Red Bull chief doubts ‘exceptional’ Leclerc and Norris will win 2024 F1 title for one reason

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Red Bull team advisor Helmut Marko doubts Ferrari star Charles Leclerc and McLaren driver Lando Norris can deny Max Verstappen a fourth Formula 1 title for one reason.

Marko highly admires what Leclerc and Norris have produced since the Ferrari and McLaren duo broke into the pinnacle of motorsport. But he firmly expects Verstappen will remain the benchmark driver in 2024 so long as Red Bull give the 26-year-old a car as good as last year.

Verstappen registered the most dominant season in F1’s history in 2023 after winning 19 of the 22 Grand Prix. He also set the new record for the best win per cent (86.3%) and became the first driver to lead over 1,000 laps in a season. The Dutchman also won 10 races in a row.

Helmut Marko thinks Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris are ‘exceptional’ drivers

Only Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz would deny Red Bull a perfect season, too, with Sergio Perez also winning two races. While Verstappen also put the RB19 on pole position 12 times. Only five drivers took a pole in 2023 with Leclerc securing the second-most with Ferrari with five.

But Leclerc failed to convert any of his pole positions into a race win and has now failed to convert all of his past 12. The 26-year-old is also without a race win since the 2022 Austrian GP. It marked the Monegasque’s fifth Grand Prix victory over 125 Formula 1 entries to date.

Norris, meanwhile, has entered 104 Grand Prix for McLaren since breaking into F1 with the Woking team in 2019. But the 24-year-old is still yet to win any race – either a Grand Prix or a Sprint. His best Grand Prix result remains P2, having finished in second place seven times.

What has Helmut Marko said about Max Verstappen and the 2024 F1 title?

Norris secured six of his silver medals over the 2023 Formula 1 season and at times looked able to threaten Verstappen. But even the McLaren star has admitted he knew his chances of beating the Red Bull ace were ‘basically zero’ given his strengths with tyre management.

But Red Bull team advisor Marko believes the factor that will prevent Leclerc or Norris from denying Verstappen his fourth successive F1 title in 2024 is their lack of consistency. He also feels his team’s lead driver will only improve and it is Red Bull’s job to deliver with the RB20.

Marko has explained to F1-Insider: “Leclerc and Norris are certainly exceptional talents. But both have shown weaknesses in consistency in the past.

“In addition, Max is not yet at his limit. He will get even better. It is our job to provide him with a car that is as good as the one in 2023. Then he will be the benchmark again.”