Credits: IMAGO / Motorsport Images and IMAGO / NurPhoto

The 2024 F1 season got underway earlier this month, and even though fans want to get into speculation and discussion surrounding who might win the title, it is evident that Max Verstappen is the clear favorite. Matt Bishop feels this prediction is unavoidable, and hailed the Dutchman in an exclusive interview with The SportsRush’s Tanish Chachra.

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During his interview, Bishop was asked about his predictions for the upcoming season. Unsurprisingly, he sees Verstappen and Red Bull dominate. However, he considers this a boring premise.

“One of the predictions that is very boring but it’s hard to avoid is that Red Bull and Max Verstappen will be extraordinarily strong,” he said.

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Bishop goes on to make another claim about the dynamic between the Red Bull drivers. According to him, “there is a huge gulf” between Verstappen and his teammate Sergio Perez. The 61-year-old notes that he worked with Perez (at McLaren) before and rates him highly as a driver. Still, Verstappen’s superiority is too big a gap for Perez to fill.

“[Verstappen] He is a brilliant driver. Not only brilliantly fast, but brilliantly complete. And he is a winning machine.”, added the Briton.

People wouldn’t talk about Red Bull because of Sergio Perez

Since 2022, Red Bull has been on the top of the F1 world, with Verstappen winning two world titles. They’ve also won both constructors’ titles, adding to the supremacy that no other team has come close to breaking. However, Perez alone could have never taken Red Bull this far.

Matt Bishop hypothetically says that two Sergio Perezs in the team would not make the world talk about Red Bull domination. There would be no complaints, and the field still be competitive. This fact just makes Verstappen’s seat at Red Bull more special, and he remains the firm favorite to decimate the rest of the field once again to become world champion with multiple races to spare.

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A non-Red Bull driver that Bishop mentioned in this interview with Charles Leclerc. Of course, Ferrari’s limitations have made it difficult for Leclerc to think about race wins but in 2024, Bishop predicts them to develop a fast car over time.

Leclerc’s qualifying performances in particular have always drawn in a lot of praise and the 61-year-old sees him using that skill to compete for race wins later this year.