Dutchman's fourth successive title "absolutely cements" his position among the sport's greats insists Red Bull boss.

On paper it will mean little, certainly in ten or twenty years. However, the fact is that this was probably Max Verstappen's finest season.

Yes, there were a few questionable moves in the latter half of the year, however considering what he was up against - a couple of resurgent teams, the lack of a supporting teammate and a shadow hanging over his team for much of the year - the boy done well.

Among the first to sing Verstappen's praises as he put the 2024 title out of reach, was team boss, Christian Horner.

"I think this one is a very special victory because obviously there have been challenges this year," said the Briton in a masterpiece of understatement. "But I think that Max scored more than double the amount of race wins than any other driver.

"He's won it with two races to go," he said of the title. "He's been head and shoulders the best driver on the grid in Formula 1, and I think what he's really done this year is absolutely cement his position amongst the greats in the sport. And I think that both statistically and on the way that he's driven, that's unquestionable.

"I think this was, together with 2021, the toughest," the Briton continued, referring to the hard fought battle with Lewis Hamilton for that first title. "This one, we started the season very strongly. But by Miami, it was clear that McLaren had made a significant step.

"Through the summer months, when we were struggling a bit with the car, he was still second at Silverstone, second at Zandvoort. He was still picking up podiums and results and behind the scenes, was putting a massive amount of effort in, with the engineers and designers and on the simulator, more than any of the previous years.

"I think he's been outstanding this year. Not only what he's done in the cockpit, and I think he's inspired within the cockpit, but out of the cockpit as well. The way he's conducted himself, the way he's worked with the engineers, and all the technical staff, has been phenomenal."

"It's been a long season," said the Dutchman. "Of course we started off amazing, it was almost like cruising, but then we had a tough run. But as a team, we kept it together, we kept working on improvements and we pulled off the win.

"I'm incredibly proud of everyone, what they have done for me, so at the moment I'm just feeling very relieved, in a way, but also proud."

Asked, looking back to when he entered the sport, if he ever envisaged four titles, he said: "Definitely not! I was just happy to be there and dreaming of potential victories or standing on the podium, you know, the normal things that are already very difficult to achieve.

"Then we just got onto that run after of course a tough few years, so we kept trying and then we just hit the ground running with the new concept and like I said, to be standing here a four-time world champion is just incredible."

Having cruised to the 2023 title, asked how this season compared, he said: "For sure it was a very challenging season. I think also as a person, at times it's very challenging. I had to be calm.

"I think in a way, of course, I still prefer last season," he admitted, "I enjoyed it a lot, but I think this season, definitely again taught me a lot of lessons.

"I'm very proud of how we handled it also as a team. So in a way of course that makes it also very, very special, and a beautiful season."

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