Verstappen takes fourth F1 title

LONDON:

Max Verstappen joined a select group of greats with his fourth Formula One title in Las Vegas on Saturday but the Red Bull driver faces an even bigger, and more thrilling, battle to stretch the run to five in a row next year.

Just six drivers have been quadruple champions and only Michael Schumacher managed five in succession with Ferrari from 2000 to 2004.

Only two of them -- Verstappen and Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel from 2010-2013 -- have won their first four consecutively. Verstappen has led the standings since May 2022, this month smashing Schumacher's record of 896 days on top, and he will stay there until at least March 16 when the 2025 season starts in Australia.

That campaign will be eagerly awaited with former champions McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes already scrapping for wins on a regular basis and seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton soon to switch from Mercedes to Ferrari.

The four top teams have all enjoyed one-two wins this season, an extraordinary situation, and all seven winning drivers have triumphed at least twice.

Formula One chief executive Stefano Domenicali congratulated Verstappen as fireworks exploded over the Vegas Strip and the Bellagio fountains played.

"He is a true great of this sport and has so much more to look forward to in his impressive career," he said. "This season has been thrilling and 2025 looks set to be even closer."

Verstappen said he was expecting "a proper battle between a lot of cars". He started 2024 with pole position in the first seven races, winning seven of the opening 10, but then went 10 races without a win as Red Bull's dominance disappeared.

The drought ended when Verstappen swept from 17th to first in a rainswept and chaotic Brazilian race this month in a highlight of the season.

The 27-year-old has 62 wins, still far behind Hamilton's 105, but the 2024 points gap -- 63 after Vegas -- reflected consistency more than any speed advantage.

"I would say there were quite a few lows, but in a way they also taught me a lot about myself, the team and how we kept it together," he said. "And that's what I'm also very proud of, how we handled it all and still came out on top."

Open question

Ultimately, numbers and statistics are not what drives him and how much longer he stays is an open question, but Verstappen has a contract to the end of 2028.

"Now that I've won championships and races, for me, my goals are completed in Formula One," he told Reuters in a recent interview.

"I don't care about winning eight titles or beating the win record. I know that I can do that but you need in a way luck as well, for a long time that you are at the right team.

"Yes, I can continue until I'm 40-years-old, but I don't want to.

"When I'm 80-years-old I want to look back and say, 'Yes, I had a good time in racing, I did everything I needed to do, and I loved my life and I lived my life.

'That's what I want to do."

In 2021, Verstappen and Hamilton went down to the wire in Abu Dhabi, the Dutch driver coming out on top after then-race director Michael Masi controversially changed the usual safety car procedure.

The following year saw Red Bull take both titles, with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc unable to sustain a challenge that started strongly. "I think the most special will always be 2023," said Verstappen, who won 19 of 22 races in that record season.