- Max Verstappen won the World Drivers’ Championship for the fourth year in a row
- But his Red Bull team is currently third in the 2024 constructors’ standings
- Employee bonuses are apparently based on the constructors’ championship
It was a celebratory weekend for Red Bull after Max Verstappen won the Formula 1 World Drivers’ Championship for the fourth year in a row.
However, his individual glory will apparently not result in bonus payments being triggered for members of the Red Bull team.
Verstappen finished fifth in the Las Vegas Grand Prix on Saturday evening and earned 10 points.
That was enough to build an unassailable lead over McLaran’s Lando Norris in the drivers’ standings.
Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez also finished in the points in Vegas when he finished 10th.
But these points were not enough to improve Red Bull’s position in the 2024 constructors’ standings.
Max Verstappen (top center) photographed a party with his Red Bull team on Saturday evening
Verstappen finished fifth in the Las Vegas GP, while teammate Sergio Perez (right) finished tenth
Saturday’s result sealed the Drivers’ World Championship title for the fourth year in a row and he was congratulated by Red Bull senior advisor Helmut Marko (right)
With only two races to go, Red Bull has 555 points, but is behind both Ferrari (584) and McLaren (608).
Helmut Marko, Red Bull’s senior advisor, told DAZN after Saturday’s race: ‘We need to have two drivers who finish in the points.
‘Max has more than 200 points ahead of Sergio [in the driver standings].
‘For now the most important thing was that we got the win [Drivers’] Championship for Max, but for our employees it is a disappointment because they do not receive their bonuses, which depend on our position in the constructors’ championship.’
Red Bull won the constructors’ championship in 2022 and 2023.
Those victories followed eight years of dominance by Mercedes.
Should McLaren retain top spot this year, it will be their first victory in the Constructors’ Championship since 1998.