Written by 
Kym Illman/Getty Images
Max Verstappen secured his fourth straight Formula One championship with a fifth-place showing in Saturday’s Las Vegas Grand Prix.
George Russell won the race itself, finishing 7.313 seconds ahead of Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton. The 26-year-old has two checkered flags for the 2024 season.
Hamilton, meanwhile, got onto the podium for the first time since winning the Belgian Grand Prix in July. A runner-up finish was a major improvement from starting in 10th.
Formula 1 @F1
Lewis with the moves 🕺<br><br>Hamilton powers from P10 to the podium 💪<a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/F1?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#F1</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/LasVegasGP?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#LasVegasGP</a> <a href=”https://t.co/qBeYAGzekW”>pic.twitter.com/qBeYAGzekW</a>
Ultimately the spotlight in Sin City belonged to Verstappen, though. His four championships put him into a tie with Alain Prost and Sebastian Vettel for the third-most in F1 history. Only Hamilton, Michael Schumacher and Juan Manuel Fangio have more.
Max Verstappen @Max33Verstappen
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ <br>Four time world champion!!! A season with a lot of challenges, but we worked hard as a team. I am very proud of us 🏆 This would never have been possible without all the dedication and effort of everyone at <a href=”https://twitter.com/redbullracing?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@redbullracing</a> 🙌 A huge thank you to all involved for this… <a href=”https://t.co/mnekjbdC3a”>pic.twitter.com/mnekjbdC3a</a>
Unlike in 2023, Verstappen had to face a little bit of adversity on the road to his title.
Last year, the Red Bull Racing clinched the F1 championship in early October. No driver had ever been as dominant from start to finish in a single season.
It looked like 2024 might be more of the same when Verstappen opened with seven straight poles and five victories. His performance tailed off a bit, however, which opened the door for a challenge by Lando Norris.
When Norris cruised past the field in the Singapore Grand Prix, some fans might’ve begun to talk themselves into his long-shot bid to overtake Verstappen.
In the end, Verstappen was simply inevitable.
“He drove a better season than I did, he deserved it more than anyone else,” Norris said after the Las Vegas Grand Prix. “Max just doesn’t have a weakness.
“When he’s got the best car he dominates and when he’s not got the best car he’s still just there always, always there to make your life tough and difficult.”
Carlos Sainz chose to put a more positive spin on things since Verstappen didn’t turn this year into one long coronation.
“As much as I think Max did an incredible job this year… the second half of the season just shows that when we are all in more of equal machinery, we can go up against each other and make each other’s lives difficult,” he said.
Two more races remain on the F1 calendar. The Qatar Grand Prix is the next stop this coming week with the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to follow on Dec. 8.
The constructors title remains up for grabs with McLaren leading Ferrari by just 24 points, so there’s more than just pride on the line across the two events.