There was a brilliantly uncomfortable moment in the paddock after Max Verstappen sealed his fourth-straight F1 title in Las Vegas, with Yuki Tsunoda forced to apologise for swearing live on air.
Verstappen knew the championship was his as long as he did not drop three or more points to Lando Norris and the Red Bull sensation never looked like slipping up in Sin City.
After an absorbing and action-packed race, Verstappen finished where he began in fifth place, with McLaren’s Norris taking sixth and an inspired George Russell triumphing for Mercedes.
Verstappen’s latest victory – after his previous successes in 2021, 2022 and 2023 – puts the Belgium-born star level with Alain Prost and Sebastian Vettel on four championship wins.
RB driver Tsunoda was at the heart of the action throughout and was perhaps fortunate to come home in ninth after crashing into a speed-limit sign while exiting the pitlane in Vegas, sending the polystyrene block flying through the air.
‘You had one of the most unexpected moments of the race when you got a bit of air time in the pitlane. What happened there?!’ F1 TV host Will Buxton asked Tsunoda after the race.
‘Oh yeah, I s*** my pants!’ the Japanese driver replied, much to the surprise of a red-faced Buxton.
It was an eventful week all round for Tsunoda, with the 24-year-old revealing before the race that he had been interrogated by US border officials while wearing in his pyjamas.
‘Luckily, they let me in after a couple of discussions,’ he explained.
‘Well, a lot of discussions, actually… I nearly got sent back home.
Tsunoda added: ‘I did the visas and everything … I was able to enter smoothly at the previous track [Circuit of the Americas].
“Felt a bit strange that I got stopped and had a proper discussion. Luckily, it didn’t go on more than two or three hours.
‘It’s not the first time we’ve come here this year. I heard a lot of things, but hopefully that is all well in the future – and smoothly.”
‘I was wearing pyjamas, so maybe I didn’t look like an F1 driver.’
After wrapping up his fourth title, a beaming Verstappen said he was ‘incredibly proud of everyone’ who contributed to his success across the season.
‘It’s been a long season. Of course, we started off amazing, it was almost like cruising but then we had a tough run,’ he told Sky Sports.
‘But as a team we kept it together, we kept working on improvement and we pulled over the line.
‘I’m incredibly proud of everyone, what they have done for me.
‘To stand here as a four-time world champion is of course something that I never thought was possible. So, at the moment just feeling relieved, in a way, but also very proud.’
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