Formula 1: Max Verstappen clinches 4th straight title as George Russell wins Las Vegas Grand Prix

Max Verstappen is a four-time Formula 1 champion.

Verstappen won his fourth consecutive title late Saturday night in Las Vegas with a fifth-place finish. Verstappen simply needed to stay ahead of Lando Norris to clinch the championship with two races to go.

Verstappen is the fifth driver to win at least four straight titles joining Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, Michael Schumacher and Juan Manuel Fangio. Hamilton won four consecutive championships from 2017-2020, meaning there have only been two F1 champions in the past eight seasons. When you throw in Nico Rosberg’s title in 2016, just four drivers have won a world championship since Jenson Button was the 2009 champion.

The weekend did not get off to a good start for Verstappen. Red Bull was left searching for pace during the first two practice sessions and even brought the wrong rear wing to the track. The car had a higher-downforce attachment on it instead of a smaller wing for the long straightaway down Las Vegas Boulevard.

That didn’t matter. Verstappen qualified fifth and drove his way to second in the opening stage of the race. He fell back in the second half, but was plenty ahead of Norris who finished sixth and was nearly 10 seconds back before making a free pit stop with two laps to go for fresh tires and a run at the fastest lap of the race.

Though Verstappen clinched the championship before the end of the season, the 2024 season went considerably different than 2023 and 2022 did. He has eight wins through 22 races so far after he won 19 of 22 races a season ago and won 15 of 22 in 2022.

But he was still by far the best driver despite not having a car that was as dominant as it was the previous two seasons. As his teammate Sergio Perez consistently struggled, Verstappen wrung the best out of the car despite a 10-race winless streak that he snapped earlier in the month at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Russell's victory is his second of the season. That means seven drivers — Verstappen, Norris, Russell, Hamilton, Carlos Sainz, Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri — have won at least two races in 2024. That's never happened before in F1 history.

Russell started first and led every single lap as he quickly pulled away from the field. Hamilton made a brilliant drive from 10th to second but used up his tires as he valiantly tried to chase down Russell and lost time to his teammate in the final three laps.

Hamilton would have had a great shot at the race win with a better third round of qualifying. But he didn't get a good lap in the final round and had to start last among the 10 drivers who advanced.