Red Bull Racing Max Verstappen surges to win the 2023 Formula 1 World Driver’s Championship, his third consecutive title at the pinnacle of Motorsport.
The stunning feat achieved by the 26-year-old at the Lusail International Circuit in Qatar on Saturday saw Max Verstappen clinching a second place in the Qatar Grand Prix Sprint race, enough for the Dutch driver to become a three-time FIA Formula One World Champion.
“It’s a fantastic feeling. It’s been an incredible year,” he said after the race.
Assessing the performances that led him to join legends such as Niki Lauda, Ayrton Senna, or Jackie Stewart, he outlined: “A lot of great races and course super-proud but also super-proud of the job of the team.
“It’s just been so enjoyable to be part of that group of people. To be a three-time World Champion is just incredible.”
It is the first time in the series history that a driver is crowned world champion at an F1 Sprint.
The 19-lap race also marked rookie Oscar Piastri’s maiden victory in the series for McLaren.
Piastri, 22, running flawlessly in Losail for the first time as a rookie driver, recorded the fastest lap time at the Sprint Shootout to start the race from pole position.
The Australian shared the front row with teammate Lando Norris, securing a one-two start for the squad founded by Bruce McLaren in 1963.
In the rear mirror, they had Verstappen and George Russell with Mercedes on the Soft tires, a strategy that cost the Briton high through the race.
A much-anticipated fierce battle for the lead soon built momentum as the tires played a crucial role in gaining positions.
Soon enough, the Ferrari of Carlos Saiz and Charles Leclerc joined the party on the front, but both cars failed to overtake Russell, who took second place.
The drivers challenging one another on the middle field caused the first Safety Car when Liam Lawson’s AlphaTauri exited the track, ending in the gravel.
Minutes later, following a chaotic restart, Russell stole the lead from Piastri on lap 3. Then, the Williams of Logan Sargeant spun off into the gravel, and the SC returned to the track, challenging the team’s strategies.
At the end of lap sixth, action resumed, and Russell wasted no time, opening a two-second gap over Piastri.
Nonetheless, the skillful Aussie, on the Medium compound, soon recovered lost ground to take back the top on lap 10.
For his part, the Dutchman gained valuable positions as DRS was enabled; only a lap later, the Alpine of Esteban Ocon took out…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Racing News Articles…