Verstappen from the other planet: World champion for the third time in a row with unreal performances

It was Oscar Piastri who won the race in his first F1 victory, but the Dutchman’s second place was enough to give him the title this season. Max Verstappen became the 11th man in history with (at least) three Formula 1 World Championships.

In a sprint that included three safety cars and three different accidents in just 19 laps – none of which had serious consequences – Oscar Piastri achieved his first major success in Formula 1, and Max Verstappen was able to improve from fifth to second place, falling at the beginning.

Accordingly, in the end Lando Norris climbed to 3rd place with the other McLaren – from 6th place – while behind the Brit the two Mercedes with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton (who started from 12th place) crossed the finish line in formation. Both Ferraris with Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc.

The three safety cars came on the first lap for Liam Lawson’s exit in the sand trap in the Alpha Tauri, then four laps later for the corresponding exit of Logan Sargeant in the Williams and then on lap 11 for the triple accident of Esteban Ocon, Nico Hülkenberg and Sergio Perez in the duel between them.

The sprint race attracted great interest due to the drivers’ split strategy when choosing tires: Most decided to take part on the medium tire, such as Piatri, Norris and Verstappen from the first three starting positions – although behind them were Russell, Saind, Leclerc and Alonso opted for the soft one.

Of course, amidst all those safety cars at the start, with the added grip of the soft rubber, Russell, Saint and Leclerc overtook Norris and Verstappen and moved in behind Piastri. As long as their soft rubber held, Russell attacked and took the lead from the McLaren Australian.

But halfway through the race, the medium tire began to reach its operating window and the soft tire began to wear out. When the Ocon-Hülkenberg-Perez accident occurred, Piastri was just beginning to exploit this tire advantage and regained the lead from Russell.

The safety car remained on the track for three laps, but when it moved off, the drivers on the medium tires had no problem warming it up again. The soft tires of Russell, Saint, Leclerc and Alonso were already sufficiently worn, so Verstappen and Norris arrived very soon – and with the help of DRS – and overtook all the cars with the red tires at the end, climbing into second and third place or.

Lewis Hamilton used the same center tire advantage to make up many of the places he lost when he crashed out in Q2 of the afternoon sprint shootout to get past the Ferraris and move into the top five behind Russell.

Although Max Verstappen was crowned on the F1 throne for the third time in a row this evening, the key race of the two days will take place under the floodlights of Losail tomorrow (Sunday, October 8th) at 8 p.m. – judging by today’s spectacle, the overtaking maneuvers and the Big differences in tires could somewhat offset the lack of interest in the battle for this year’s title, which has finally and irrevocably ended.

Relive Max Verstappen’s coronation tonight at the Losail Sprint race LIVE HERE.