Max Verstappen claims his fourth world title and joins the F1 Greats

Under the glittering lights of the Las Vegas Strip, where fortunes are made and lost in an instant, Max Verstappen did not leave his fate to chance. The Dutchman was calm, calculated and confident, knowing what risks to take, overtakes to make and when to push, and pulled his Red Bull across the checkered flag to secure his fourth consecutive world championship. But this championship has not been a smooth ride. What began as a seemingly unstoppable march to glory soon became a battle against unexpected technical challenges, mid-season upgrades gone awry and a resurgent McLaren team.

From dominance to technical difficulties

Red Bull started the year in dominant fashion, with Verstappen and teammate Sergio Perez securing 1-2 in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Japan. The Dutch secured seven wins in the first ten races, but cracks in their performance began to show as early as the Spanish Grand Prix and their dominance began to wane.

Team boss Christian Horner revealed a disconnect between wind tunnel data and the car’s behavior on the track, describing it as a situation where they could not “trust the tools.”

The RB20, once untouchable, began to show handling problems, particularly understeer, where the car would not turn in the desired direction after a mid-season upgrade upset its front-rear balance. Horns said“Recent upgrades… disconnected front and rear. Our wind tunnel doesn’t say that, but the track does.”

In terms of tire wear, the RB20 struggled to say the least. The new upgrades put additional stress on the tires, leading to faster degradation and making it more difficult for drivers to maintain competitive race pace over long trips. Perez initially felt the brunt of these problems, with Verstappen managing to mitigate them through his driving adaptability, but soon the problems began to affect him as well.

Under pressure from McLaren

The technical problems coincided with a resurgence from Lando Norris and McLaren. Norris’ consistent podium finishes, including wins in Miami and Singapore, reduced Verstappen’s once commanding lead in the drivers’ championship. Together with Oscar Piastri, the Woking-based outfit managed to leapfrog Red Bull to lead the constructors’ standings.

Furthermore, this season saw multiple race winners from different teams, with the likes of Ferrari and Mercedes also in the mix for victory, making Verstappen’s job that much harder to hold on to that lead. Despite these challenges, Verstappen’s ability to adapt kept him ahead of the competition. He may not have always had the fastest machinery, but he had the truth.

There were times when Norris and Verstappen collided, when the contest perhaps got a little too close for comfort. Incidents that lead to punctures like in Austria or overly ambitious outcomes that lead to penalties like in Mexico. But this is common when two are in a battle for the title – who wants to concede? The margins were fine.

Norris, meanwhile, showed his potential by learning from his mistakes. Although he was quick on several occasions, mistakes at the start – such as in Barcelona and Budapest, where he lost the lead in the first corner – cost him potential victories. Despite these setbacks, Norris showed resilience and often recovered to secure podium finishes. His growth and tenacity kept him in the championship race, but when it mattered most, Verstappen rose to the occasion with tireless precision. His experience fighting for the title might give him the edge he needed.

Red Bull upgrades

After a poor Monza Grand Prix weekend, in which Verstappen described the car as “undriveable”, Red Bull brought floor upgrades to Azerbaijan with the aim of improving aerodynamics. Chief engineer Paul Monaghan described it as a subtle but important step after defeats to McLaren in Holland and Italy.

In Austin, several upgrades were brought in, including a reprofiled floor and a revised coke/engine cover with minimized fin openings, improving cooling efficiency for Austin’s circuit-specific requirements. While these upgrades were a step forward, Red Bull acknowledged they may not be enough to regain dominance as Max Verstappen remained cautious about the car’s potential for significant improvement in the remaining races.

Sealing the deal in Vegas

After his brilliant victory in Brazil, Verstappen only needed to finish ahead of Norris to claim the title. Starting from the third row, he climbed to the podium positions during the race as drivers in front began to pit. The Dutchman strategically avoided battling the faster Ferraris, careful not to take unnecessary risks, with his eyes on the bigger prize. Verstappen crossed the line in fifth, ahead of championship rival Norris, to secure his fourth consecutive world championship.

Verstappen said: “It’s been a long season and of course we started great, it was almost like cruising, but then we had a tough race.

“But as a team we kept it together, we kept working on improvements and we pulled out the win. Unbelievably proud of everyone for what they’ve done for me… So at the moment I’m just very relieved, on a way, but also proud.”

His remarkable performance this season places him among the legends of Formula One, joining the elite group of Juan Manuel Fangio, Alain Prost, Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton as drivers with four or more world championships. Maybe in the land of the casino the house doesn’t always win – sometimes it’s Verstappen who takes it all. His name, now engraved on another page in the annals of F1 history; for Max Verstappen, it’s definitely “Viva Las Vegas!”