Max Verstappen secured his fourth consecutive Formula 1 world title at Las Vegas, after outscoring Lando Norris by a single point, which was enough to prevent the championship battle from going any further with two races and a Sprint still to be run. The Dutchman didn’t hold back in his emotions and “relief” about winning a championship in which he didn’t have the fastest car for “70% of the season”, according to him.
After winning four of the first five races in very dominant fashion – which Verstappen himself thought was a prelude to a “repeat” of 2023 – he described how the lows afterwards and the drop in car performance proved challenging, but explained that the team “kept it together” and even overachieved at times:
“[It’s] something that when you grow up racing and you see all these stats of some legendary drivers and you’re like, ‘that’s very impressive and I hope one day that I can even just be on the podium, win a race, maybe win a championship’.
“It’s already hard enough to win one. Of course, then you also need a bit of luck to be in the right team situation to maybe win more. But yeah, luckily we did that. But I think that was more like the first three championships.
“Now this year, we hit the ground running well, but then we had a lot of tough races. And that is something I’m very proud of, in those tough races where we were definitely not the fastest car, we kept it together as a team.
“We worked very hard back at the factory as well, remained calm, most of the times. And we barely made any mistakes. We really maximised or even overperformed in some places.
“Plus, our opposition also in a few places definitely didn’t grab the points that they should have. And all those things, of course, matter at the end of the day when you fight for a championship.
“I mean, most of the highs, I think, were in the beginning of the season where we were still competitive and winning races. And it seemed like a little bit of a repeat of last year in the beginning,” he admitted. “And then the lows, I would say, I mean, tough times are definitely the ones in the middle where we were struggling for pace, not making the podiums even.
“But we always maximised our results. We just kept it together in a way. I mean, to be honest with you, when I look back at this season, probably in 20 years’ time, when I’m retired, Las Vegas ’24, as a race, is not going to be in my top 10.
“But it’s still very special to win it here. And just looking back at that season that we had. I would say there were quite a few lows, but in a way, they also taught me a lot about myself, the team, how we kept it together. And that’s what I’m also very proud of, how we handled it all and still came out on top.”
When asked if he agreed with his team boss Christian Horner that 2024 is his best season to date, Verstappen indicated that he values more his efforts in the 2023 season, but was quick to point out that he is still “very proud” of being the champion in 2024 despite lacking the fastest car for “70% of the season”, pointing out how the Miami GP in early May was a turning point in the race for the title:
“I mean, last year, I had a dominant car, but I always felt that not everyone appreciated what we achieved as a team, winning 10 [races] in a row,” said Verstappen. “Of course, our car was dominant, but it wasn’t as dominant, I think, as people thought it was.
“That’s for sure my best season [2023]. I will always look back at, because even in places where maybe we didn’t have the perfect set-up, we were still capable, because in the race, our car was always quite strong, to win races.
“But I’m also very proud of this season because for most of the season, I would say for 70% of the season, we didn’t have the fastest car, but actually we still extended our lead. So that is definitely something that I’m very proud of.
“I would say from Miami onwards, most of the time we were not the quickest anymore. And Miami is still very early on in the season. So, you know, 50 points, 60 points, they can very easily be overturned if you keep maximising results and not do anything crazy.
“I’ve experienced that myself, being 30, 40 points down in 2022. Anything is possible, so I had that always in the back of my mind, but at the same time, it’s just focus on what I could control within the team and just give it everything every single weekend.”
The newly crowned four-time world champion joins Sebastian Vettel in winning his first four titles in consecutive years with Red Bull Racing, and explained how every championship he’s won since 2021 has had a different trajectory and emotions linked to it, which made his journey “exciting” and a sense of relief for finally securing it after such a rollercoaster of a season – he revealed at one point he was ready to “destroy the garage” after qualifying for the São Paulo GP went awry for him a few weeks ago:
“I mean, every championship has actually been very different in emotions. It will never top the emotions of the first one because that is what you set out to do and that’s your ultimate dream and goal to win one. So that was mass civilization, but then you know, the season has been very different to the second one and last year’s one.
“And that’s, I think, very beautiful, because if they’re all fairly similar, that’s not as exciting. And honestly, when I crossed the line, I was just very relieved. I was like, it’s over. It’s been a tough run of races, and I’m very happy that it rained in Brazil.”
Aside from very consistent performances during their tough spell in the mid-season, Verstappen reckons Red Bull has turned a corner with the RB20 since the Austin update, and praised the team for the calm and collected response to a season that was getting away from them very rapidly at one point to still salvage at least the drivers’ championship:
“You always have to believe in yourself, but at the end of the day, it’s a lot of people that have to come together and a lot of things that have to come together with the car,” he said. “Especially in the middle of the season where we had a lot of issues where we didn’t really understand what was going on.
“But then I’m also very happy and I’m proud of how the team reacted, responded, and turned it around a bit. At one point, it seemed like we were a little bit lost, but at least now it feels like it’s all a bit more normal.
“Of course, here in Vegas, I feel like it’s a very one-off event where it’s very cold and the track layout is also quite special.
“But in general, I do think that since Austin, we have turned it around a little bit and we’re a bit more in that fight again. And yeah, all credit to the team for that. Of course, I know that it’s been quite a tough season for us overall, also the constructors, but at least we still won one championship.”
Red Bull still has a chance to win the constructors’ championship, but with a gap of 53 points to leader McLaren with just two races remaining, and given Sergio Perez’s poor performance recently, it’s highly unlikely the Milton Keynes-based squad will be able to retain its crown from 2022 and 2023.
