MAX VERSTAPPEN WINS FOURTH CONSECUTIVE F1 DRIVERS’ WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
24th October 2024: Max Verstappen, driver for Oracle Red Bull Racing, for which Honda is a team partner, clinched his fourth consecutive F1 drivers’ world championship on Sunday, November 23 local time in the Las Vegas Grand Prix*1, the 22nd round of the 2024 FIA*2 Formula One (F1) World Championship. The Dutchman now joins legends Alain Prost and Sebastian Vettel with four titles, trailing only Juan Manuel Fangio (5), Lewis Hamilton (7), and Michael Schumacher (7).
Verstappen arrived in Nevada following a remarkable comeback win at the São Paulo Grand Prix, where he charged from 17th on the grid to victory. In Las Vegas, his task was clear: finish ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris to clinch the championship. Starting fifth, one position ahead of Norris, Verstappen expertly managed his race, crossing the finish line in fifth, while Norris placed sixth.
With this milestone, Verstappen becomes only the fifth driver in F1 history to win four consecutive titles—an achievement surpassed only by Schumacher’s unprecedented five.
Oracle Red Bull Racing’s Sergio Pérez delivered a gritty performance, climbing from 16th on the grid to 10th, securing a vital championship point.
Meanwhile, in a strong showing for Visa Cash App RB, Yuki Tsunoda impressed with a ninth-place finish, securing vital points for the team, with Liam Lawson finishing 16th.
With two races remaining in the season, Verstappen has cemented his status as one of Formula One’s greatest drivers. The spotlight now shifts to the remaining battles on the grid, where teams and drivers fight for crucial points to close out the 2024 season.
For this season, as a team partner, Honda has been providing technical support and cooperating in marketing activities with Oracle Red Bull Racing and Visa Cash App RB. As part of the technical support, Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) is manufacturing and supplying all power unit (PU) components except for the ESS to Red Bull Powertrains and supporting the operations of the PUs throughout the season.
Comment of Koji Watanabe, President of Honda Racing Corporation (HRC)
“Max, congratulations on your fourth consecutive Drivers’ Championship! It has been five years since your first victory with the Honda power unit at the 2019 Austrian Grand Prix. On top of your ‘fast’ and ‘strong’ driver capability, you have certainly added “toughness” that turns critical situations into opportunities. The remarkable achievement of winning former race at the São Paulo Grand Prix from the 17th grid truly endorses your development. Honda and HRC are proud to be able to support your fourth consecutive title, and HRC will continue to be dedicated to providing support to you, Max, and both the Oracle Red Bull Racing and Visa Cash App RB Formula One Team while aiming at even greater heights in the future.”
QUOTES
Oracle Red Bull Racing
MAX VERSTAPPEN - 5th
“It feels incredible to win here today and I am so proud to win the Championship. It has been quite a year and I’m proud of how we handled everything as a Team. We started off the season really strong and then it became quite tough; we never wanted to give up and got the best result we could, barely made any mistakes and that is what you need to win a title. We stuck together as a Team and we pushed back really hard and came back stronger. I’m super proud of everyone of what we achieved and also of myself with how we have worked together this season. Today I stayed calm and overtook drivers one by one. I tried to hang in there and do my own race and we pulled it off. Ultimately every Championship win is different, so that also makes it really special and it really means a lot to us. I am very proud to be part of this Team, especially as we are now celebrating our fourth World Title. It’s simply lovely."
SERGIO PÉREZ - 10th
“Congratulations to Max, I think he has had the best season I have ever seen from a driver, because a lot of the time we did not have the best car and Max made the difference a lot of weekends. The way he pushed the Team forwards, he was just a pure force and I think this has been the best year from him in the four we have been together. He has been tremendous, well done to him for all the success he has had, he deserves it. For me today, I think the pace was the positive thing about the race, but unfortunately, we may have got the strategy wrong because we went out on the hard initially when the track was at it’s worse. The degradation was a lot higher than expected and we used the best tyre in the beginning unfortunately, so I had to do quite a long stint on the medium. I feel like we are getting there but we need that extra jump, and I don’t feel like we are getting there so, hopefully for the coming weekends we can come back stronger."
CHRISTIAN HORNER - CEO and Team Principal
“This marks the culmination of an epic campaign and a fantastic win for Max. Not just today but throughout an uncompromising year and at times without the necessary tools at his disposal. He has inspired in the cockpit but out of it also. The way he has conducted himself and the way he has worked with the engineers and wider team has been phenomenal. Together with 2021, this was one of the toughest years the Team have experienced. But Max has once again elevated himself to another level of exceptionalism. He’s won more than double the races of any other driver, mounting a formidable campaign and at times having to overcome insurmountable margins. On the days when we didn’t deliver a win or when he had everything thrown at him, he has still delivered points. He has been extraordinary. Behind the scenes there was a huge effort to help bring this championship over the line. It is something to celebrate here at track but equally back at the factory. I am incredibly grateful for all the work and late nights that went into this success and everyone back in Milton Keynes can be proud of their hand in this championship. Ultimately though, this win belongs to Max. Congratulations on number four Max, you deserve every moment of it!”
Visa Cash App RB
YUKI TSUNODA - 9th
“It wasn’t an easy race today but we maximized all that we could, and I think as a team we made such a good step forward throughout the weekend. Obviously, I’m happy with finishing in the points today, but at the same time, it is pretty annoying as we lost a few points for the Constructors’ championship. I was feeling good and confident in the car, which is important, especially in a circuit like this, so I’m definitely happy with that and with the strong race pace we showed. There are two races left, we’ll be fighting hard until the end of the season and I’m already looking forward to racing in Qatar next week. Finally, big congratulations to Max for the win of his fourth World Championship. He has had an impressive year so far and he fully deserves to be crowned World Champion once again.”
LIAM LAWSON - 16th
“A difficult race today. The first stint wasn’t too bad, we were in and amongst the group around us, but it’s really hard to overtake, or at least it was for us. We tried to one stop and stretch it, but I think we tried to stretch that second stint a little too long and ended up boxing, coming out nowhere, it just didn’t work. We had similar issues today as we did yesterday, which is costing us quite a lot, but we’ll look into it and solve it for next week. Yuki’s done well to score points today, we need to make the most of the next two races and try to end strong. Congratulations to Max for four World Titles, what an achievement, he fully deserves it after all the tough fights this year. Very well deserved to him and the whole team.”
LAURENT MEKIES - Team Principal
“First of all, congratulations to Max Verstappen and our friends at Oracle Red Bull Racing on an incredible achievement in winning yet another Drivers’ championship. Overall, the team and the drivers executed another strong weekend here in Las Vegas. After a very solid qualifying performance to start P7, Yuki had a busy race, with some great overtaking moves, battling with our rivals all race long. Of course, it is frustrating to lose a place with just 5 laps to go, but overall he showed a good race pace in bringing home two very important championship points. It was a more difficult weekend for Liam and his car was certainly very tricky to drive around here, something which we still need to understand fully. He showed good pace at some stages of the race today but having qualified further back he spent a lot of time in traffic. It is incredibly tight in the Constructors championship battle, and fight is only going to ramp up even more over the last two rounds of the season in the Middle East, starting in Qatar in a few days’ time. Finally, well done to the promoter for a very special Grand Prix week here in Vegas, with an incredible atmosphere on and off the track at an event that epitomises the new style of Formula One.”
For more information, please contact the below:
• Mr. Raj Johal, General Manager, Training, PR and Comms: Rajvinder.johal@honda-eu.com
• Ms. Suchita Tuli, Senior Executive, PR and Comms: Suchita.tuli@honda-eu.com
