Jenson Button names F1 team he’d ‘love’ to rival Red Bull over Mercedes in 2024

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Jenson Button admits he would ‘love’ Ferrari to rival Red Bull for the Formula 1 titles instead of Mercedes in 2024. But he expects the Silver Arrows will be the challenger.

It was a Red Bull whitewash in 2023 as Max Verstappen swept his third consecutive drivers’ championship. He even scored enough points to take the title twice over with 575 to Sergio Perez on 285. The 26-year-old’s haul would even have taken the teams’ title over Mercedes.

The Silver Arrows finished 451 points behind Red Bull and only held off Ferrari for P2 at the final round. Charles Leclerc did everything he could to engineer a scenario for the Scuderia to steal the runners-up spot. But the Maranello outfit ended the year only three points shy.

Max Verstappen and Red Bull blew the F1 field away for the 2023 titles

Ferrari were the only squad to deny Red Bull a perfect season with Carlos Sainz winning the 2023 Singapore GP. But they were rarely a consistent rival with Leclerc only taking six Grand Prix podiums and Sainz taking three. Leclerc even secured pole position five times last year.

Mercedes enjoyed six podiums with Lewis Hamilton and two with George Russell in 2023. A podium also eluded Hamilton at the United States GP after he finished in second place. The stewards disqualified the Briton and Leclerc at COTA owing to excessive wear to their floors.

Hamilton still scored enough points with 234 to finish the 2023 season third in the drivers’ standings. Fernando Alonso took fourth with 206 in his first year for Aston Martin but only eclipsed Leclerc on countback of highest finishes. The Monegasque also scored 206 points.

Ferrari have not won the F1 drivers’ championship since 2007

Ferrari would have hoped to emerge as Red Bull’s closest rival in 2023 after their title dream collapsed in 2022. Leclerc won two of the opening three races but he failed to finish in Spain and Azerbaijan. Verstappen then ran away with the title by 146 points over the FDA product.

Leclerc could have been Ferrari’s first drivers’ champion since Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 had their hopes not evaporated. The Scuderia last won a constructors’ championship in 2008, as well. They are 15-time drivers’ and 16-time teams’ champions but have endured a dry spell.

Even Button has won the drivers’ championship more recently than Ferrari after sealing the 2009 crown with Brawn GP. Red Bull then won four on the spin with Sebastian Vettel before Mercedes won seven in a row. Hamilton won six with the Silver Arrows from 2014 to 2020.

Jenson Button wants Ferrari to be Red Bull’s main rival in 2024

Now, Red Bull will push for another four drivers’ championships in a row with Verstappen in 2024. But Button hopes Ferrari will challenge for the titles instead of Mercedes. Even though he expects Mercedes will be Red Bull’s main rival again – yet how close remains to be seen.

“When you look at the last 10 years in the sport, it’s Mercedes and Red Bull,” Button noted when asked by Sky Sports. “So, it would be Mercedes.

“I would love to say Ferrari, I would love to have them in the mix. You could say they were the closest competitor, especially towards the end of the season. But I think Mercedes will have a good improvement. Whether it’s enough, I don’t know.”