DOHA: Max Verstappen added his name to the list of triple Formula One world champions on Saturday after Red Bull team-mate and sole title rival Sergio Perez crashed out of the Qatar Grand Prix sprint race.

Mexican Perez needed to finish in the top three to keep the title open for another day but his hopes ended in a cloud of dust after tangling with Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg on lap 11.

The Red Bull was then stuck in the gravel, with Perez stepping out.

That meant Verstappen, who started third and finished second behind McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, was the champion for the third year in a row with an unassailable lead of 184 points and only 172 left to win.

Team boss Christian Horner read out a roll call of greats over the radio after the 26-year-old Dutch driver crossed the finish line.

“Max, you are a three-times world champion. That’s unbelievable. It’s been an incredible year for you,” said Horner.

Verstappen, who has won 13 of 16 grands prix so far including 10 in a row, replied: “Yeah, unbelievable guys. I don’t know what to say. Thank you for providing me with such a car.

“This has been a fantastic feeling and it has been a fantastic year. We have had some great races and I am super proud of the team job and it is so enjoyable to be a part of this group of people. To win three times is incredible,” added Verstappen.

Verstappen won the title with six races remaining in the season, the greatest margin since 2002 when Michael Schumacher was champion for Ferrari.

His title win enabled him to join a rare club for three-time champions alongside Jack Brabham, Niki Lauda, Nelson Piquet, Ayrton Senna and Jackie Stewart.

He also became the second youngest triple world champion after now-retired Germany’s Sebastian Vettel, who secured the third of his four crowns with Red Bull in 2012 at the age of 25, and the first to win the title in a sprint event.

The last to take the title on a Saturday was Brazilian triple champion Piquet in the 1980s.

Piastri’s success ended Red Bull’s domination of the sprints this season and earned the Australian rookie his first victory in F1, even if not a proper grand prix for the record books.

McLaren’s Lando Norris finished third with Mercedes’ George Russell fourth and team-mate Lewis Hamilton fifth after starting 12th and cashing in on the collisions ahead of him.

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was sixth with team-mate Charles Leclerc seventh at the flag but then handed a five seconds penalty for exceeding the track limits and demoted out of the points.

That moved Williams’ Alex Albon up to seventh with Fernando Alonso eighth for Aston Martin.

Published in Dawn, October 9th, 2023