Alonso vows to learn from Verstappen: 'He was the best'

Max Verstappen has become Formula 1 world champion for the fourth time in a row. The Dutchman is receiving congratulations from his rivals for his achievement, including from Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz and Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso. The Spaniards speak highly of the Red Bull driver's performance in a car that often wasn't the fastest.

The Ferrari driver qualified for the race in second place. He was faster than teammate Charles Leclerc, but slower than polesitter George Russell. He finished the race in third place, though on the podium. After the weekend, the biggest topic of conversation is of course Verstappen's championship. Sainz congratulated Verstappen on the prolongation.

"Congrats. I think he's driven for four years now at an incredibly high level. I think this year he just dominated whenever he had a dominant car, and then he didn’t do mistakes and maximised the points that he could get with a less performing car and just did whatever he had to do in every race and congrats because he clearly deserves it," Sainz said.

Alonso also complimented the number-one driver. "Big congratulations. This one has to feel very special to him, I imagine, because the car is not maybe as dominant as last year. I think he did an incredible performance this year to put the car in a position that it was not maybe realistic. The best example is Brazil one weekend. This is all down to him, I think this year and he was the best. Always things to learn from a driver like him in this kind of performance this year," Alonso said.