REUTERS

Max Verstappen joined a select group of Formula One greats with his fourth title in Las Vegas on Saturday, but stretching the run to five in a row next year could be an even bigger and more thrilling battle.

Only six drivers have won four championships, and only Michael Schumacher managed five in succession with Ferrari from 2000 to 2004.

Only two of them, Verstappen and Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel from 2010-2013, have won their first four consecutively.

Verstappen has led the standings since May 2022, this month smashing Schumacher's record of 896 days on top, and the Red Bull driver will stay there until at least March 16, when the 2025 season starts in Australia.

That campaign will be eagerly awaited with former champions McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes already scrapping for wins regularly and seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton soon to switch from Mercedes to Ferrari.

Formula One chief executive Stefano Domenicali congratulated Verstappen as fireworks exploded over the Vegas Strip.

"He is a true great of this sport and has so much more to look forward to in his impressive career," he said.

"This season has been thrilling, and 2025 looks set to be even closer."

Verstappen started 2024 with pole position in the first seven races, winning seven of the opening 10, but then went 10 races without a win as Red Bull's dominance disappeared.

"If we win the title again this year, it will be mainly down to Max," Red Bull's motorsport consultant Helmut Marko said after Verstappen ended the drought by sweeping from 17th to first in a rainswept and chaotic Brazilian race this month.

"With his exceptional driving skills, he covered up the phases in which the car really wasn’t good."

The 27-year-old has 62 wins, still far behind Hamilton's 105, but the 2024 points gap -- 63 after Vegas -- reflected consistency more than any speed advantage.

Seven different drivers have each won more than once this season but Verstappen banked the points early and then defended his lead.

Open Question

Ultimately, numbers and statistics are not what drives him and how much longer he stays is an open question, but Verstappen has a contract to the end of 2028.

"Now that I've won championships and races, for me, my goals are completed in Formula One," he told Reuters in a recent interview.
"I don't care about winning eight titles or beating the win record. I know that I can do that, but you need, in a way, luck as well for a long time that you are in the right team.

"Yes, I can continue until I'm 40 years old, but I don't want to.

"When I'm 80 years old I want to look back and say, 'Yes, I had a good time in racing, I did everything I needed to do, and I loved my life, and I lived my life.' That's what I want to do."

In 2021, Verstappen and Hamilton went down to the wire in Abu Dhabi. The Dutch driver came out on top. 

The following year saw Red Bull take both titles, with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc unable to sustain a challenge that started strongly.

"I think the most special will always be 2023," said Verstappen, who won 19 of 22 races in that record season.