Max Verstappen sealed his fourth consecutive World Title in the Las Vegas Grand Prix, and it might be his greatest triumph yet.
Max Verstappen has won the 2024 Formula One World Drivers Championship for his fourth World Title, and this season has been substantially different from his previous championship victories. The first title in 2021 was marred by controversy, and then he dominated the field in 2022 and 2023. This season, Verstappen had to overcome on- and off-the-track issues.
Statistically, 2023 was Verstappen’s greatest season. He won 19 of the 22 races and scored more than double the points of the second-place driver—Red Bull partner Sergio Perez. However, Verstappen was challenged in 2024 when he won fewer than half the number of races in 2023.
Ironically, though, the season began with no indication of how it would end. Verstappen started the 2024 Formula One season by again dominating, winning four of the first five races. Then, that picture changed in round six at the Miami GP. From then on, Red Bull seemed to have the third fastest car on the grid, behind McLaren and Ferrari.
Despite not having the best car on the circuit, Verstappen always seemed to be in contention. In contrast, Sergio Perez, his reliable partner from ’23, regularly failed to reach the final qualifying stage to start in the top ten on the grid. But Verstappen rose to the challenge, doing what all great drivers do: he got the most out of his car, drove to the limit with skill and tenacity, and sometimes pushed against the rules of Formula One.
Verstappen has had to deal with off-track controversies, too, which began at the opening race of the season when stories emerged of unprofessional conduct by Red Bull team principal Christian Horner. That circumstance led to plenty of negative publicity and fallouts between Horner and senior Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko and between Horner and Verstappen’s father, Jos. Then, at mid-season, Verstappen and Red Bull had to deal with chief technical officer and car designer Adrian Newey leaving the Formula One team. All the while, Max Verstappen compartmentalized matters, keeping off-track issues from affecting his driving performance.
Max Verstappen will likely say that each World Title is as special as the next, while fans and analysts will argue for one title being above the others. For me, I’ll pick 2024 as his best. However, we can’t debate whether Max Verstappen is among the best drivers in Formula One history. Of that, there is no doubt.
