By Robert Haile

Max Verstappen has sealed his third World Championship as Oscar Piastri wins the Qatar Sprint race.

The Red Bull driver has joined a small group of Formula 1 drivers that have three titles with Sir Jack Brabham, Sir Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna among the number.

It was looking like it would have to wait until the Grand Prix on Sunday but as teammate and title rival Sergio Perez collided with Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg ending up in the gravel on lap 11 the celebrations would begin at the end of the sprint.

When asked how it feels to be a three time champion Verstappen said: “Of course, a fantastic feeling. It’s been an incredible year, lots of great races. Of course, super proud and to be a three-time world champion is just incredible.”

With the celebrations starting for number three Verstappen responded with: “We’ll just see what happens. I’m enjoying the moment and hopefully of course we can keep this momentum going for a while.” when asked if he was already eyeing up more titles.

The Dutch driver started third with McLaren’s Lando Norris and Australian rookie Oscar Piastri, who took his first pole position and would have to fight back to win his first Formula 1 race, in front of him.

He dropped back to fifth before working his way back through the field to take second.

Norris would have to settle for third with early race leader George Russell fourth and Lewis Hamilton fifth.

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc took sixth and seventh with Alex Albon claiming another point for Williams in eighth.

There were five drivers who didn’t finish with Perez being joined by Ocon, Hulkenberg, Logan Sargeant and Liam Lawson.

With no one able to now catch Max Verstappen at the top of the Drivers Championship with a lead of 184 points ahead of his teammate Sergio Perez in the Drivers Championship all eyes will turn to the battle for second.

Lewis Hamilton is only 29 points off Perez and will be looking to close the gap further before the weekend finishes.

The Constructors Championship was sealed at the last race in Japan as Red Bull claimed the title.

The battle for second has heated up and Mercedes extended their lead to 24 points ahead of Ferrari in third while McLaren closing in on Aston Martin and are 35 points off fourth.

The Qatar Grand Prix on Sunday, October 8,