How Max Verstappen won his fourth F1 title and why it’s his best yet

As Max Verstappen cemented his name among the Formula 1 greats in Las Vegas on Saturday night, one question remained.

Was this the hardest title the Dutchman has ever won?

“It was a very challenging season,” he said. “Also as a person it was very challenging at times and I had to be calm.

“In a way, I still prefer last season. I enjoyed it a lot, but I think this season taught me a lot of lessons.

“I’m very proud of us as a team and in a way that makes it a very special and beautiful season.”

The route Verstappen took to his fourth consecutive world championship was certainly very different from those that led to his first three triumphs.

In 2021, the Red Bull driver wrested the crown from Lewis Hamilton’s grasp in highly controversial circumstances on the final lap of the final race in Abu Dhabi.

But there was nothing quite as dramatic over the past two seasons as Verstappen annihilated his rivals by winning 15 and 19 races respectively out of the 22 on the calendar.

The procession looked set to continue this season, with the Dutchman winning four of the first five races and seven of the first 10 Grands Prix.

But then, seemingly inexplicably, Red Bull’s stranglehold on the sport disappeared as McLaren and Ferrari – and to a lesser extent Mercedes – rediscovered their mojo.

While upgrades made McLaren the fastest car on the grid, they left Red Bull seriously unbalanced.

Verstappen described the RB20 as an “undriveable monster” after the Italian Grand Prix in September, an opinion shared by his teammate Sergio Perez.

As the car struggled with balance, Red Bull unveiled new upgrades that only seemed to exacerbate the existing problems. The RB20 struggled on every track, its lack of grip exacerbated by a set-up that demanded too much from the tyres.

And as Christian Horner admitted in September, Red Bull’s problems were due to the team over-developing its RB20.

“Maybe we’ve gotten a little too complex and maybe we need to simplify a few things,” he said.

How Verstappen survived Red Bull’s struggles

Throughout it all, Verstappen was clearly frustrated but remained remarkably consistent despite going five months without a win after taking the checkered flag in Spain on 23 June.

Conversely, Perez fell apart and currently trails his teammate by 251 points, the biggest gap among the top four teams.

The Mexican’s abysmal form is largely why Red Bull are unlikely to retain the constructors’ title, trailing McLaren by 53 points after leading the Papaya by 115 points after the May 5 Miami Grand Prix.

Verstappen led Lando Norris by 69 points after victory in Spain, but kept piling on points to prevent his rival from closing the gap as quickly as he would have liked.

The Briton was also hampered by McLaren’s decision not to prioritize him over Oscar Piastri in the title race until September.

Norris, by his own admission, also left plenty of points on the table over the summer, a lack of recklessness that ultimately cost him the title.

“This year we had the car running well, but we had a lot of hard races and that’s something I’m very proud of,” Verstappen said.

“The races where we weren’t the fastest car, we stuck together as a team, worked very hard, stayed calm most of the time and made almost no mistakes.

“We’ve really maxed out and maybe overachieved in places, plus our opposition in a few places certainly aren’t grabbing the points they should be, and all those things matter when you’re fighting for a championship.”

When the title race arrived in Brazil in early November, Verstappen led Norris by 52 points, but the latter had all the momentum.

The decisive factor was that he also took pole position, with the three-time world champion starting in 17th place.

It looked to be a defining moment for the championship, and it was, albeit not for the reason anyone expected.

Verstappen produced one of the greatest drives of his career to take the checkered flag and open a 62-point gap on Norris, who finished sixth.

“It was a defining moment for the championship,” admitted the McLaren driver.

Verstappen aims for the fifth world championship

Verstappen closed out the title race in Vegas, finishing fifth ahead of Norris as George Russell won ahead of Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton, with Ferrari duo Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc third and fourth respectively.

The Dutchman’s fourth title places him firmly in the pantheon of Formula 1’s all-time greats, equaling a feat achieved by only five other drivers.

Hamilton and Michael Schumacher have both won seven world championships each, while Juan Manuel Fangio has five and Alain Prost and Sebastian Vettel, who like Verstappen won all his titles with Red Bull, have four each.

Don’t bet against the Dutchman adding more championships to his collection either.

“If you want to beat Max, you have to be close to perfect,” Norris said. “He’s one of the best the sport will ever see.”

Horner added: “He’s only just turned 27 and he’s in the form of his life, so as long as we can keep giving him a decent car, he’ll keep delivering.”