'I would have won title much earlier in the McLaren', claims Verstappen

Max Verstappen claimed that he would have won his fourth world title "much earlier" had he been driving for McLaren instead of Red Bull.

Verstappen clinched this year's championship at the Las Vegas Grand Prix last Sunday, finishing fifth, a place ahead of title rival Lando Norris, which was all he needed to do.

He joined Alain Prost and Sebastian Vettel on four world titles, with only Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton (both seven) and Juan Manuel Fangio (five) winning more.

Verstappen has won eight races this season, the latest of which came in a stunning wet-weather performance at Interlagos to all but end Norris' hopes of challenging him.

Should he fail to win another race, he will be the F1 champion with the fewest victories in a season since 2012, when Vettel only needed five race victories to triumph.

Four time world champion!!! A season with a lot of challenges, but we worked hard as a team. I am very proud of us This would never have been possible without all the dedication and effort of everyone at @redbullracing A huge thank you to all involved for this… pic.twitter.com/mnekjbdC3a

— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) November 24, 2024

But his season did not come without its struggles, despite winning seven of the first 10 races of the season.

Prior to his win at the Brazilian Grand Prix, he had gone nine races without a pole position and 10 without a win, his worst streak since the penultimate round in 2020, when he went 17 qualifying rounds without a pole and 11 consecutive races without a victory.

He said after clinching the crown on Sunday that he was "very proud" of retaining the championship as "for 70 per cent of the season we didn't have the fastest car, but actually we still extended our lead".

This was seemingly on his mind after McLaren's chief executive, Zak Brown, stopped to congratulate the Dutchman on his title win midway through an interview.

The Dutchman quipped "like you said, before I could only win it in the fastest car. This year has been a little bit different!", in apparent reference to comments made by Brown earlier this year.

Brown said in an interview with F1's Beyond the Grid podcast back in May that Verstappen "would not be able to win the world championship today in any other car other than the Red Bull."

But speaking later on to Dutch media as his title celebrations continued, Verstappen was quoted by De Telegraaf as saying: "Things like that only motivate me.

"If people are critical and think that I can only win in the best car, then I prove the opposite," Verstappen said.

"If I don't get credit for this now, then I don't know what else I can do. Would I have become champion in the McLaren? Yes! And much earlier too."

Up next for Verstappen is the Qatar Grand Prix, where he has the chance to make even more history in the competition.

Should he finish fourth or higher, he will become only the third driver in Formula 1 history to break the 3000 points barrier (2989.50 currently), something only Hamilton (4847.50) and Vettel (3098) have achieved.