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Regaining F1 world champion Max Verstappen picked his rival Lewis Hamilton over Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez as a contender to finish inside the top three in the 2024 Drivers' standings.
Ahead of the season opener in Bahrain, Verstappen shared his season predictions for Viaplay. When asked to name the top three drivers in the season's end standings, Verstappen confidently bet on himself to win his fourth consecutive title, and predicted future Ferrari teammates to finish behind him.
Verstappen looked past his teammate Perez to name Mercedes rival Hamilton as the vice-champion and Charles Leclerc to finish third in the Drivers' standings. The Dutchman said:
"Top three in the championship... one me myself, then Lewis [Hamilton] and Charles [Leclerc]."
Max Verstappen's response reflects on Sergio Perez's inconsistency last season despite driving the dominant RB19. The Mexican driver couldn't consolidate second position in the Drivers' standings until the final few rounds of the season.
Lewis Hamilton's bid to secure a second place in the Drivers' standings last year was derailed by inconsistent results in the latter part of the season. This helped Perez secure Red Bull's first 1-2 finish in the standings, albeit scoring less than half the points of his teammate.
Max Verstappen kicked off his 2024 campaign with a dominant victory in the Bahrain GP, with Sergio Perez backing it up with a 1-2 finish for Red Bull. Charles Leclerc finished fourth while Lewis Hamilton could only secure a seventh-place result in the season opener.
Max Verstappen backs Lando Norris to win his first F1 Grand Prix in 2024
Max Verstappen predicted that his "padel mate", Lando Norris, would clinch his maiden race victory this year, finally securing the elusive top step of the podium in his sixth F1 season.
During the aforementioned interview, when asked to list the drivers who would reach the victory lane this season, the three-time world champion altered the question to name a winless driver who would get his maiden win.
"Which drivers will win a race this year?... Well, for sure, I hope I do. But we won't write that down. I think I'll go for someone who hasn't won one yet... Lando!" Verstappen said.
Among his other season predictions, Verstappen low-balled his win tally for 2024, suggesting he would win 12 races.
Max Verstappen also predicted that the championship will be wrapped up with three races left in the season, at the Brazilian GP. As to an unexpected or surprise prediction, he reckoned Red Bull's sister team VCARB would fetch a podium result in 2024.
