Former Red Bull, RB (formerly AlphaTauri and Toro Rosso drivers), who graduated from the Red Bull Academy, took their time to congratulate Max Verstappen for his fourth straight F1 title. The Dutchman claimed his fourth consecutive championship in Las Vegas this year with two race weekends to go and an unassialble 63-point lead.
Verstappen got the better of title contender Lando Norris after a P5 finish in Nevada. The Red Bull driver arrived at the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix 62 points in front of Norris and needed to hold on to his lead.
Verstappen, with his P5 finish, did just that, as Norris finished P6. As a result, he wrapped up the title with two races to go, with a maximum of 60 points available in the last two race weekends in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
Red Bull shared a video on Instagram where Daniel Ricciardo, Carlos Sainz, Yuki Tsunoda, Liam Lawson, Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly congratulated the newly crowned champion:
Here's what they said:
Daniel Ricciardo:
"Four in a row. That's awesome dude. Really really happy for you, and it's been pretty spectacular. Obviously Brazil's the recent obvious one which was insane. That was yeah much like 2016. Long story short, you're the man and yeah enjoy the fourth."
Carlos Sainz:
"Congrats for his fourth world title."
Pierre Gasly:
"Just wanna congratulate you on your fourth world championship. You're like an old wine who keeps getting better year after year."
Yuki Tsunoda:
"What an impressive season and championship. You know two races behind is an incredible work."
Liam Lawson:
"Fully deserve it and to all the tough fights this year, you score pretty well... So very very well deserving for the whole team.
Reacting to all the wishes, Max Verstappen said:
"Ah that's very nice. That's a nice touch. Very good."
Verstappen grabbed his first World title in 2021 after a season-long fight with Lewis Hamilton. In 2022 and 2023, he claimed the titles without much competition, thanks to Red Bull's massive advantage over the competition, before claiming his fourth this year.
Max Verstappen delivered an underwhelming Sprint performance
Max Verstappen had a subpar Sprint race on Saturday, as he came home in P8. The Dutchman started from P6, but lost positions to Nico Hulkenberg of Haas and Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes along the way.
Following the Sprint, Max Verstappen said:
"The start was nothing special, just Lewis had a good one. Just sliding everywhere. No balance on entry, mid corner and sliding everywhere."
McLaren claimed a 1-2 in the Sprint after Lando Norris dropped back to hand Oscar Piastri victory at the Lusail International Circuit. George Russell of Mercedes finished P3, ahead of the Ferrari duo of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc.