Max Verstappen reflects on emotions days after winning ‘very rewarding’ title as he explains approach to final races

Max Verstappen has been reflecting on his emotions just days on from winning his fourth world championship at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, with the Dutchman admitting that it was nice to celebrate the achievement following a “very intense” season.

With his fifth-place finish in Nevada putting him ahead of remaining rival Lando Norris, Verstappen did all that he needed to seal the title ahead of the final two rounds of the campaign.

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And while the racing continues at pace with the Qatar Grand Prix this weekend – marking the second stop of a season-concluding triple header – Verstappen took a moment during Thursday’s media day to take stock of his championship success.

Asked what his emotions were a few days on, the 27-year-old responded: “It was great, I was very happy with the season and then winning it in Vegas. For me, it was a very intense season so it was also very nice to celebrate it a little bit.”

How Max Verstappen won his fourth world title

In terms of whether this championship felt more special than the three that came before it, Verstappen acknowledged that it was a nice feeling to achieve the feat given the close competition that Red Bull have faced in 2024.

“[My titles have] all been very different but I do think that this one was very rewarding, at the end of the day,” he explained.

“It’s not always been the easiest for us as a team and to come away with that championship… I really felt it when I crossed the line in Vegas, I was like ‘it’s done’! It’s been challenging at times, but I’m very proud of how we handled everything.”

Now the focus will switch to the final two races of the season, with Verstappen keen to take learnings from the last events as he keeps one eye on 2025.

'A very intense season' - Verstappen reflects on winning his fourth drivers' crown

“To be honest, we’re still going to try and learn a bit in these last few races, but I think we already have a lot of ideas and stuff that we want to change for next year,” the world champion added. “Only time will tell if it’s going to be competitive enough or not.”

Reflecting further on whether the tight battle amongst the top teams was making things more exciting, Verstappen said: “At the moment it doesn’t really do anything to me.

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“I just try to do the best I can this end of the season and for next year we know that we have a lot of things that we have to improve on, and that’s what we’ll try to work on. Once we start next year we’ll see where we are. It’s not really something that I’m thinking about right now.”

Red Bull remain mathematically in with a chance of taking the constructors’ championship in 2024 but have a significant gap to close from third place, with McLaren ahead at the top by 53 points while Ferrari hold a 29-point advantage in second.