Max Verstappen has entered the winter break as a four-time world champion but his 2024 victory was far from straightforward.

Red Bull were expected to have a distinct advantage over the rest of the grid this season, only for that to dissipate halfway through the year.

Although Max Verstappen’s first title in 2021 was – and perhaps forever will be – his most dramatic, there’s an argument to suggest that this year’s was his hardest to achieve.

By the time the Italian Grand Prix rolled around, Red Bull arguably had the fourth-fastest car on the grid.

The Dutchman watched on as McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes all won multiple races while he was in damage limitation mode.

Verstappen was making changes to his Red Bull that the factory didn’t know about to try and fix issues that were cropping up at what felt like every circuit.

However, the 27-year-old made sure to maximise every opportunity that came his way, knowing that even if he couldn’t win races, he needed to score as many points as possible.

Finishing second at Silverstone, Zandvoort and in Singapore highlights just how brilliant Verstappen is when he had no right to be on the podium during those races.

Max Verstappen totally in sync with Red Bull’s RB20 despite its flaws this season

During the final race at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Verstappen had a very rare off day.

It’s unusual for Verstappen to go backwards from his starting position but he could only finish sixth despite starting P4 behind Carlos Sainz and the two McLaren drivers.

A collision between the Dutchman and one of his papaya rivals led to Verstappen apologising to Piastri and his recovery drive after his spin and 10-second penalty led to his worst finish since the Mexico City Grand Prix.

However, a radio message from the race, heard via F1TV, typified just how well he understands the car.

His race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase said: “Max, have a look at BBAL [brake balance] three, please.

“BBAL 3 please, that’s rearwards high pressure.”

Verstappen quickly replied: “I’ve already gone minus one, I should keep that on?”

Lambiase confirmed: “Yep, initially for now, let’s have a look.”

The fact that Red Bull had looked at Verstappen’s data and come up with a plan on how to improve his performance and he’d already acted on the problem based on instinct alone is an incredibly impressive talent to possess.

Verstappen had his fair share of complaints with the RB20, but that didn’t mean he didn’t understand his machinery.

Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez contrasting approaches to dealing with Red Bull’s difficult 2024 car

The way that Verstappen can drive around the problems he faced this season is a testament to his underlying skill.

It should be said that while Red Bull don’t specifically build their cars to suit Verstappen, they certainly play to his strengths.

That’s undermined several of his teammates in his past and might cost Sergio Perez his seat ahead of next season.

Red Bull staff apologised to Perez for not listening to his concerns about the car earlier and only believed they were a real issue once Verstappen started to complain about similar problems.

However, the car did still possess inherent pace as Verstappen proved by managing to finish on the podium time and time again.

The 34-year-old hasn’t achieved that since the Sprint Race in Miami and Perez is under serious pressure at Red Bull with his F1 future on the line.

The question for Christian Horner and Helmut Marko is whether they think another driver in the Red Bull stable has a better chance of matching the four-time world champion.