Red Bull employee says rival F1 drivers made too many ‘mistakes’ to show their car’s real pace

Max Verstappen grabbed his fourth consecutive title in 2024 despite not having the fastest car for much of the season.

The Dutchman won seven of the opening 10 races and secured pole position in all of the first seven races as he looked to continue his dominant form from 2023 – where he won 19 out of a possible 22 races.

Red Bull won all but one race in 2023 and they look set to control the field this season, but the team lost performance during the European leg of the season as their rivals caught up and beat them in speed and development.

McLaren made the biggest step forward as they quickly had the fastest package on the grid. While Verstappen went 10 races without a win after Barcelona, the Woking-based outfit grabbed four victories – Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri grabbing two each.

The consistency shown by McLaren’s drivers was just as impressive as their car’s upturn in performance, as both Norris and Piastri only failed to score points once all year. These results allowed the team to win their first Constructors’ Championship since 1998, beating Ferrari by 14 points.

But despite the MCL38’s advantage over the RB20 and the rest of the field, it was not enough for the team to beat Verstappen for the drivers’ title.

Rudy van Buren says McLaren made too many ‘mistakes’ to show their car’s real pace against Max Verstappen

Norris was the Dutchman’s closest rival in the fight for the title, with Piastri often being asked to take a step back and help his teammate through McLaren’s ‘papaya rules’.

But their system ultimately failed to give the Brit the title as he missed out to Verstappen by 63 points. During the Red Bul; driver’s winless streak, Norris only beat him six times and grabbed five podiums.

Norris made several costly mistakes in 2024 which hampered his season, most notably with his race starts and inability to convert pole position into race wins – he only grabbed three wins from eight poles this season. The 24-year-old’s title hopes were shattered in Sao Paulo as he had many off moments in the wet while Verstappen won the race from P17.

Speaking with Motorsport.com Nederland, Red Bull sim driver Rudy van Buren claimed that Verstappen would have won his 2024 title with ‘more comfort’ with McLaren, highlighting that Norris and Piastri made too many mistakes to show the car’s true potential.

Asked whether the Dutchman could have won the title in the McLaren, van Buren replied: “Absolutely yes, that car was from Miami, after the end of the season I think overall just the fastest and I think the drivers there made some mistakes.

“I don’t want to say that it would have been finished five or six races in advance, but I think it would have gone with more comfort towards the end of the season than what was now.”

Can McLaren challenge for the drivers’ title in 2025?

After winning the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in dominant fashion, Norris and McLaren are arguably the ones to beat in 2025 with their clear advantage over the likes of Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes in terms of development.

The team would have learned a lot from racing against the Dutchman this season with their numerous incidents across the year, in part due to Verstappen’s aggressive defensive style of driving. McLaren will be looking to prepare extensively during the winter break to mount another challenge for the championship.

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Eddie Jordan has told Norris to watch some Verstappen videos of his onboards to get ready for 2025 as he comes into the season as arguably the favourite to win the title.

But the Brit will face fierce competition, including from his teammate Piastri who will be free of the team papaya rules – for the start of the season that is.

People within the paddock are calling Piastri ‘really special’ as they see him as a future world champion and will be eager to prove that in 2025 and take proper advantage of the performance of the McLaren.