Red Bull’s Max Verstappen claimed his third World Drivers’ Championship title in Qatar on Saturday.

Now with three titles, he has matched the number of championships of F1 legends Jack Brabham, Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Nelson Piquet, and Ayrton Senna.

Winning the title on a Saturday was already a rare occurrence in the sport’s history, but Verstappen was well hailed the season’s winner as early as Lap 11 of 19.

Fresh from his race victory at the Japan Grand Prix, the Dutch driver only needed a minimum of three points or finish at least P6 in the Sprint in Qatar.

Meanwhile, number two contender for the WDC title and his teammate Sergio Perez needed a top 3 finish to keep his championship campaign alive for another day.

Unfortunately for Perez, a domino-effect collision ensued at Turn 2 on Lap 11 involving him, Esteban Ocon and Nico Hulkenberg had forced him to bid adieu to championship aspiration earlier than expected.

Verstappen, who fell to P5 from P3 at the opening lap, in essence only needed to defend his position and not fall below further than P6. But as competitive as he was, the 26-year-old driver still aimed to capture the best outcome possible but McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was far too impressive.

“He (Piastri) did very well. I tried everything I could to try to catch up but we came short at the end,” he said post-race.

On being a three-time world champion, he said, "It's a fantastic feeling. It’s been an incredible year. Lots of great races, super proud of the job from the team. It's been so enjoyable to be part of that group of people.”

Piastri claims first win

Piastri qualified on pole position for the Sprint. But come Lap 4, Mercedes driver George Russell came in hot on soft tyres as opposed to his mediums and led the race.

However, those on soft compounds later on struggled with graining which forced them to go slower and manage their tyres should they choose not to pit, which was a likely strategy during a Sprint event.

The tricky Losail Circuit also saw AlphaTauri’s substitute driver Liam Lawson and Williams’ Logan Sargeant lose control and spun into the gravel which caused the deployment of a safety car on Lap 1 and Lap Lap 4, respectively.

Piastri reclaimed the prestige of clean air on Lap 11, and now P2-sitter Russell was heard telling his team that his “tyres are done” on their team radio.

Russell was overtaken by Verstappen on Lap 16, and then by Norris in the final lap to clinch a second consecutive double podium for the McLaren team.

With Russell shielding him from direct attacks from Verstappen, and with the number of safety cars deployed throughout the 19-lap race, these helped Piastri hold on to his P1 and capture his first-ever F1 career win.

"I’m very happy, [it was] a very stressful race. When I saw all the soft [tyre] guys come through at the start I thought we were in a bit of trouble. Then, their tyres fell off pretty quickly, so that was good,” he said in a post-race interview.

“Safety cars were definitely my friend today definitely once Max got behind me but the pace was reasonable,” he added.

Racing for runners-up

Perez leads the runners-up so far with 223 points, followed by Lewis Hamilton with 194 and Fernando Alonso with 175. Sitting on fifth and sixth places, respectively, are the Ferrari pair of Carlos Sainz with 153 and 2022’s second-best driver Charles Leclerc with 135.

The grid will next see action in the Sunday’s main race. Round 19 will be the United States GP slated on October 20-22.