Max Verstappen celebrated his fourth successive Formula One world title in style with a chaotic booze-fuelled interview from Las Vegas.
The Red Bull star only finished fifth in Sin City but beating Lando Norris was enough to put his name among the Strip’s bright lights.
The 27-year-old, who won the inaugural Vegas Grand Prix last season, wrapped up another drivers’ championship with two races to go.
George Russell crossed the chequered flag first on the night, but Verstappen’s ten points gave him an insurmountable lead overall.
The Dutchman was reduced to tears after crossing the line with an emotional message on his team radio, saying: “Oh my God.
“What a season. Four times. Thanks to everyone. More difficult than last year. I thought it was impossible. But thanks to you guys… Thanks again.”
Those tears were soon replaced by scenes of jubilation, as Verstappen wasted little time in firing a dig at McLaren CEO Zak Brown.
He reminded the American of his previous comments in which he claimed ‘six or seven drivers’ could have won the title if they were at Red Bull, and that Verstappen wouldn’t have won with any other team.
At the time, Red Bull boasted the fastest car on the grid, but Brown’s McLaren overtook them for speed in round six in Miami – only for Verstappen to still cruise to the championship.
During a joint interview with the pair post-Vegas, the Belgium-born racer said: “You pushed us all the way.”
Brown replied: “We did but you earned it. Four world championships. Now you beat my [three-time champion Aryton] Senna guy.”
“Like you said before, I could only win it in the fastest car. This year’s been a little different!” a grinning Verstappen jested.
Verstappen was still cracking hilarious wisecracks during his next run of media interviews hours later – even if his victory party had begun.
The Belgium-born racer joined Viaplay with a flask in hand and wasted little time in telling the hosts it had gin and tonic in it.
After being asked if he had celebration plans in Vegas or was going back to the hotel, Verstappen responded: “Well, it would be a real shame if you went to bed immediately!
“Martin is still here, he’ll probably drag me somewhere, and we’ll make the best of it!”
Viaplay hosts referenced Brown’s previous comments on Verstappen, to which the latter jumped in to say, “YUP!
“And I ABSOLUTELY told him live at Sky Sports!”
Verstappen was then told to continue drinking his gin and tonic and go to the next Grand Prix in Qatar in seven days with a nice hangover.
A delighted Verstappen then made a wordplay joke about the Dutch word ‘Kater’ sounding similar to the country he will soon be visiting.
He added: “I think that’ll happen of course, yep! [A hangover at Qatar], Kater, Qatar, quite similar!”
Verstappen’s antics are reminiscent of the scenes once caused by seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher.
The Ferrari icon memorably celebrated his sixth drivers’ championship with a wild party after the 2003 Japanese Grand Prix.
During an exclusive interview with talkSPORT last month, Schumacher’s former teammate Johnny Herbert gave an insight into his off-track behaviour.
Herbert explained to talkSPORT: “There’s a time and a place for [those antics], and that’s where Michael was very good at doing exactly what he needed to do in front of the media, doing exactly what he needed to do when he was with the engineer in the cockpit itself.
“But then there was that release that came out at the same time where that’s the sense of humour, the British sense of humour and television – Sebastian definitely with Monty Python, where he liked that, that type of humour. And it’s nice that drivers, I think, still have that ability to have fun.
“It’s a slightly different scenario of when I was racing, and we all went out and Michael in Australia, in Adelaide, last race of the year all finished.
“We’d all go to the same place, and he’d go around after having a few tipples or whatever it may have been, and he’d just go around there and rip everybody’s shirts off.
“That was, again, part of, you know, his fun side at the same time. So we miss all that for sure.”
In fact, during the same interview, Herbert had heaped praise on Verstappen for being the one keeping the colourful side of F1 alive.
“Now it has to be a CIA-organised dinner for the drivers,” Herbert says. “Just because everything with mobile phones and not trying, not having their time away from the fans that are there, it’s just a very different thing.
“Mobile phones are just everywhere, cameras, they weren’t, it wasn’t the same back in the mid-90s, I guess.
“So it’s good that we still have someone like Max showing his [personality].”
