Max Verstappen already has his third F1 World Championship. The Dutchman, who had to score three points in the Qatar sprint, fulfilled his mission and was proclaimed, on Saturday, world champion with six races remaining.
Max Verstappen already has the third Formula 1 World Championship in his showcases. The Dutchman, who had done so for weeks, had confirmed the title on an atypical date. Because in Qatar, with a sprint test, it was on a Saturday when he was proclaimed world champion.
How he has revalidated a title that has been his since that Abu Dhabi test in 2021? Since that World Cup, he fought at the World Cup as well as controversially, against Lewis Hamilton. He was going to be the Englishman’s eighth, but in one lap everything changed and he was Verstappen’s first.
The first of the three that Max already has. Because the Dutchman is where he should be at the right time. He has the best engine. He also has the best car. He has a huge difference with his teammate. And yes, with the rest too.
Only Sainz has defeated them in the ‘normal’ race
Only Carlos Sainz has been able to with Red Bull. Because he is the only driver from another team who has been able to win an F1 race in 2023. In a normal race and, until today, also in a sprint. In a sprint with victory for Piastri.
It was enough for Verstappen to achieve three points to be champion. He already had it done at the start. He was supposed to be sixth, and at the beginning he was third. Everything was doing the usual. Run as always. Without risking. Without tightening. Just being behind the two McLarens and, if possible, overtaking them on the track.
It was noticeable at the start that he was going to put up a little fight. He went from being third to fifth, and from there to chewing up the World Cup. It was smooth sailing when the softs collapsed and he, with mediums, returned to third position. The accident involving Sergio Pérez, Esteban Ocon, and Nico Hulkenberg, which left all three out, already put the title on a plate.
And there are six races left
In Losail, which from today joins the large number of circuits that have seen an F1 world champion proclaimed on its asphalt. In Qatar’s short career in F1. It has been raced on this route twice, and the second time, a champion.
There are still six races to go and two sprints, but Verstappen has already done his homework. Now, he continues to accumulate records and anniversaries in his increasingly extensive biography of successes.
And 2024 may be similar
At 26 years old, with three F1 titles, and, seeing the level of Red Bull and the rest of the teams, and the enormous difference between them and the others, to know if the fourth arrives in 2024.
