Max Verstappen was hailed by many Formula One fans as the GOAT – meaning greatest of all time – after securing his fourth World Drivers’ Championship on Saturday night.
The 27-year-old finished fifth at the Las Vegas Strip Circuit but that was enough to move him 63 points clear of Lando Norris on the overall table with only 60 left to play for.
Norris finished sixth in Saturday’s race, which was won by George Russell ahead of Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton.
Social media was full of praise for Verstappen on Saturday night, although some fans were less complimentary about his Red Bull car.
‘MAX VERSTAPPEN YOU ARE THE GOAT’, exclaimed one fan via X (formerly Twitter).
Another boldly declared: ‘Verstappen cements himself in the GOAT conversation now.
Max Verstappen has now won Formula One’s World Drivers’ Championship four times in a row
The 27-year-old secured his latest title by finishing fifth at Saturday’s Las Vegas Grand Prix
Verstappen pictured celebrating with his Red Bull team following Saturday’s race in Nevada
‘If you’re discrediting what Max has done this year or over his whole career then you either have no wheel knowledge or you’re just a bitter lonely human being who needs therapy.’
A third fan wrote: ‘Four in a row for Max Verstappen in a car that was 3rd fastest for the majority of the season. How can you not say goat?’
Meanwhile, a fourth tweet read: ‘Max Emilian Verstappen winning his 4th title in a s***ty slow car with a DIY rear at Las Vegas. My f***ing GOAT did that’.
Verstappen sent a message to his fans after the race, thanking them for their support on his historic day.
‘It’s amazing to see the fans everywhere supporting me,’ he said.
‘They got a bit spoilt last year with all the wins so they had to wait for it a long time in the middle of the season.
‘They are an incredible support and it’s great to see them here.
‘To the team, what can I say, we’ve been through a whole lot together and all these highs we are achieving together is just very special to do that, with all the group of people we have at the track and back at the factory, they are always pushing flat out to give me the car to fight for the title.’
Asked about his future, Verstappen added: ‘If you look to next year right now I think it’s going to be a proper battle between a lot of cars, but I’m hungry.
‘I’m going to enjoy this and there are still two more races that I want to do well. We take a little break and we try and go for it again next year.’
Despite fans’ claims that Verstappen is the GOAT, he is still three World Championship wins behind Michael Schumacher (1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004) and Hamilton (2008, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020).
However, he is now one of only six drivers to win F1’s greatest prize at least four times. Alain Prost and Sebastian Vettel are also four-time champions, while Juan Manuel Fangio won five titles in the 1950s.