“It’s been a long season,” admitted Verstappen. “It started off amazingly, we were cruising and then we had a tough run, but we kept it together.
“At 17, I was just happy to be here and learn and never thought of this. To stand here now as a four-time champion is just incredible.
“It’s been so competitive this time. A really challenging season and challenging for me as a person too at times. It has taught me a lot and we’ve handled it well as a team. A special season. A beautiful season.”
Remarkably, Verstappen has been on top of the world championship in an unbroken run since the Spanish Grand Prix in 2022.
“GREAT HUMAN”
“It’s incredible, he’s done an amazing job,” said Red Bull team chief Christian Horner.
“He’s been outstanding all year and we are just very proud of him. He’s won eight Grand Prix and the championship with two races to spare and you can’t ask for more than that.”
Horner added: “He just gets in the car and he delivers, he’s a great human. It puts him amongst the greats.”
Norris added: “Massive congrats to him. He’s deserved it.”
“He drove an incredible season and when you have the quickest car he dominated and when he didn’t he was still there and always on my heels. He made my life tough, we made his tough at times I’m sure but he drove a better season.”
On his race, Norris admitted: “It was pretty ‘pants’ (poor), bad pace, grip, tyre management, just a poor weekend from us.”
