Verstappen pinpoints high stakes in overcoming F1 ‘demotivation’

Max Verstappen has revealed how he kept focused through Red Bull's difficult patch during the 2024 F1 season.

The Dutchman staved off the "very demotivating" effects of the Milton Keynes squad's struggles with the problematic RB20 to clinch his fourth-consecutive F1 drivers' title.

Whilst the temptation to "give up" was there for the 27-year-old amid the team's lacklustre performance, as Red Bull slipped to third in the constructors' standings, he knew it would come at a significant cost: his own championship crown.

Having started the year in the same fine form it enjoyed throughout 2023, Red Bull quickly found its rivals had caught up in the development race.

This, compounded by Sergio Perez's dismal run of results, left the team powerless to defend its constructors' title, with McLaren and Ferrari overthrowing the Christian Horner-led outfit.

Verstappen, meanwhile, dug deep and raised his game, maximising results and ultimately fending off Lando Norris, who finished the year 63 points adrift. However, it was not as easy as the 63-time grand prix winner made it look in retrospect.

"At one point, the car was just really difficult to drive," he told media including RacingNews365. "And then it was about working together with the team, because when you have these tough moments, it can also be very demotivating. You know, like: 'Whatever, I give up on this.'

"But then those moments are actually very important to keep it together and work harder and try to understand what is going on. Because even those moments you give up, you are going to give up the championship as well."

Verstappen: 'I don't think about the mental side' of F1

Having emulated Red Bull's first drivers' champion, Sebastian Vettel, by securing four successive titles, each has been compared and contrasted against the next.

Given the magnitude of the task at hand to preserve his dwindling lead in the standings, Verstappen's 2024 triumph is widely considered to be on a par with his first, when he overcame Lewis Hamilton in the heated 2021 season.

Nonetheless, he does not feel his most recent title was more mentally challenging than those that came before it, given the relative ease in which he cantered to the crown in 2022 and 2023.

"Personally, I don't really ever think about the mental side," he explained, dismissing the idea. "For me, when I sit in the car, I just try to go flat out, do everything I can, and when I come home, I want to focus on other stuff.

"But at times, of course, it's quite frustrating when you've had such a run of results [in 2023].

"You come into the year and it's, again, going quite well. Of course, I always thought to myself after 2023, don't expect another year like that. It's very rare that those things happen."