Verstappen secured his third world title by finishing second in the Qatar sprint

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen secured his Formula 1 title hat-trick early on Saturday in the sprint to the Qatar Grand Prix. A second place in the short race north of Doha was enough for the 26-year-old Dutchman to take the World Cup crown for the third time after 2021 and 2022. The victory in the 19-lap sprint at the Lusail International Circuit was sensationally won by McLaren “rookie” Oscar Piastri, who triumphed in the premier class for the first time.

Verstappen: “super proud”

“A fantastic feeling, it was an incredible year. I’m super proud, also of the team,” said an overjoyed Verstappen in the finish area. “Three-time world champion, unbelievable.” Red Bull motorsport consultant Helmut Marko was also overwhelmed. “It’s unbelievable. We’ve been together with Max for ten years and what has been achieved is a unique thing in the history of Formula 1. He’s 26 years old, there’s still a lot to come,” said the 80-year-old Styrian, dressed in a Verstappen t-shirt and cap, on Sky. “The pulse was low, definitely not as high as two years ago,” added father Jos Verstappen and laughed.

Video: Qualifying in Qatar

In the overall World Cup standings, Verstappen now leads the 17th of 22 races this season by an unassailable 184 points ahead of his Mexican teammate Sergio Perez, who did not finish the sprint after a crash through no fault of his own with Alpine driver Esteban Ocon and Haas driver Nico Hülkenberg. Lando Norris came third in the second McLaren. In the main race on Sunday (7 p.m./live ORF 1 and Sky), Verstappen will start the race from first place on the grid and will set his sights on victory number 14 of the season. Two weeks ago, the Austro racing team Red Bull had already secured its second triumph in the constructors’ championship in a row in Japan.

However, the fact that a Formula 1 world champion is crowned on a Saturday is nothing new. For example, Nelson Piquet won all three of his titles (1981, 1983, 1987) on a Saturday, as races used to take place regularly on that day. The Brazilian Piquet will probably also be happy for Verstappen; Piquet’s daughter Kelly has been officially in a relationship with the Dutchman since the beginning of 2021.

In the sprint, the McLaren duo and Verstappen started the race with the harder medium tires, while the competition behind them relied on the softer soft compound. The Australian pole-sitter Piastri remained in the lead after the first lap, while Verstappen got off to a bad start behind him and fell back to fifth place. Norris also couldn’t move on the dirty side in the desert and found himself in sixth place. Perez also didn’t have an ideal starting phase, slipping back three places to eleventh place after three laps.

At the front, Russell temporarily passed Piastri with a remarkable maneuver. AlphaTauri driver Liam Lawson and Williams driver Logan Sargeant caused safety car phases when they spun into the gravel. At the halfway point of the race, Verstappen passed Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz in the two Ferraris as the soft tires continued to lose speed. After Perez crashed off the track in a crash with Ocon and Hülkenberg, the World Championship was already decided before the end of the sprint. A little later Verstappen also overtook Russell, but Piastri held his nerve while in the lead and took the win.

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