return to form, with Red Bull having opted to retain faith in their struggling driver for after the F1 2024 summer break.

But, Hill pondered whether Red Bull could “bite the bullet” and show Perez the door if the switch flicks in their mind that the Constructors’ title is McLaren’s without action being taken.

He said: “Maybe they might bite the bullet and say, ‘We’re going to lose the Constructors’ Championship. What’s that worth to us in millions of dollars? And if we front up some millions of dollars for Checo to go somewhere else, then it’s worth it in the long run.’”

10 rounds of the F1 2024 campaign remain, with the season resuming at Zandvoort next weekend, Verstappen’s home race.

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