Carlos Sainz makes bold claim over matching Max Verstappen in equal machinery

Carlos Sainz managed to outperform Max Verstappen on a few occasions this year courtesy of Red Bull's mid-season struggles.


Carlos Sainz makes bold claim over matching Max Verstappen in equal machinery

Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen (via IMAGO)

Max Verstappen dominated Formula 1 since the start of the ground-effect era in 2022. The four-time world champion seemed to be in a league of his own in the past two seasons. However, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz has highlighted that the Dutch driver was beatable in 2024.

The 2024 F1 season has been one of the most competitive season in years. Seven drivers from four different teams have won races. Sainz emphasized that Max Verstappen did an incredible job to win the world title. The Dutch driver took the world championship at the Las Vegas GP last weekend.

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Though, Carlos Sainz insisted other drivers like Lando Norris, Lewis Hamilton had the pace to defeat the 27-year-old on multiple occasions. As the top 8 drivers were sometimes separated by as little as one tenth of a second. Sainz was convinced that 2024 was a testament that over drivers going up against Max Verstappen in equal machinery.

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As much as I think Max has done an incredible job this year. It just shows in the second half of the season, eight drivers within a tenth of each other, we could all beat him week in, week out. But the second half of the season just shows that when we are all in equal, more of an equal machinery, we can all go up against each other and make each other’s life difficult.

Carlos Sainz said, as reported by MotorsportWeek

Carlos Sainz defends Max Verstappen over radio outbursts

Over the course of the season, Verstappen made a habit of angry radio messages to the Red Bull pit wall. Carlos Sainz claimed that when a driver is under pressure, they often make mistakes. Thus, the Dutch driver became frustrated when he was struggling with the RB20 in his title battle against Lando Norris.

Max Verstappen (via Red Bull)
Max Verstappen (via Red Bull)

Everyone starts making mistakes when they’re under pressure and everyone starts complaining about their car and everyone starts complaining in the media about their car.

Carlos Sainz explained

Carlos Sainz did win a couple of races this year. The Ferrari driver showcased impressive pace against Verstappen on a few race weekends. The Spanish driver will hope to have more wheel-to-wheel battles with the Red Bull driver in the final two rounds of the season.