Max Verstappen and McLaren were officially presented with their 2024 championship awards at the FIA gala in Rwanda on Friday.

For the Dutchman it was his fourth successive title, while for the legendary Woking outfit it was its first since 1998, bringing it total to nine.

The trophies were presented by FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem and His Excellency Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda at the BK Arena in Kigali the Rwandan capital.

"Here in Kigali, we have shone a light on members of our motor sport family whose commitment, spirit, and endeavour are at the heart of our sport," said Ben Sulayem, "and we look to the champions of the future, those just beginning their careers and enjoying their first taste of success.

"Congratulations to all our deserving winners, it is an honour to celebrate with you," he added.

Verstappen was joined by the men who he battled this season and who are likely to be challenging again next season, Lando Norris, who received the runners-up trophy and Charles Leclerc.

For various reasons, not least convergence due to the essentially unchanged rules, a not entirely competitive car and lack of realistic support from its other driver, Red Bull failed to win the constructors' title, leaving McLaren and Ferrari to fight to the finish in Abu Dhabi.

"It's amazing, four titles is definitely incredible," said Verstappen. "Of course I also hope it doesn't stop here. I hope we can be successful for a longer period of time.

"This year the competition is very close," he added, "but then again in 2026 a lot is going to change.

"Of course we're not standing here as constructors' champions," he continued. "In a way, I do think we deserved a little bit more in that championship. I tried my very best and we also know a lot where we have to work on for next year. I'm very excited about that as well because it does look like it's going to be a proper fight between a lot of teams."

Meanwhile, runner-up Norris retracted his claim, made in the aftermath of Verstappen's sensational performance in Brazil, whereby he suggested that the Dutchman's performance was more about luck than talent.

"It shouldn't have been red flagged," he said at the time, "but there was the crash in the end which caused it so... that's life sometimes. You take a gamble and it's paid off for them. It's not talent, it's just luck."

Speaking on Friday, the McLaren driver said: "First of all, I retract that comment back there where I said it was all luck and no talent.

"You know how the media changes things," he continued. "First of all, congratulations to Max. What he did this year, what he did in Brazil, of course, was incredible, so I'm the first one to acknowledge such a thing when I'm the one going up against him.

"It was a tough season, of course," added the Briton. "I tried to give my best and put up the best battle that I could, but this year was not enough, and at the same time, sometimes, I am happy to finish second to Max because I think it's quite an achievement to do a lot better than that.

"It was a wonderful year for myself. A lot of achievements, a lot of improvement from myself, but I also know I need to step it up and do more than I did this year, so I'm excited to look forward to next year and try to do the same," the McLaren driver concluded."

As McLaren celebrated its first title in almost three decades, Zak Brown revealed that the Woking outfit had almost gone under in 2020.

"Closing Abu Dhabi '20, we were definitely on the brink," admitted the American. "We were paying all our bills, but we were months away, not several months," he continued.

"We knew we could make it through the year but we were in a situation where if we didn't have a cash injection we would have been at risk."

Other than legal proceedings to protect itself from insolvency, McLaren took a loan from the National Bank of Bahrain whilst also shedding around 25% of its workforce.

"It wasn't a comfortable place at all," said Brown. "I was always confident the shareholders would never let it get there," he added, referring to insolvency, "but it was also clear we needed the investment.

"I could put my head on the pillow at night knowing they'll back us up if they have to, but it was going to be the ninth inning, to use a baseball term, before they brought in the relief pitcher."

Valued in 2023 by Forbes at $2.2bn, it is anticipated that the Woking outfit's share of the 2024 prize money will exceed $210m.

Picture Credit: FIA