08 December 2023 , 22:00
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Max Verstappen admitted an emotional realisation as he finally got his hands on his third Formula 1 world championship trophy.
The Red Bull racer made sure he would lift it two months ago by making the title mathematically secure at the Qatar Grand Prix. But FIA rules forced him to wait until Friday night to pick up his prize.
Verstappen was present at the FIA Prize Giving ceremony in Baku to collect the award - the result of an extraordinary, record-breaking campaign which saw him win 19 of 22 races and score more points himself than any other team managed with both their drivers combined.
He was helped to do that by the best-in-class RB19 that he had to drive and tamed so well. And as he spoke after collecting his trophy he expressed his regret that he will never competitively drive that outstanding machine again.
The 26-year-old said: "Of course, throughout the year we were on a great roll and we wanted to perform every single time, at every single race weekend. I think it did hit me a little bit more once I was standing on the podium at the end in Abu Dhabi - you realise the season is over, you don't get to drive this car anymore, unfortunately.
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"But, yeah, it's been incredible. And great fun as well to work with everyone. Of course, we all want to win and do the best we can. But when you're travelling around so much all over the world, you want to do it with a great group of people and we definitely have that at Red Bull. I'm extremely proud of what we have achieved this year, but of course I hope it doesn't stop here."
Verstappen's success helped propel Red Bull to back-to-back constructors' titles. And Christian Horner also made the trip to Azerbaijan to pick up that trophy and to heap praise upon his colleagues for building the car that made it all possible.
The team principal said: "It's been the most amazing season for the team, breaking so many records this year and winning 21 out of 22 races and five out of six Sprints - something very, very special. It's something that every man and woman in the team has contributed to behind the scenes to achieve this level of excellence.
"I think this award tonight is very much on behalf of those men and women that we have within Oracle Red Bull Racing. They've done such an amazing job to support both drivers and, obviously, Max very much joins the greats today. It's a big evening and a big year for us - I'm hugely proud of what we achieved."
And looking ahead to next year, he added: "It's a busy off-season for everybody - Formula 1 never really stops - and 2024 is already in everybody's eyes now. The car is coming together as we speak and the season will be up and running again in just over six weeks' time, so it's not a long off-season."