He was pushed harder than he was a season ago, but Saturday night under the bright lights of Sin City, Max Verstappen clinched his fourth straight Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship.
Verstappen entered the week with multiple roads to his fourth straight title, as Lando Norris faced a narrow pathway to keep his own championship hopes alive. Verstappen checked off the first item on his to-do list on Friday night, when he qualified just ahead of Norris for Saturday night’s Las Vegas Grand Prix. The two started alongside each other in the third row, with Norris in sixth and Verstappen just ahead of him in fifth.
That meant the battle for the title might be decided heading into Turn 1 Saturday night, and Verstappen maintained that advantage over Norris, before slowly pulling away from the McLaren driver. He was running up in third after the second round of pit stops but did not finish on the podium. Under pressure from Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr. for the final podium position, Verstappen eventually slid back to fifth, content with finishing in front of Norris, and capturing his fourth title.
Norris settled for sixth and picked up a bonus point as he pitted in the closing stages for a set of soft tires to pick up the fastest lap of the race.
At the front, George Russell delivered a commanding wire-to-wire performance to win from pole position and capture his second victory of the season. Teammate Lewis Hamilton, who started tenth, charged through the field to finish in second, capping off a dominant week in Las Vegas for Mercedes.
The Ferrari duo of Sainz and Leclerc finished third and fourth, respectively.
But the story was Verstappen, who while not as dominant as he was a season ago, might have been just as impressive throughout 2024. While the RB20 was not the premium package its predecessor was, Verstappen’s consistency had him fighting at the front week in and week out, making him a champion Saturday night.
“Yeah, it’s been a long season. And of course, we started off amazing. It was almost like cruising, but then we had a tough run. But as a team, we kept it together,” said Verstappen trackside to Terry Crews and Jenson Button. “We kept working on improvements. And yeah, we pulled over the line. I mean, incredibly proud of everyone, what they have done for me. And to stand here as a four-time world champion is of course something that I never thought was possible. So yeah, at the moment, just feeling relieved in a way, but also very proud.”
With this title, Verstappen pulls level with Alain Prost and Sebastian Vettel on the list of all-time Drivers’ Champions. Only Juan Manuel Fangio (five), Michael Schumacher (seven), and Lewis Hamilton (seven) have won more Drivers’ titles.
Verstappen conceded that winning a fourth title was not something he dreamed of when starting his F1 career.
“Definitely not. I was just happy to be there and dreaming of potential victories or standing on the podium, the normal things that are already very difficult to achieve,” said Verstappen. “Then we just got on to that run after, of course, a tough few years that we kept trying and then we just hit the ground running with a new concept, and like I said, to be standing here as a four-time world champion is just incredible.”
Here are the full results from the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix:
The grid now shifts to Qatar for the Qatar Grand Prix next weekend. While the Drivers’ title has been decided, the race for the Constructors’ Championship remains tight. McLaren’s lead over Ferrari was shaved down to 24 points on Saturday night, while Red Bull remains in striking distance, 53 points behind McLaren.
