Max Verstappen can now officially be called a three-time F1 World Champion as the Dutchman secured his third successive title in Qatar on Saturday evening.
Red Bull had a pressure-free evening as they arrived in Qatar with the constructors’ title already sewn up, yet they were desperate to help propel Verstappen to a third individual crown.
If his first was controversial and his second was underwhelming, then his third will go down in the history books as outright dominance, and there are still six races to go.
“A fantastic feeling, it’s been an incredible year. I feel super proud, but super proud of the job of the team. We’ll keep on pushing but of course I’m incredibly happy at the moment,” Verstappen said after the race.
Heading into Saturday’s Sprint Race, Verstappen started in an unfamiliar position, third on the grid behind the McLaren pairing of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, yet he needed to outscore teammate Sergio Perez by just three points to secure the crown.
He was able to do just that, despite only finishing second in the sprint behind Piastri, who took his first victory in Formula 1.
Sergio Perez, who had struggled throughout qualifying on Friday, was involved in a three-car collision which ended the Mexican’s race and handed Verstappen the title before the event had even ended.
Safety cars prevented any momentum being built
An awful start for Norris saw the Brit lose four places heading into the first corner, yet a number of crashes killed any real momentum throughout the race.
Norris would eventually claw his way back into a third-place finish, with McLaren taking full advantage of a better tire selection.
The degradation of the soft tires could have been much worse had the safety car not been out on the track three times in 19 laps.
This prevented any real momentum from being built, as everyone was forced to stop-start. However, the impact on the soft tires was significant as George Russell dropped from first all the way to fourth after being overtaken by Piastri, Verstappen and Norris.
Liam Lawson and Logan Sargeant were the first two drivers to crash out, both bringing out the safety car, whilst Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon followed later on.
After the final safety car came in, Verstappen found his footing on the medium tires that had been so slow at the beginning of the sprint. He overtook a number of cars, but never had enough to challenge Piastri, who was on the same tire strategy.
Piastri, in the end, won comfortably and took what is likely to be the first of many checkered flags in the sport. The Australian handled his car beautifully and showed that he and Norris will also be serious challengers in Sunday’s main race.
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