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Stock photo of a race car and checkered flag. (Jerry Ballard/Getty Images via Canva)
By Sam Joseph, CNN
(CNN) — Max Verstappen claimed his fourth consecutive Formula One World Drivers’ Championship at a breathless Las Vegas Grand Prix that saw George Russell take victory for Mercedes.
Verstappen came into the weekend knowing that all he needed to do to win the title was finish in front of his championship rival Lando Norris. The reigning champion snatched the advantage in qualifying, starting 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, coming home to finish the race in P5, officially making his championship lead insurmountable 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. Thank you, guys,” the Dutchman said to his team over the radio after the checkered flag. “Thank you to everyone. I mean, it was a little bit more difficult than last year, but we pulled through, and we gave it all.”
After a titanic battle with Hamilton for the championship in 2021, Verstappen swept to the title in 2022 before winning 19 out of 22 races the following year to win the championship by an almost 300-point margin.
It appeared as though he would romp unchallenged to another title after he won seven out of the first 10 races, but Red Bull’s pace and typical dominance faded as the chasing pack, particularly McLaren, began catching up.
Verstappen only won one of the next 12 races but secured enough points to maintain his gap to Norris over the course of the season.
“It’s been a long season and of course we started off amazing, it was almost like cruising, but then we had a tough run,” he said after the race. “But as a team, we kept it together, we kept working on improvements and we pulled off the win. Incredibly proud of everyone, what they have done for me.
“I think in a way, of course, I still prefer last season; I enjoyed it a lot, but I think this season, definitely again taught me a lot of lessons. I’m very proud of how we handled it also as a team. So in a way of course that makes it also very, very special, and a beautiful season.”
It was a disappointing race for Norris, who mounted a valiant challenge for much of the campaign but ultimately couldn’t unseat the seemingly indomitable Dutchman.
“Congrats to Max, I’m disappointed I’m out of it, but Max deserved to win it,” said Norris. “He drove a better season than I did, he deserved it more than anyone else, Max just doesn’t have a weakness.
“When he’s got the best car, he dominates and when he’s not got the best car, he’s still just there always, always there to make your life tough and difficult.”
Mercedes magic in Vegas
Russell qualified on pole position for the Grand Prix and – aside from a brief skirmish with Charles Leclerc early in the race – was in complete control for much of the race.
It is the third victory 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 was planning to fly in a couple of hours but I’m definitely not getting on that flight!” he laughed. “I’m going to enjoy this evening with all my team.”
His teammate Hamilton made up for a disappointing qualifying by charging through the field, surging from 10th on the grid 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, per Sky Sports.
“It’s been a dream of a weekend,” said Russell. “I don’t know how we’ve been so quick but I’m just riding this wave right now. To get the victory here, pole position, a dominant weekend, one-two with Lewis as well…we couldn’t have chosen a better place to make this happen.”
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz took P3 with his teammate Charles Leclerc just behind. The pair exchanged places multiple times and also battled Verstappen in an overtake-laden race.
In the Constructors’ Championship, Ferrari closed the gap on McLaren to just 24 points, while Red Bull is 53 behind, meaning that all is still to play for in the final two races in Qatar and the UAE.
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