The Dutchman Max Verstappen (Red Bull), This Saturday he became, mathematically, triple Formula One world champion, before the sprint test of the Qatar Grand Prix, the seventeenth of the Formula One World Championship, had even finished, on the Lusail circuit; where he was second in the reduced test, which was won, from the first place on the grid, by the Australian Oscar Piastri (McLaren).
Verstappen, who turned 26 a week ago, mathematically became world champion, for the third year in a row, before completing a sprint in which it was better for him to be sixth or for his teammate, the Mexican Sergio Pérez – who abandoned in the eleventh of the 19 laps, after colliding with the Frenchman Esteban Ocon (Alpine) and the German Nico Hülkenberg (Haas) – he did not finish among the top three.
In any case, and even if ‘Checo’ had not had to abandon, ‘Mad Max’ would have been proclaimed champion, since he finished second in a bumpy sprint in which the safety car came out on the track three times; in which the other McLaren, that of Englishman Lando Norris, finished third; and that the Spaniards Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) and Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) finished fifth and ninth, respectively.
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