Norris made a successful bid for the fastest lap in the dying moments as he took sixth, and mathematically dropped out of championship contention, with team mate Oscar Piastri crossing the line seventh after a time penalty for jumping the start.
Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg cleared RB’s Yuki Tsunoda late on in what could be crucial for the tight constructors’ battle over P6, especially after second-row starter Pierre Gasly suffered an agonising retirement due to technical trouble aboard his Alpine.
Sergio Perez added a point to Red Bull’s tally in 10th, denying Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, with Haas racer Kevin Magnussen 12th from Kick Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu and the Williams of Franco Colapinto, who started in the pit lane after his scary qualifying crash.
Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), Liam Lawson (RB), Esteban Ocon (Alpine) and Valtteri Bottas (Kick Sauber) were the final finishers, with Alex Albon the second retirement from the race for Williams due to technical gremlins of his own.
All the attention, though, was on Verstappen as he returned to parc ferme, lapping up the celebrations with his Red Bull team as the 27-year-old joins a group of F1 greats on four world titles – all achieved one after the other.
More to follow.
