(Losail) Max Verstappen secured a third consecutive Formula 1 title on Saturday, capping a season in which the Red Bull driver has dominated almost completely.
He obtained recognition by finishing second in the sprint which took place as part of the Qatar Grand Prix.
His teammate Sergio Perez, the only one who could join him in the standings, saw his race end when he was hit by the car of Esteban Ocon, from Alpine.
Verstappen started third. He was fifth after one lap, before starting to take things into his own hands.
Perez was battling with Ocon and the Haas car of Nico Hulkenberg midway through the event. Ocon hit a Hulkenberg wheel and crashed into Perez on the outside, after which both cars got stuck off the track.
PHOTO KARIM JAAFAR, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Max Verstappen driving the Red Bull during the Qatar Grand Prix sprint race.
The sprint was won by McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, who had the leading position.
Verstappen ruled the roost by winning 10 races in a row (a Formula 1 record) from May to September.
Canadian Lance Stroll finished 13e with Aston Marton, who ranked 16the in qualifying.
In sprint qualifying Piastri, an Australian rookie, beat teammate Lando Norris by 0.082 seconds. Verstappen finished third, 0192 behind Piastri.
Norris looked to have the pace to beat Piastri on the final lap, but he went too wide on the final corner.
The start of the session was delayed by 20 minutes. Extra 10-minute practice sessions were also added, following concerns that the circuit’s “pyramid” curbs were causing tire damage during Friday practice.
The FIA said it would analyze the tires used on Saturday and if the situation did not improve it could force drivers to make at least three pit stops on Sunday, to prevent them from running on older, worn tires .
The drivers used the curbs a lot on Friday and Saturday when they moved out of the corners, to maintain more speed.
Several times were deleted on Friday and Saturday, because the drivers had put all four wheels off the track.
In the last session, this was the case for Verstappen, Perez, Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) and Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), in particular.
Max Verstappen in brief
- Date of birth: September 30, 1997
- Place of birth: Hasselt (Belgium)
- Nationality: Dutch, Belgian mother and Dutch father (Jos Verstappen, ex-F1 driver)
- Height: 1.80 m
- 2023 team: Red Bull
- Race number: 1
- Results in F1: World Champion 2021, 2022, 2023
- 180 Grands Prix contested (179 starts):
- Teams: Toro Rosso (2015-2016, until the Russian GP), Red Bull (since 2016, from the Spanish GP)
- Debut: Australia 2015 (abandonment)
- First points: Malaysia 2015 (7e)
France Media Agency
The records
Max Verstappen, crowned champion for the third time in a row, has set a series of records in the premier class of motorsport, and could still break others by the end of the season:
Precocity records:
- Youngest driver to start an F1 GP at 17 years, 5 months and 15 days (Australia 2015)
- Youngest driver to score points at 17 years, 5 months and 29 days (Malaysia 2015)
- Youngest driver to win a GP (and also to reach a podium and lead a GP) at 18 years, 7 months and 15 days (Spain 2016)
- Youngest driver to set a fastest lap in a race at 19 years, 1 month and 14 days (Brazil 2016)
- Fourth youngest driver to win a leading position at 21 years, 10 months and 5 days (Hungary 2019), behind Sebastian Vettel (21 years, 2 months and 11 days), Charles Leclerc (21 years, 5 months and 15 days) and Fernando Alonso (21 years, 7 months and 23 days).
- Fourth youngest driver to win a world championship title at 24 years, 2 months and 12 days, behind Sebastian Vettel in 2010 (23 years, 4 months and 11 days), Lewis Hamilton in 2008 (23 years, 9 months and 26 days) and Fernando Alonso in 2005 (24 years, 1 month and 27 days)
Other main records broken:
- Consecutive victories: Verstappen won his tenth Grand Prix in a row in Italy at the beginning of September, breaking the record of the German Sebastian Vettel (9 victories in a row in 2013). This series of successes ended in Singapore two weeks later.
- Number of GP victories per season: 15 times victorious in 22 races in 2022, Verstappen erased last year the record of 13 successes jointly held by Vettel (2013) and F1 legend Michael Schumacher (2004). With 13 victories so far and five rounds still to go after the Qatar GP on Sunday, Verstappen can easily beat his own record by the end of the season.
Another record he can beat at the end of the season:
- Distance between first and second at the end of the season: Verstappen now has a 184-point lead over his closest pursuer, his Mexican Red Bull teammate Sergio Pérez. If he maintains this gap, he can beat the record held by Vettel who, in 2013, finished the season with a lead of 155 points over Fernando Alonso (Ferrari).