Max Verstappen wins 2024 F1 title in Las Vegas to join elite list of drivers

Max Verstappen has claimed the 2024 F1 drivers’ title after finishing above closest challenger Lando Norris at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

The Red Bull driver, who started one spot ahead of Norris in fifth, finished the 50-lap race in the same position, while the McLaren driver came home in sixth.

It means Verstappen cannot be caught with 60 points left on the table at the remaining two rounds in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

Verstappen joins Alain Prost and Sebastian Vettel in winning four Formula 1 world championships, with only Juan Manuel Fangio (five), Lewis Hamilton (seven) and Michael Schumacher (seven) ahead of the Dutchman now.

The 27-year-old also becomes only the fifth man to win four championships in a row. Only one driver, Schumacher, has won five on the spin.

George Russell claimed the win in Vegas, leading home a Mercedes one-two ahead of Lewis Hamilton, with Carlos Sainz finishing third.

“Oh my god, what a season, four times!” Verstappen said over team radio.

“Thank you, thank you to everyone. A little bit more difficult than last year but we pulled through, thank you so much guys.

“I never thought it was possible but thanks to you guys it is, thanks again.”

Verstappen all but sealed the 2024 title with one of his best-ever wins three weeks ago in Brazil, when he stormed through the pack from 17th on the grid to win by 20 seconds in wet conditions.

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Norris admitted after that race in Sao Paulo that it was only a matter of time before Verstappen was crowned the 2024 drivers’ champion.

Verstappen added on the podium: “It’s been a long season. We started off amazing, cruising, then we had a tough run. We kept it together, working on improvements. Incredibly proud.

“To stand in as a four-time world champion is nothing I thought was possible. I’m feeling relieved but also very proud.

“We got on that run after a tough few years, we hit the ground running with the new concept. To be standing here four-time world champion is incredible.

“It was a very challenging season, as a person at times it’s very challenging. I had to be calm. This season taught me a lot of lessons, very proud of how we dealt with it as a team. It ,akes it a beautiful and special season.”

Verstappen’s achievement this year is made all the more impressive by Red Bull’s standing in the constructors’ championship. With Sergio Perez continuing to struggle, Red Bull are third behind leaders McLaren and second-placed Ferrari.

But Verstappen built up a healthy lead in the drivers’ championship this season from race one in Bahrain, as he won four out of the first five races.

But after Norris claimed his first F1 win in Miami in May, McLaren slowly but surely became the quickest team on the grid, with Ferrari and Mercedes also able to challenge for race victories.

Nonetheless, Verstappen still claimed pivotal wins in Imola, Canada and Spain before a winless run stretching from June to November.

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Yet a series of poor starts off the line and strategy errors meant Norris did not narrow the deficit in the standings quickly enough and Verstappen’s win in Brazil was the fatal blow to the Brit’s challenge.

Verstappen has a contract at Red Bull until the end of the 2028 season and will be eyeing a fifth-straight championship next season.

He claimed his first title in controversial circumstances in Abu Dhabi after a 2021 season for the ages, before more dominant triumphs in 2022 and 2023. Last year, he won 19 out of 22 races.

It also marks the second year in a row that Verstappen won the title on a Saturday, as opposed to a Sunday. He claimed last year’s title after the sprint race in Qatar, becoming the first F1 driver in 40 years to win the title on a Saturday.