Max Verstappen has officially been crowned the 2024 Formula 1 world champion at the FIA Awards ceremony held in Kigali, Rwanda on Friday, Afrosport reports.
The Red Bull driver was presented with trophy for the fourth time after winning nine Grands Prix out of the record 24 races on the calendar, beating McLaren’s Lando Norris by 63 points in the drivers’ championship while Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finished a further 81 points behind in third.
After receiving his award, Verstappen said: “This season was quite up and down. We had a great start to the year, everything was looking great. I think especially from the outside.
“We had a bit of a tough run but even when we were under pressure and having tough times, I think the team really stuck together. We didn’t panic, which could easily be done in those kind of situations.
“I’m just very proud of everyone in the team as well. Of course we’re not standing here as constructors’ champions. In a way, I do think we deserved a little bit more in that championship.
“I tried my very best and we also know a lot what we need to work on for next year. I’m very excited about that as well because it does look like it will be a proper fight between a lot of teams.”
He added: “It’s amazing. Four titles is definitely incredible. Of course I hope it doesn’t stop here. I hope that we can be successful for a longer period of time. You could see this year the competition is very close.
“Again in ’26, a lot is going to change and maybe some other teams will be competitive again. For the moment I think it’s very important to just enjoy the moment, be proud of what we’ve achieved as a team, and try again next year.”
The most precious trophy of all 😍#F1 @Max33Verstappen pic.twitter.com/iuDPSNcX8F
— Formula 1 (@F1) December 13, 2024
While in Rwanda, Verstappen completed his community service punishment for swearing during a press conference in Singapore by working work with junior drivers as part of the grassroots development programme organised by the Rwanda Automobile Club (RAC).
Meanwhile, McLaren secured their first constructors’ championship since 1998 and had their award collected by team principal Andrea Stella and CEO Zak Brown.
