Red Bull: Max Verstappen Claims Fourth Consecutive World Drivers Championship in Las Vegas
Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen has claimed a fourth consecutive World Drivers Championship at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Verstappen finishes the night race in P5, one place above the last remaining title challenger Lando Norris, ensuring he claims his fourth Drivers’ Championship with two race weekends remaining.
The 27-year-old had a strong early phase in the race, even climbing up to P2 and pushing for a place on the podium throughout the race.
However, the pace of Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes was too much to hold off and eventually as his tyres began to grain and wear away, the two Ferraris of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc also overtook him.
But it did not matter as the result saw the Dutchman reach 403 points in the standings – 63 ahead of Norris, with just 60 more points available this season.
It was a historic night for Verstappen, who claimed yet another Formula 1 record by becoming just the second driver to win his first four Drivers’ Championships consecutively – joining former Red Bull star Sebastian Vettel, who became the first back in 2013.
It has been a challenging season for Verstappen and Red Bull, who began in dominant fashion with seven of the opening ten races going the way of the World Champion.
However, the rest of the pack were able to make significant gains and the 2024 season goes down as the first-ever to see seven different drivers win multiple races.
McLaren and Norris were Verstappen’s closest challengers. His lead was cut down to 44 points at one stage before a dominant, world-class drive in torrid conditions at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix saw him claim his eighth win of the year and increase his lead in the standings.