Then, on Sunday at the Japanese Grand Prix, Max Verstappen clinched his third successive Formula One World Championship title. The Dutch driver showed that he is an exceptional racer by qualifying for F1 and winning at Suzuka Circuit, but Red Bull Racing continues to entrench itself as the team to beat. Verstappen realized his title with three grand prix left in the year, demonstrating how far ahead of both his and his team’s rivals he was for the whole of the 2024 racing season.
Having taken off at lights to flag, Verstappen was in of his own from the word go. From this position, he made a clean start and was soon able to open up a good gap to second place and beyond. His mastery of the race was in the way he raced through the mechanically demanding Suzuka track, and no other driver could challenge him. That win was the 13th for Verstappen for the season, making the young driver one of the greatest of Formula One races.
The race, however, was not without some force incidents. A thrilling moment of the first lap came courtesy of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. The collision made both drivers get off early and ruined their races, extinguishing their chances of further holding off Verstappen for the championship. And as the laps counted down, it was just a forgone conclusion that, barring a mechanical failure or an external eventuality, Verstappen was going to be the champion of the season.
Excitement filled Verstappen immediately after crossing the finishing line as he cheered on the team radio. “We did it! World Champion again! Thank you so much, everyone. This was just incredible, he said. The pit wall started celebrating, and the team principal, Christian Horner, said it was an amazing season for Verstappen. ‘This year, Max has been in a different league altogether.’ He has been incredibly consistent in this stint, fast, and very smart on the racetrack. Such a championship victory is fully earned,” Horner said in the interview conducted after the race.
Verstappen’s achievement gives him space among such great racing legends as Ayrton Senna and Nelson Piquet, as well as Jackie Stewart, the three-time World Champion. Several in the paddock still feel that Verstappen is only beginning his era atop Formula One at the tender age of 27. His sheer speed, smartness in movements, and unbelievable nerves of steel have put this sport on an altogether different plane altogether.
Sergio Perez finished second ahead of fellow Red Bull drivers after taking a 1-2 finish, and Lando Norris was in the third position at McLaren. Perez also mathematically ensured the Constructors’ Championship for Red Bull to finish a season in which the Austrian team had not been beaten. The success is the sixth constructors’ title for the team and puts Red Bull on the list of the most successful teams in F1.
However, when the Formula One circus shifts to the final three races of the season, the focus will switch to the showdowns further down the series. Concerning the second position in the stakes for both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ championships, there are still several teams, let alone the drivers, that may clinch the position. Still, it is debatable that the day was fully owned by Verstappen and Red Bull and has changed the manner Formula One races can be won in recent years.
Verstappen triumph at Suzuka and his win solidifies his place in the bible and fuels new debate regarding the future of Formula One. On the flip side, the failure of competitive teams has raised questions about the competitiveness of Formula One and whether a new set of rules should be introduced. As the 2024 season draws to a close, the challenge for Verstappen’s rivals is clear: do it to be able to stop the Dutch teen- phenom or at least lessen the margin or else be contented in just being a mere witness to the further re-writing of the record books by Wesley.