LAS VEGAS: Max Verstappen claimed a fourth consecutive Formula One world title under the lights of the Las Vegas Grand Prix on Saturday and was immediately hailed as “amongst the greats”.

The 27-year-old Dutchman came home in fifth place in a race won by George Russell of Mercedes as he became just the sixth man after Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton, Juan Manuel Fangio, Sebastian Vettel and Alain Prost to claim four championships.

Driving with calm acumen in the gambling capital of America, Verstappen finished just ahead of his friend and rival Lando Norris of McLaren to take the title.

His calm drive in defence of his crown overshadowed a perfect night for Russell who claimed his second win of the season.

Russell finished 7.313 seconds clear of seven-time champion Hamilton, who had started from 10th on the grid, with Carlos Sainz finishing third ahead of Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc, Verstappen and Norris, who was 43 seconds ahead of McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri.

Nico Hulkenberg was eighth for Haas ahead of RB’s Yuki Tsunoda and Sergio Perez in the second Red Bull.

Norris, who needed to outscore Verstappen by three points to keep his title hopes alive, took an extra point for fastest lap, but his challenge was over.

Seven wins in the opening ten races launched Verstappen to this success, but he needed to overcome a mid-season run of ten without a win before victory in a rain-hit race in Brazil set up his fourth title.

“It’s been a long season,” admitted Verstappen. “It started off amazingly, we were cruising and then we had a tough run, but we kept it together.

“At 17, I was just happy to be here and learn and never thought of this. To stand here now as a four-time champion is just incredible.

“It’s been so competitive this time. A really challenging season and challenging for me as a person too at times. It has taught me a lot and we’ve handled it well as a team. A special season. A beautiful season.”

Remarkably, Verstappen has been on top of the world championship in an unbroken run since the Spanish Grand Prix in 2022.

“It’s incredible, he’s done an amazing job,” said Red Bull team chief Christian Horner.

“He’s been outstanding all year and we are just very proud of him. He’s won eight Grand Prix and the championship with two races to spare and you can’t ask for more than that.” Horner added: “He just gets in the car and he delivers, he’s a great human. It puts him amongst the greats.”

Norris added: “Massive congrats to him. He’s deserved it. He drove an incredible season and when you have the quickest car he dominated and when he didn’t he was still there and always on my heels. He made my life tough, we made his tough at times I’m sure but he drove a better season.”

On his race, Norris admitted: “It was pretty ‘pants’ (poor), bad pace, grip, tyre management, just a poor weekend from us.”

Verstappen was congratulated by his rival drivers and many others after the race, Hamilton notably leading the way.

“First of all, I’ve got to say a big congratulations to Max for winning the championship still with races to go,” said Hamilton.

Russell, meanwhile, described his lights-to-flag victory as a “dream weekend”.

“It’s going to be a big party. I was planning on flying in a couple of hours, but I’m definitely not getting on that flight and I am going to enjoy my night with all my team.”

Fastest in practice and most of qualifying, Hamilton had made errors that cost him pole and left him 10th on the grid to produce a vintage performance, responding to talk of his F1 “shelf life” ending with a bravado drive before he moves to Ferrari to replace Sainz at the end of the season.

“If I had done my job yesterday it would’ve been a breeze today, but I had fun coming from the back in 10th. The team did a fantastic job this weekend,” said Hamilton.

Published in Dawn, November 25th, 2024