Lack of recognition?

Max: “… then I won’t know what to do”

Max Verstappen answered the journalists' questions.(Bild: GEPA)

"If I don't get any praise now, then I don't know what to do." The Dutchman believes that Max Verstappen deserves special recognition for becoming world champion for the fourth time despite not having the fastest car, in his opinion. 

After Verstappen clinched the title in Las Vegas, he reviewed the season in a press conference. "We actually had problems from the very first race. But back then, my lead was so big that it wasn't so noticeable. What's more, I don't think some teams made that much progress between the end of last year and the start of the 2024 season. We did. Then came the problems," recalls Verstappen.

Max Verstappen was crowned four-time world champion in Las Vegas.(Bild: AFP/APA/Patrick T. Fallon)

"Three beers in"
The world champion was correspondingly emotional after the Las Vegas GP - although he now noted with a grin: "But I'd already had three beers by then." 

World champion in the McLaren too?
While the 27-year-old led the drivers' championship at the start of the season with his usual confidence, the competition got closer and closer to the Red Bull driver, especially in the second half of the year, with McLaren in particular proving to be an opponent to be taken seriously - with the clearly better car, in Verstappen's opinion. So would he also have become world champion in a McLaren car? "Yes, even earlier, with more of a lead," says the four-time champion confidently. 

There are still two races to go in the current season before Verstappen and co. go on a well-deserved vacation. With recharged batteries, the Formula 1 dominator will then set his sights on title number five next March. However, the competition will have something against it ...