Max Verstappen wins fourth consecutive world championship as George Russell wins in Las Vegas

CNN
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Max Verstappen claimed his fourth in a row Formula 1 World Drivers’ Championship at a breathless Las Vegas Grand Prix that saw George Russell take the win for Mercedes.

Verstappen came into the weekend knowing that all he had to do to win the title was finish ahead of his championship rival Lando Norris. The reigning champion grabbed the advantage in qualifying and started the race in fifth ahead of the McLaren driver in P6.

The two drivers were side by side on the opening lap, but the Red Bull driver maintained his advantage and never looked back as he came home to finish the race in P5 with Norris behind him in sixth, officially making his championship lead unassailable with only two races left in the season.

Verstappen joins Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton, Juan Manuel Fangio, Alain Prost and Sebastian Vettel as the only drivers in F1 history to win at least four drivers’ titles, further establishing him as one of the greatest drivers of all time.

“What a season. Four times. Thanks, guys,” the Dutchman told his team over the radio after the checkered flag. “Thanks to everyone. I mean, it was a little bit harder than last year, but we did it and we gave it our all.”

After a titanic battle with Hamilton for the 2021 championship, Verstappen swept to the title in 2022 before winning 19 out of 22 races the following year to win the championship by a margin of almost 300 points.

It looked like he would cruise unchallenged to another title after winning seven of the first 10 races, but Red Bull’s pace and typical dominance faded as the chasing pack, particularly McLaren, began to catch up.

Verstappen won just one of the next 12 races, but secured enough points to maintain his distance to Norris throughout the season.

“It’s been a long season and of course we started great, it was almost like cruising, but then we had a tough race,” he said after the race. “But as a team we stuck together, we kept working on improvements and we pulled out the win. So proud of everyone for what they’ve done for me.

“I think in a way that of course I still prefer last season; I enjoyed it a lot, but I think that this season, definitely again has taught me a lot of lessons. I’m very proud of how we handled it as a team as well. So, of course, in a way it also makes it very, very special and a beautiful season.”

It was a disappointing run for Norris, who mounted a valiant challenge for much of the campaign but ultimately could not unseat the seemingly indomitable Dutchman.

“Congratulations to Max, I’m disappointed to be out of it but Max deserved to win it,” Norris said. “He had a better season than I did, he deserved it more than anyone else, Max just doesn’t have a weakness.

“When he has the best car he dominates and when he doesn’t have the best car he’s still there always, always there to make your life hard and difficult.”

Russell qualified on pole position for the Grand Prix and – apart from a brief skirmish with Charles Leclerc early in the race – was in complete control for most of the race.

It is the third win of Russell’s career and the second of the season, having taken P1 in Austria earlier this year. The Brit outlined his plans to celebrate in Sin City after the race.

“I had planned to fly in a few hours, but I’m definitely not getting on that plane!” he laughed. “I will enjoy this evening with my whole team.”

His teammate Hamilton made up for a disappointing qualifying by running through the field and moving from 10th to P2 to secure a one-two finish for Mercedes. With Hamilton’s record-extending 202nd podium finish, he has now been on the podium at 36 different tracks, as of Sky Sports.

“It’s been a dream of a weekend,” Russell said. “I don’t know how we’ve been so fast, but I’m just riding this wave right now. To get the win here, pole position, a dominant weekend, one-two with Lewis as well… we couldn’t have picked a better place to make this happen.”

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz took P3 with his teammate Charles Leclerc just behind. The pair swapped places several times and also battled Verstappen in an overtaking-filled race.

In the Constructors’ Championship, Ferrari closed the gap on McLaren to just 24 points, while Red Bull are 53 behind, meaning everything is still up for grabs in the final two races in Qatar and the UAE.