LAS VEGAS -- It was somehow fitting that Max Verstappen clinched this season's title with a fifth-place finish in Las Vegas. A podium appearance may have been a more satisfying way to crown Formula 1's latest four-time world champion, but this was a title campaign characterised by guts as much as it was by glory.
It was also a title campaign with a very different feeling to his previous three.
Nothing will match the sheer drama of his battle of the ages with Lewis Hamilton in 2021, while the relative ease of his second and third titles (two seasons in which he took 34 victories from 44 races) felt like the emergence of an unstoppable force. But in 2024, Verstappen faced a very different challenge -- one that tested him to the limit and, at times, revealed the true extent of his competitive nature for better and worse. In some respects, he had to dig deeper than he had before, and for almost half the season, accept that individual race victories would not be possible.
Off track, Red Bull's season kicked off in a cloud of controversy as team principal Christian Horner faced accusations of inappropriate behaviour from a female colleague. Horner denied the allegations and was cleared of wrongdoing by an internal investigation, but the ensuing power struggle threatened to pull the team apart.
At the very first round of the season, Verstappen's father, Jos, called for Horner's resignation, thereby turbocharging a storyline that diverted attention from his son's four race victories from the first five races. A further blow was struck when Red Bull's legendary lead designer Adrian Newey announced he would leave the team in early 2025, raising questions over the team's potential to sustain its success beyond 2024.
On track, things initially appeared to be going smoothly as, after five rounds, Verstappen held a 25-point lead over teammate Sergio Pérez and a 62-point lead over his eventual title rival Lando Norris. But an upgrade to Norris' McLaren at the sixth round in Miami closed the gap to Verstappen and exposed weaknesses in the Red Bull RB20 that had not been apparent when its rivals were further off the pace.
From that point onwards, Verstappen no longer had the fastest car, and at times had to dig deep just to keep his Red Bull in the top three.
"I'm very proud of this season because for most of the season, I would say for 70% of the season, we didn't have the fastest car, but actually we still extended our lead," Verstappen said on Saturday evening. "So that is definitely something that I'm very proud of.
"I would say from Miami onwards, most of the time we were not the quickest anymore, and Miami is still very early on in the season. So, you know, 50 points, 60 points, they can very easily be overturned if you keep maximising results and not do anything crazy. I've experienced that myself, being 30, 40 points down -- I think in 2022. Anything is possible, so I had that always in the back of my mind, but at the same time, it's just focus on what I could control within the team and just give it everything every single weekend."
In taking eight victories this year, Verstappen has more than double the total of any other driver on the grid in 2024. Among those eight wins are some of the best of his career, including his decisive victory in the wet in Brazil earlier this month and wins against the odds in Spain and Canada back in June. But it was some of the less glorious results that helped made the difference and ensure Verstappen had a points margin of more than 60 to secure the title in Las Vegas.
"Through the summer months when we were struggling a bit with the car, he was still second in Silverstone, second in Zandvoort and he was still picking up big podiums and results," Horner said on Saturday night. "Behind the scenes he was putting a massive amount of effort in with the engineers, designers and on the simulator -- more than any of the previous years.
"He's been outstanding this year, not only what he's done inside the cockpit -- and I think he's inspired within the cockpit -- but out of the cockpit as well. The way he has conducted himself and worked with the engineers and all the technical staff has been phenomenal."
Acknowledging the off-track issues at the start of the year, Horner argues Verstappen's season has only helped solidify his GOAT candidacy in F1.
"I think this one is a very special victory because obviously there has been challenges this year. But I think that Max, he has scored more than double the amount of race wins than any other driver, he has won it with two races to go and he has been head and shoulders the best driver on the grid in Formula 1.
"And I think what he's really done this year is absolutely cement his position amongst the greats in the sport. I think both statistically and the way he has driven, that's unquestionable now."
For Verstappen, the gritty nature of his fourth world title has taken him on an unexpected voyage of self-discovery. In stark contrast to his unparalleled 2023 winathon, the 2024 season hasn't always been fun and has sometimes boiled over into intolerable frustration.
"It was a very challenging season," Verstappen added. "I think also as a person, at times it's very challenging and I had to be calm. And I think in a way, of course, I still prefer last season. I enjoyed that a lot, but I think this season, definitely, again, taught me a lot of lessons that I'm very proud of. How we handled it also as a team. So in a way, of course, that makes it also a very, very special and beautiful season.
"I don't really ever think about the mental side because for me, when I sit in the car, I just try to go flat out and do everything I can. And when I come home, I want to focus on other stuff. But then at one point, the car was also just really difficult to drive. And then it was about just working together with the team, because when you have these tough moments, it can also be very demotivating.
Hear from four-time F1 world champion Max Verstappen after the Red Bull driver sealed his latest title in Las Vegas.
"You know, 'Like whatever, I give up on this,' but then those moments are actually very important to keep it together and actually work harder and try to understand what is going on. Because in those moments, if you give up, you are going to give up the championship as well."
It sounds like a strengthening experience for Verstappen -- the sort of year that could make him even harder to beat in future seasons than he has been for the past four. As he walked out of his world champion's news conference and into the neon glow of a Saturday night in Las Vegas, though, his immediate focus was not on a fifth world title in 2025. As he clutched an empty can of Heineken, he was asked how he planned to celebrate title number four.
"I ran out of beer," he responded. "So yeah, I don't know, maybe another one. And then maybe I switch to something else."
Above all else, there was a sense of relief that one of his most challenging seasons to date had ended in a hard-earned title success.
"Honestly, when I crossed the line, I was just very relieved," Verstappen added. "I was like, it's over. It's been a very tough run of races."