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 put him 63 points clear of Lando Norris in the standings with just 60 left to play.
Norris finished sixth in Saturday’s race, which was won by George Russell ahead of his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton.
Social media was full of praise for Verstappen on Saturday night, although some fans were less flattering about his Red Bull car.
‘MAX VERSTAPPEN YOU ARE THE GOAT’, exclaimed a fan via X (formerly Twitter).
Another boldly stated: “Verstappen is now cementing himself in the GOAT conversation.
Max Verstappen has won the Formula One World Drivers’ Championship four times in a row.
The 27-year-old driver claimed his latest title by finishing sixth in Saturday’s Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Verstappen pictured celebrating with his Red Bull team after Saturday’s race in Nevada.
“If you’re discrediting what Max has done this year or throughout his entire career, then either you’re clueless 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 third fastest for most of the season. How not to say goat?
Meanwhile, a fourth tweet read: “Max Emilian Verstappen wins his fourth title in a slow car with a DIY rear end in Las Vegas.” My fucking GOAT did that.’
Verstappen sent a message to his fans after the race.
“It’s amazing to see fans from all over supporting me,” he said.
“Last year they messed up a bit with all the wins, so they had to wait a long time in the middle of the season.
‘They are incredibly supportive and it’s great to see them here.
“To the team, what can I say? We have been through a lot together and all these achievements that we are achieving together is very special, with all the group of people we have on the track and on the track. “At the factory, they are always pushing hard to give me the car to fight for the title.
When asked about his future, Verstappen added: “If you look ahead to next year, I think it will be a real battle between many cars, but I’m hungry.”
‘I’m going to enjoy this and there are still two more races in which I want to do well. “We took a little break and tried to try 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 six drivers to have won F1’s top 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.