Max Verstappen could secure his fourth F1 drivers’ crown at this weekend’s Las Vegas Grand Prix. Cambridge Kisby looks back on the key races which could put the Dutchman’s name among F1’s greatest

Verstappen may be crowned in Vegas, but he earned the privilege in Austria

Max Verstappen will arrive at the Las Vegas Grand Prix this weekend with a fourth consecutive F1 drivers’ world championship well within reach.

As long as his title rival Lando Norris doesn’t outscore him by more than three points — which he has done at only seven races so far this season — Verstappen will be crowned champion. Even if Norris denies him, securing the championship should be a formality the following week in Qatar.

That would make him only the fourth driver to win four F1 drivers’ titles consecutively, following in the wheel tracks of Michael Schumacher (2000-2004) Lewis Hamilton (2017-2020), Sebastian Vettel (2010-2013) and Juan Manuel Fangio (1954-1957).

But while Verstappen may spend the early hours of this Sunday morning celebrating in Las Vegas’ various casinos and nightclubs, the Nevada desert won’t be where his latest world championship success was truly earned.

In order to identify where exactly Verstappen flipped the title odds in his favour, you have to travel all the way back to lap 64 of the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix, where the Dutchman sent his title rival a very clear and controversial message – one that has seemingly haunted Norris’ mind in every subsequent encounter.

Verstappen has arguably had Norris’ number covered at every turn in 2024

Getty Images

Having established a 52-point cushion after the first five races of the season, thanks to a dominant Red Bull, Norris struck back from Miami, winning the Grand Prix after a major upgrade made the McLaren the pick of the field.

From then on, a title challenge looked to be on the cards, even when Verstappen narrowly got the better of him in Imola, Canada and Spain. Then came the turning point at the Red Bull Ring.

Having lost out to Verstappen and team-mate Oscar Piastri in the sprint race, Norris looked set to make amends in the Grand Prix. In a faster car, he was chasing down Verstappen for the lead and made his first bid to pass by aggressively diving down the inside at Turn 3 on lap 59; a move he attempted again on lap 63.

But still Verstappen remained ahead and, as the pair reached the same corner on lap 64, he showed just how hard he’d fight to keep it that way. As Norris moved to the left under braking, attempting to pass Verstappen around the outside, the Red Bull driver gradually began to squeeze his rival out of road – until there was no more room left to give.

The resulting contact caused Verstappen’s rear left tyre to fly off the wheel and Norris picked up a puncture.

The former received a 10sec penalty for causing the incident, but after fitting his Red Bull with new tyres and rejoining the circuit, he still managed to finish fifth and earned ten points in the process. Norris’s McLaren was found to be beyond repair when it returned to the pitlane and he retired from the race.

In championship points alone, that dealt a hefty blow to Norris’s hopes: the gap to Verstappen widened from 69 points to 81 and, at the very least, it set the stage for similarly robust defences as the season went on. But it also looked to have knocked Norris’s trust in Verstappen to fight fairly. After the race Verstappen was unapologetic but Norris looked deflated, saying he felt “let down.”

In races to follow, he struggled to pass Verstappen, and sometimes appeared to hold back, while the reigning champion continued to show little hesitation in muscling Norris off the track during battles.

Ahead of the Las Vegas Grand Prix Norris conceded that he wasn’t fully prepared in his early duels with Verstappen but had been happier with his performances after the summer break, despite losing out to the Red Bull driver on a number of occasions. “I probably wasn’t outright ready to go up against Red Bull and Max,” said Norris. “I think I am now, and it’s probably too late to do that… No one has gone up against Max so early on in kind of their career, halfway through the season, and put up, I think, a pretty reasonable fight.

“I’ve done my best. I’ve not done well enough. And I’ve always admitted that. And I think Max is probably one of the best drivers ever in Formula 1 and I don’t think you’ll probably get a much better driver than Max ever in Formula 1 ever again. That’s my opinion but that’s what I believe in and for me to go up against that belief, to fight against that person that I know is so good, takes a bit more than what I probably achieved this season, but I think what I’ve done since the summer break is closer to what I need to be, and I think that is close to being good enough to fighting for it next year.

“I’ve been very happy, actually, with how the last few months have gone, honestly. I wouldn’t change many things that have happened. But I still need to make tweaks. I still need to improve on things. That’s clear. You know, I’m not completely satisfied with how I’ve done. I definitely know I need to make improvements. But for the first time, I’m confident to say that I have what I think I need to fight for a championship.

Part of that confidence may be down to learning from the moments where the title slipped from his grasp in 2024: after Austria came a series of races where Max Verstappen got the upper hand.

 

2024 Belgian Grand Prix 

Verstappen keeps Norris at bay — again…

Grand Prix Photo

A ten-place grid penalty for Verstappen at the Belgian Grand Prix provided a prime opportunity for Norris to close the gap to the Dutchman in the drivers’ standings.

He started from fourth on the grid – Verstappen a further seven places back – and looked to have the pace to contend for victory as he ran as high as third before making his first pitstop on lap 16.

When he re-emerged from the pitlane on a fresh set of hard tyres, Verstappen was ahead, having made his own stop for a new set of medium tyres five laps earlier. But surely on fresher tyres, with what looked to be a faster car underneath him, and with 28 laps still left to run, Norris could find a way past?

Unfortunately for McLaren, he couldn’t – Verstappen wouldn’t let him.

Despite running within a second of Verstappen’s Red Bull for the majority of the remaining laps, Norris failed to find a way past the Dutchman while his team-mate, Oscar Piastri, found the pace to finish second.

Norris was ultimately classified fifth and Verstappen fourth – the latter’s lead in the drivers’ standings extended from 76 points to 78.

2024 United States Grand Prix

Verstappen and Norris run off track at the start of the US Grand Prix

Grand Prix Photo

After a string of strong performances by Norris and McLaren, and a simultaneous dip in performance for Red Bull, Verstappen arrived at COTA in October with his title advantage reduced to 52 points.

With six races still remaining, Norris still had an outside chance of the championship, needing to outscore the Verstappen by an average of 8.6 points per round. But the odds remained firmly in the Red Bull driver’s favour after Austin.

Verstappen won the sprint race on pure pace and then forced Norris’s pole-sitting McLaren wide and off the circuit at the first given opportunity in the Grand Prix.

The overwhelming pace shown by Ferrari meant that the title rivals were soon left to squabble for third. As in Austria, Norris made several half-hearted efforts to pass Verstappen as the lap counter climbed.

On lap 52, Norris attempted to dive around the outside of Verstappen at Turn 12, but was forced wide. However, as he rejoined the circuit ahead of the Dutchman and failed to give the position back, Norris was later handed a 5sec time penalty, which dropped him behind Verstappen in the final classification.

Once again, in a race where Norris had the quicker car, Verstappen’s unforgiving tactics won out. He left with a 57-point advantage in the title race.

 

2024 Mexico City Grand Prix

At the Mexico City Grand Prix, Verstappen had to focus on damage limitation.

Although he led into Turn 1 at the start, ahead of pole-sitter Carlos Sainz, Red Bull’s lack of performance against the likes of McLaren and Ferrari quickly began to show as the Ferrari driver breezed back past Verstappen at the beginning of lap nine.

But it didn’t really matter. All Verstappen had to do to keep his title hopes on track was to finish ahead of Norris. And he knew it.

As his title rival attempted to make a pass for second on lap ten, Verstappen forced him wide at Turn 4 and then again at Turn 7. The Dutchman received 20sec worth of penalties as a result of the manoeuvres, but was holding Norris up: he didn’t attempt another pass on Verstappen until he had completed his first pitstop.

Although Norris ultimately finished second, being delayed by Verstappen ultimately cost him a shot at victory and only reduced the Dutchman’s title advantage by 10 points.

 

2024 São Paulo Grand Prix

Verstappen refuses to lose

Red Bull

The São Paulo Grand Prix will ultimately be remembered as the punch that knocked Norris out of title contention in 2024.

A superlative drive — coupled with a well-timed red flag — in treacherous conditions earned Verstappen victory at Interlagos from 17th on the grid. Meanwhile Norris, who started from pole, was caught out repeatedly and finished a disappointing sixth.

The results of both drivers means that heading to Las Vegas, Verstappen possesses a 62-point advantage in the drivers’ standings — a fourth consecutive title now all but certain.