International press: Verstappen's Abu Dhabi GP made his 2023 more legendary

The Guardian

In the UK, The Guardian writes that Verstappen seemed to have a moment of realisation on the podium after winning the last Grand Prix of 2023. Under the title, "Max Verstappen ends season in style with victory in Abu Dhabi Grand Prix," it said: "Perhaps it was the sheer scale of his achievement that finally hit home for Max Verstappen as he stood victorious on the podium for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to close out the 2023 Formula One season. The Dutchman smiled on the top step but his features betrayed a sense that he was aware it may never be better than this."

Marca

In Spain special focus on Verstappen's records: "Max Verstappen's extraordinary season ended with a comfortable victory in Abu Dhabi on Sunday. The F1 champion extended his record to 19 wins this season and 54 wins in total. This puts him in third place of all time [...] His 54th win has placed him past Vettel, with only Michael Schumacher (91) and Lewis Hamilton (103) still ahead of him."

Gazzetta dello Sport

After Verstappen's convincing victory, the Italian sports newspaper cannot help but call the Dutchman, in the title of the article, the emir of Abu Dhabi. The medium writes: "Max Verstappen is the ruler of F1 with 19 wins from 22 GPs (and who knows 20 from 23 had Imola gone ahead). "

"What more can be said about a champion of this class? Schumacher and Hamilton have put up stats that seem unachievable. Those numbers of victories will also remain so for a long time, but Verstappen has already achieved hugely prestigious performances on a par with Michael and Lewis. Three titles he already has in his pocket and who knows what is to come if he continues in this way."

Bild

At German Bild, in addition to Verstappen's special season, there is also a focus on the number two in the constructors' championship. Germany's Mercedes narrowly managed to hold P2 in the battle against Ferrari. Bild writes: "A season of extreme highlights came to an end in Abu Dhabi. 22 races (a record!), 19 wins for Verstappen (a record!) and looking at the number of races still to be run, the earliest title won (a record!)."

"The battle for second place in the championship was still exciting until the last few metres. The celebrating winners came from Germany! In the end, Mercedes finished three points ahead of Ferrari. It was particularly close!

HLN

Finally, the reaction from the Belgian media. HLN writes: "Max Verstappen ended his record-breaking season in style. He left no chances to his rivals and won for the fourth time in a row at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi. After his wins in 2020, 2021 and 2022, the Dutch world champion rounded off his super year 2023 with his 19th and strongest GP win of the year."

"Moreover, partly due to his unapproachable race at the Yas Marina Circuit, he was the first driver ever to lead more than a thousand laps in a single season. Those statistics make his season even more legendary than it already was."