Max Verstappen and Oracle Red Bull Racing are beginning to run out of ways to secure championships.
While on paper, the team locked up the Formula 1 drivers’ title with two races remaining, it wasn’t a breeze for the pairing.
The season started with seven victories in the first 10 races. However, the summer months brought parity to the sport it hasn’t seen since Verstappen’s reign on the series began in 2021.
He went winless for 10 straight weeks as the team struggled to find pace. McLaren’s Lando Norris, on the other hand, closed to within 45 points after claiming two wins and six podiums during that 10-race stretch.
“It’s been a very challenging year,” Verstappen began. “Of course, we had a very good start to it. But, basically, where we started to struggle we still had a very long way to the end.
“Anything was possible. But, I think as a team, we stuck together. We had a lot of challenging races, we had a lot of talks back at the factory as well, but we stayed calm. I think that’s the best way.”
The tides turned after Verstappen took advantage of a rain-filled Sao Paulo Grand Prix earlier this month to climb from 17th on the grid to the win.
His title bid was complete when Verstappen (fifth) finished ahead of Norris on Saturday night in the Las Vegas Grand Prix to mathematically eliminate the McLaren driver from mounting a charge in the final two races.
“We had a lot of pressure, but it seems like the team works very well under pressure,” Verstappen explained. “I think we can handle that very well. We maximized a lot of results. I think even sometimes even overperformed in places.
“Plus our competition in places, they dropped a lot of points. Also have to take that into consideration. To win championships, you have to be as consistent as you can be.”
Now with four titles, Verstappen is among F-1’s elite as he joined Juan Manuel Fangio, Alain Prost, Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton as the only drivers to claim that many championship trophies.