By BBC (Sports) | Created at 2024-11-24 12:21:54 | Updated at 2024-11-29 17:53:15
5 days ago
Max Verstappen says his fourth consecutive world title came after a "very challenging" season and he is "hungry" to bid for more success in 2025.
The Red Bull driver's fifth place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix put his points total beyond the reach of his closest rival, McLaren’s Lando Norris.
The Briton, who needed to win at least three more points than Verstappen to continue the title fight, finished sixth.
George Russell took a dominant victory ahead of Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton.
"It was a very challenging season," Verstappen said. "Also as a person at times it was very challenging and I had to be calm.
"In a way I still prefer last season. I enjoyed it a lot, but I think this season, it has taught me a lot of lessons.
"I am very proud of us as a team and in a way that makes it a very special and beautiful season."
When Verstappen won four of the first five races in 2024, it appeared as if he would carry on from last year, when he and Red Bull produced the most dominant season in history.
Instead, McLaren emerged as a direct rival from the sixth race in Miami, from which point Verstappen had to focus on consistency to ensure he kept his margin.
Norris closed in slowly over the second half of the season, as McLaren developed a consistent edge on Red Bull.
But Verstappen’s brilliant victory from 17th on the grid in Brazil three weeks ago put him in a position to win the title in Las Vegas and he sealed it at the first attempt.
"This year we had the car running well but we had a lot of tough races and that is something I am very proud of," he said.
"The races when we were not the fastest car, we kept it together as a team, worked very hard, remained calm most of the times and barely made any mistakes.
"We really maximised and maybe overperformed in some places, plus our opposition in a few places definitely don’t grab the points they should have and all of those things matter when you are fighting for a championship."
Verstappen was praised by his rivals, who all said he deserved his title for such a strong season.
Norris said: "He made some mistakes but over the course of the season that is very few and that’s what makes him so good.
"He has not had a bad qualifying or a bad race. He just gets everything out of the car and that's always impressive to see, always things to learn."
Verstappen said he expected next season to be "a proper battle between a lot of cars, but I’m hungry".
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner told BBC Radio 5 Live: "It's incredible, he's done an amazing job, he's been outstanding all year and we are just very proud of him, he's driven brilliantly.
"He's won eight grands prix, he's won the World Championship with two races to go, you can't ask for more than that.
"He just gets in the car and he delivers, he's a great human. It puts him amongst the greats, statistics now put him there as well.
"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 then he will keep delivering."
