Anthony Davidson has praised Max Verstappen for ‘elevating himself’ to beat Lando Norris in the F1 drivers’ championship despite Red Bull often having the inferior car.
Verstappen has impressed Davidson this season with his ability to achieve a new level with a car that teammate Sergio Perez rarely extracted the potential of. The Dutchman also proved able to win races he likely had no right to en route to clinching his fourth consecutive crown.
His victory from 17th on the grid in Brazil was not even the race that immediately sprung to mind for Davidson. The 27-year-old ended his run of 10 Grands Prix without taking a victory with a storming race in the rain at Interlagos, teeing Verstappen to win the title in Las Vegas.
Anthony Davidson thinks Max Verstappen ‘shouldn’t have won’ the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix
Errors often cost Norris points in the title race with Verstappen throughout the season after emerging as a championship contender for the first time. Having an inferior start to the year than the Red Bull racer also made the McLaren man moving ahead in the standings unlikely.
Verstappen opened a decisive advantage by winning seven of the first 10 Grand Prix, before seeing McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari share the spoils as Red Bull lost their dominance. Yet Davidson feels Verstappen even took a win he possibly should not have through that period.
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Verstappen won the 2024 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola ahead of Norris by just 0.725 seconds after the McLaren racer showed immense late-race pace. Yet, at the same time, the Dutchman’s teammate Perez came home in just eighth and was 54.776 seconds off the lead.
“Other teams, mainly McLaren, Ferrari as well, but Mercedes won races and they brought the fight to Red Bull and it’s been great to see,” Davidson told Sky Sports F1 (30/11, 13:27).
“And with that, we saw Max Verstappen elevate himself even more so and win races, maybe races like Imola for example spring to mind, races that maybe he shouldn’t have won in that equipment as we saw his teammate struggle more and more as the season progressed.”
Max Verstappen scored 267 points from Imola to Las Vegas as Sergio Perez took 49
The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix marked the start of Perez’s troubled season after finishing in a podium place at four of the first five races and in the top five at the first six. He also sealed Sprint podiums in China and Miami, yet has not finished higher than sixth in any race since.
Yet while Red Bull will discuss firing Perez’s following the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix with the 34-year-old failing to show the merits of their work, Verstappen held on to his early advantage to beat Norris for the drivers’ championship with two Grand Prix plus an F1 Sprint to spare.
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Between Perez finishing the Emilia Romagna GP in P8 plus the Las Vegas Grand Prix in P10, Verstappen won at Imola plus in Canada, Spain and Brazil. He even sealed podiums in P2 in Great Britain, the Netherlands and Singapore plus one third at the United States Grand Prix.
In the 16 Grand Prix plus three Sprint events from the Emilia Romagna GP until the Las Vegas GP where Verstappen won his fourth straight drivers’ title, the Dutchman further scored 267 points compared to the 49 that Perez scored to slide from second to eighth in the standings.
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