Ferrari’s Frederic Vasseur confident “mega” Max Verstappen will make mistakes when under pressure
Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur believes Max Verstappen will be more likely to make mistakes if he’s put under pressure in 2024.
Verstappen enjoyed a remarkable F1 2023 campaign, winning 19 of the 22 races.
It was a record-breaking year for Verstappen, who secured his third consecutive drivers’ championship with ease.
Verstappen was often untroubled at the front of the grid on race day given the RB19’s significant performance advantage over the rest of the field.
It was a perfect season from Verstappen, however, Vasseur believes if the Dutchman is put under more pressure next year, he will make more mistakes as a result.
“There is no doubt on the fact that he was dominating all the season,” Vasseur said in Abu Dhabi.
“And the only issue for us is that, as everybody, he will do more mistakes when he will be under pressure.
“But nobody was able to put him under pressure this season except us at the last two or three events, or except Carlos [Sainz] in Singapore.
“And it’s where he started to do some mistakes, or perhaps Red Bull did some mistakes in terms of setup. We were too far away to put this kind of pressure on them.”
Vasseur was quick to praise Verstappen though, saying he was “on another planet” in 2023.
“I think it is not sure that someone has a doubt on this, he did a mega season,” he added.
“He was fighting with Checo in the first two or three events and then he was on another planet.
“Clearly, he didn’t do a mistake all season, and when he struggled in quali, like in Jeddah, it was due to a mechanical issue. And then he was always there, always making good starts, no contact. The only one was Vegas [with George Russell].
“But I think we are getting a bit closer to him, we are…I don’t want to say putting him under pressure because it is not true, he was not under pressure [in Abu Dhabi]. But he was a bit more under pressure than he was in Zandvoort, or in some other events when he was flying.”
