Max Verstappen sealed a third successive Formula 1 world championship by finishing second behind Oscar Piastri in a chaotic Qatar Grand Prix Sprint on Saturday.
Becoming the 11th driver to reach at least three titles and just the fifth to win a hat-trick of titles in a row, Verstappen’s triumph was confirmed when his Red Bull team-mate – and nearest title challenger – Sergio Perez crashed out on lap 11, sealing one of the most impressive and dominant seasons in F1 history.
Verstappen is the first driver to clinch a title in a Sprint event – the short-form race introduced onto select Saturdays from 2021 – and does so with six Grands Prix in the season still to go, starting with Sunday’s race in Qatar at 6pm, live on Sky Sports.
Having started from pole, McLaren’s Piastri retook the lead from Mercedes’ George Russell to claim his first F1 Sprint victory, with the Australian rookie continuing to show the sort of form that suggests he could soon be challenging Verstappen for titles.
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Oscar Piastri held his nerve to take his first-ever Sprint win as Max Verstappen followed in second to be crowned world champion in Qatar
Verstappen joins some of the sport’s most famous names on three titles, including Ayrton Senna, Niki Lauda and Jackie Stewart. Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher share the outright record of seven.
The 26-year-old holds an unassailable 184-point lead over team-mate Perez, with a maximum of 172 points available in the six Grands Prix and two Sprints that remain.
“It’s a fantastic feeling,” Verstappen said. “Been an incredible year. Lots of great races, super proud of the job from the team. It’s been so enjoyable to be part of that group of people.
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Max Verstappen says he never thought it would be possible to claim his third world title and admits he hasn’t thought about the future and how many more he could claim.
“To be a three-time world champion is just incredible. We will keep on pushing, doing the best we can.
“Today was quite an exciting race, a bit of a shame with the Safety Cars, but overall it was fun out there. Just incredibly happy at the moment.”
Lando Norris recovered from dropping from second to sixth on the opening lap to take the final podium spot, ahead of Russell and his Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who delivered an impressive drive from 12th on the grid to take fifth.
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Red Bull boss Christian Horner says Max Verstappen can count himself as one of the ‘greats’ of the sport after winning his third consecutive world title
Qatar GP Sprint Result: Top 10
1) Oscar Piastri, McLaren (8 points)
2) Max Verstappen, Red Bull (7 points)
3) Lando Norris, McLaren (6 points)
4) George Russell, Mercedes (5 points)
5) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes (4 points)
6) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari (3 points)
7) Alex Albon, Williams (2 points)
8) Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin (1 point)
9) Pierre Gasly, Alpine
10) Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo
How wild Qatar Sprint unfolded
With Verstappen, starting from third on the grid, merely needing to avoid Perez, starting eighth, bettering his result by five points, any outcome other than the Dutchman becoming world champion seemed highly unlikely.
However, a poor start saw Verstappen drop to sixth in the opening corners, before he recovered one of the places he had lost by overtaking Lando Norris.
Even then, with Verstappen fifth and Perez having dropped out the points, any chance of the wait being extended to Sunday was all but gone.
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Oscar Piastri holds onto the lead of the Sprint, while Liam Lawson loses control and crashes out to bring out the Safety Car
Aside from the most important element of all, the 19-lap race was about as dramatic as it could have been.
Liam Lawson, likely standing in for AlphaTauri for the last time this season as Daniel Ricciardo nears a return from injury, lost control at Turn 2 and brought out a Safety Car as he became beached in the gravel.
Russell, who had darted past Norris and Verstappen at the start, continued to make good use of his soft tyres, which warm up faster than the mediums the top three began on, to pass Piastri up the inside of Turn 6 following the restart.
Moments later, the Safety Car would return to the track as Williams’ Logan Sargeant also spun off to leave himself stuck in the gravel.
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George Russell dives down the inside to take the lead from Oscar Piastri in the Qatar Grand Prix Sprint
Following the restart on lap seven, Verstappen passed the Ferraris on consecutive laps to climb to third, while Piastri eased past Russell once his medium tyres had entered a better operating window.
With Verstappen primed to chase down the top two, his title was effectively confirmed when Perez crashed out on lap 11 in a dramatic three-car collision with Esteban Ocon and Nico Hulkenberg.
By the time the track was cleared, only five laps remained, which was enough time for Verstappen to cruise past Russell, but not to mount a challenge to the composed Piastri.
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The best of the action from a dramatic Sprint at the Qatar Grand Prix.
Further back, Hamilton stormed through the field on his medium tyres to take an unlikely fifth, showing pace that will give him hope of a strong race on Sunday, as he starts third behind pole-sitter Verstappen and team-mate Russell.
Having finished seventh on the track behind Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz, Charles Leclerc received a five-second penalty after the race for multiple track limits breaches, which saw Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso claim the final point behind Williams’ Alex Albon.
Watch Max Verstappen’s first race as a three-time world champion in the Qatar GP on Sunday live on Sky Sports F1. The race starts at 6pm with build-up from 4.30pm. Stream F1 on Sky Sports with NOW for £21 a month for six months