McLaren boss Andrea Stella expressed that Formula 1 has been in “the era of Max Verstappen” amid the Red Bull driver scooping his fourth straight title in Las Vegas.
Verstappen’s drive to fifth place at the Las Vegas Strip Circuit assured him an unassailable lead over Lando Norris to take the championship with two races remaining.
The Dutchman’s latest title success arrived despite him not having been equipped with the quickest package since Red Bull sustained a dominant start with the RB20.
McLaren capitalised on Red Bull’s struggles to attain the lead in the Constructors’ Championship, but various errors thwarted Norris’ strive to chase down Verstappen.
Stella has admitted that what Verstappen has managed in 2024 should dismiss the narrative that his record-breaking campaign last time around was straightforward.
“I think definitely at the end of this weekend in Vegas even as a team we want to spend a few words for Max,” Stella told media including Motorsport Week.
“Let me express my congratulations to Max Verstappen, four World Championships in a row, and I think this title confirms that Max is one of the best drivers in the history of Formula 1.
“And it’s almost an important one for him because possibly in the past like last year people might have thought that it’s easy to win races when you have the best car.
“But it’s never easy to win so consistently like there’s always so many reasons why things can go wrong.
“I think already last year they were overrating driver and team at very high level, but this year when often he didn’t have the best car what he could extract from weekends in which he didn’t have the best material confirms that we are in the era of Max Verstappen in these few last years and he deserves what he is achieving.”
Wolff labels Verstappen a ‘deserving champion’
Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff indicated Verstappen transpired to be the difference maker once Red Bull’s competitiveness declined to get the title over the line.
“Yeah, he’s a deserving champion,” Wolff, who has expressed his interest in bringing Verstappen to Mercedes, added.
“It was clear that, you know, he was one of the great ones before that year already, and now a four-time World Champion, he dominated in the first half of the year, domination of the driver, domination of the car, and then in the second half of the season, domination of the driver. And absolutely he is, you know, a worthy four-time Formula 1 World Champion.”
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