McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has branded Max Verstappen's latest F1 drivers' championship "important" for his legacy.
The Italian highlighted that the ease in which the 27-year-old cantered to the title in 2022 and 2023 may have left a false impression on how difficult it is to triumph in F1.
Verstappen secured his fourth crown in succession at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, finishing ahead of Stella's driver, Lando Norris, to push the championship out of the Briton's reach with two rounds to spare.
Whilst the Dutchman's first title - against Lewis Hamilton in 2021 - will long be considered an all-time great championship fight, as well as one that will go down in infamy for its controversial and contentious nature, his last two will not.
The latter was the most dominant season in F1 history, but the complete lack of competition has led some to suggest it was solely down to the brilliance of the RB19, and not Verstappen.
Therefore, Stella feels his 2024 success will help cement the Red Bull driver's place amongst the F1 greats.
"Let me express my congratulations to Max Verstappen," the 53-year-old told media including RacingNews365.
"Four world championships in a row, and I think this title confirms that Max is one of the best drivers in the history of Formula 1.
"And it's almost an important one for him, because possibly in the past, like last year, people might have thought that it's easy to win races when you had the best car, but it's never easy to win so consistently.
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The era of Max Verstappen
Despite starting the campaign in the same imperious form they ended 2023 in, when Verstappen won 19 of Red Bull's 21 victories from 22 rounds, the year quickly turned into a test of mettle and a championship battle of attrition.
The now four-time F1 drivers' champion triumphed in four of the opening five rounds, but from the Miami Grand Prix seldom enjoyed the quickest package on any given race weekend.
Despite that, Verstappen was able to hold Norris at bay, as McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes racked up wins.
Although the Dutchman endured a 10-grand prix victory drought, which ended in superb fashion in Sao Paulo, from the Floridian round he has been able to extend his points lead over Norris - from 53 points to the 63 it is following the weekend in Nevada - underlining the resilience he has shown.
"There's always so many reasons why things can go wrong," Stella stated whilst contrasting Verstappen's third and fourth championships. "Last year they were operating, driver and team, at very high level.
"But this year, when often he didn't have the best car, what he could extract from weekends in which he didn't have the best material confirms that we are in the era of Max Verstappen in this last few years - and he deserves what he is achieving."
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