Max Verstappen stayed true to himself during his celebration after he clinched his fourth straight Formula One world championship at the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix. Though he spoke with his team through tears of joy while taking his victory lap around the circuit, he was mostly calm. However, when he later answered questions about perhaps the most difficult season of his career, a different emotion shone through: relief.
What seemingly began as another runaway year quickly turned into the most competitive F1 season in more than a decade. Verstappen was pushed in a way that he hadn’t been before, in a car that didn’t dominate the rest of the field. And like all great champions do, he rose above it.
Verstappen became the sixth driver ever to win four drivers’ championships, joining the likes of F1 greats Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton, Juan Manuel Fangio, Alain Prost and Sebastian Vettel. He’s just the fifth individual ever to win four in a row, clinching the title in late November in the third-to-last race of the season.
MAX VERSTAPPEN IS THE 2024 F1 WORLD CHAMPION! 🏆
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 24, 2024
A brilliant fourth title in-a-row! Incredible!!!#F1 #LasVegasGP pic.twitter.com/kiBpPmV86H
It didn’t seem like Verstappen would be under any stress in 2024 as the F1 season began like the last two had. Verstappen won four of the first five races with teammate Sergio Pérez finishing as the runner-up in three of those outings. There was the feeling of another dominant year, much to the chagrin of fans who didn’t support Red Bull, until something began to shift. McLaren’s Lando Norris, with a well-timed safety car, stunned Verstappen in Miami and put a crack in Red Bull’s invincibility for the first time since the '21 season.
The situation only became more tenuous from there. Verstappen won three of the next four races, quieting the panic temporarily, but then struggled. After a win at the Spanish Grand Prix, he went 10 races without another victory. McLaren and Norris were joined by the likes of Ferrari and Mercedes in competing for wins, putting four teams in the mix. Whether it was Norris, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz at Ferrari or Hamilton and George Russell at Mercedes, the three-time defending champion always had someone breathing down his neck—and even, at times, outperforming him.
The pressure forced Verstappen to adapt and add a skill to his repertoire that hadn’t been entirely necessary, or at least visible, in years past: damage control. Apart from not finishing an early-season race in Australia, the 27-year-old Dutchman never finished below sixth in any Grand Prix. And that came while Pérez’s form plummeted. Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate failed to compete at the front of the grid, an indication that the previously dominant car had become erratic and difficult to control.
In past years, Verstappen may have become more agitated and might have tried to force his way up the pecking order in races where his car wasn’t as competitive. His willingness to settle for second place—or even fifth—showed just how far he’s come in terms of his maturity, making for a lethal combination with his natural talent.
That’s not to say Verstappen didn’t push to the limit, and occasionally over the line, of what’s considered acceptable in F1’s racing guidelines. A collision with Norris at the Austrian Grand Prix knocked the McLaren driver out and sent Verstappen from the front of the race to fifth. In Mexico, Verstappen accrued a total of 20 seconds—a fortune’s worth in F1—in penalty time due to two reckless attempted passes on Norris that seemed desperate at best and dangerous at worst. He lashed out at his race engineer, his strategists and, most of all, the FIA stewards when decisions didn’t go his way.
But when his back was against the wall, Verstappen reminded the paddock why he’s considered one of the best drivers of the modern era. He started the weather-afflicted Brazilian Grand Prix with his smallest championship lead of the season and down in the 17th spot on the grid due to an unlucky qualifying and a subsequent engine penalty—a daunting task for any driver. For Verstappen, it was an opportunity to separate from the field—and separate, he did. Not only did the Red Bull sensation cut his way through the midfield, but he took the lead and extended his advantage. He won by nearly 20 seconds, one of the largest margins of the season, to become just the sixth driver in 1,121 world championship races to claim victory from 17th or lower.
The performance not only defined a season, but it may end up being the defining moment of Verstappen’s career.
The road ahead for the four-time champion doesn’t appear smooth. Turmoil off the track in 2024 threatened the sanctity of the well-oiled Red Bull ecosystem, namely with the departure of renowned car designer Adrian Newey. Performance director Jonathan Wheatley also left, and confusion still lingers over the right driver to pair with someone as competitive and particular as Verstappen.
But those are problems for Red Bull to solve, and quickly, if they hope to keep one of the sport’s most accomplished drivers in house. Verstappen will do what he’s always done: push himself and his car to the limit, regardless of what challenges—or annoyances—come his way.
If he does that again next year, he may finally be able to find a more complete sense of relief in what he’s accomplished. Or maybe the all-time greats never do—and Verstappen is now unquestionably in that class.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Max Verstappen Joined Elite Company by Learning to Limit the Damage in 2024.
