Verstappen bids emotional farewell to most dominant F1 season in history

Max Verstappen admitted it was an emotional final lap on Sunday as he rounded out the most successful F1 season in history in Abu Dhabi.

Winning his 19th Grand Prix of the year at a canter, the Dutchman, who secured his third world championship six races prior in Qatar, obliterated records this season.

From most wins in a season, he also set a new record for most wins in a row (10), most points (575) and most laps led in a season (1,003), while the RB19 claimed 21 wins – only missing out on the top step of the podium once all year.

Verstappen barely needed to break sweat in the season finale, controlling the pace from the front as he cruised to yet another win.

But with the chequered flag dropping and drawing a line under the season, the Dutchman admitted it was an emotional goodbye to 2023.

"It's been an unforgettable season,” he said. “It was emotional on the in-lap driving the RB19 for the last time, this car and team has given me so much.

“I have to say a big thank you to everyone at Red Bull, we've had an incredible year. It will be hard to replicate a year like this but we always want to do better and to improve so let's see what we can do next year.

“It's been a simply lovely year.”

Team boss Christian Horner paid tribute to the hard work put in by the factory staff back in Milton Keynes for creating a car that will go down in history as the most dominant in F1 history.

He said: “That brings the curtain down on a year that can only be described as incredible. This car is going to go down in the history books as a very, very special car. To have won 21 races out of the 22 is an achievement we never thought possible.

“What a year, not just for those you see week in and week out at track, but more than anything, all the people behind the scenes back in the factory across the whole business. All the support staff made this happen and played their role in making, delivering, and operating this car.

“I think everybody can take a huge amount of pride in what they've achieved, because this team really does have an incredible winning spirit and their determination through it all is incredibly strong.”