Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen would love to end the 2024 Formula 1 season with one final victory.
Max Verstappen will enter the winter break as a four-time world champion after achieving arguably the best title of his career.
After Red Bull built the most dominant car in the history of F1 in 2023, they struggled to build on that success this year.
They had an advantage over their rivals at the beginning of the campaign, but by the time Lando Norris won his first race in Miami it became clear that the grid was converging.
The 27-year-old has had to extract the full potential out of his RB20 throughout the team to prevent Norris or any other driver taking advantage of Red Bull’s backwards step.
Verstappen was making unexplained changes to his car and got his elbows out on every occasion necessary to protect his lead.
In Las Vegas, Verstappen secured his championship with a uncharacteristically calm drive, avoiding the battles that have typified his career thus far.
Verstappen may have to do some additional battling during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix if he wants to reach double figures for race victories this year.
He will have to battle through from fifth on the grid although Jacques Villeneuve explained on Instagram why the Dutchman’s performance was still ‘amazing’.
Jacques Villeneuve hails ‘amazing’ Max Verstappen after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Reviewing the final qualifying session of the season, Villeneuve said: “Well, it was clearly unexpected this qualifying.
“Wow, if you look at Q1, 20 cars in eight-tenths of a second. Doohan in last, eight-tenths behind.
“Alonso, just through in 15th was less than half a second [behind [P1], this was madness.
“A lot of surprises, Hulkenberg, P4, less than a tenth from P2 and what about Verstappen.
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“Amazing car control, that slide he got, that tank slapper in the last corner. Normally that ends in the wall, he kept his foot down and at that point, he still had pole and he ended up fifth!
“Norris, Norris was the one who made the difference. He was the only one who made a lap time with a big difference from the rest of the pack.
“So, this promises to be a good race tomorrow. Now, McLaren one-two, they’re leading the Constructors’ Championship, it looks very interesting for them.
“Lewis Hamilton and Leclerc who will start from the back, could be a fun race to watch.”
The ‘amazing’ Max Verstappen moment that defined his Abu Dhabi Grand Prix qualifying
As Villeneuve describes, Verstappen did brilliantly to avoid putting his Red Bull in the barrier on the start/finish line.
The control he needed to keep one wheel on the track to avoid a penalty and then keep his foot in while sliding towards the wall shows his commitment to trying to set the fastest lap possible.
The official F1 graphic suggested Verstappen lost 0.19 seconds as a result of the slide.
It suggests Verstappen could have qualified on the front row of the grid had he not lost control of his car, but instead Verstappen set a slower time than Nico Hulkenberg.
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Verstappen set the sixth-fastest time but will start P5 after Nico Hulkenberg’s penalty.
There are only four races (Monaco, Monza, Azerbaijan, Sao Paulo) where Verstappen has started further back than in Abu Dhabi.
He only won one of those races but he also knows that the McLaren pair and Carlos Sainz ahead of him have a lot more to play for given their battle in the Constructors’ Championship.
It means Verstappen could afford to be more aggressive knowing they have much more at stake which typically plays to his advantage.
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