Max Verstappen has won the 2023 Formula 1 drivers’ championship in the sprint race at Qatar’s Losail International Circuit.
He clinched the title as his Red Bull team mate Sergio Perez, the only driver mathematically capable of beating him, crashed out of the race on lap 11. He needed to to out-score Verstappen by more than five points to remain in contention for the title.Verstappen has become the 11th different driver to win three world titles. He is the fifth driver to have won the championship in three consecutive years, and only five drivers now hold more titles than he does.
“A fantastic feeling,” said Verstappen. “It’s been an incredible year, a lot of great races and super proud of the job of the team.
“It’s been so enjoyable to be part of that group of people and to be a three time world champion is just incredible.”
His latest title is by far his most dominant. Verstappen has tied Michael Schumacher’s record from 2002 of clinching the championship with six grands prix left in a season.
The Red Bull driver is on pole for tomorrow’s grand prix where he could win his 14th race of the season. He set the record for most wins in a single season last year with 15.
“We’ll keep on pushing,” Verstappen added. “We’ll try to do the best we can. I’m enjoying the moment and hopefully we can keep this momentum going for a while.”
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Verstappen has led the championship after every round this season. He has already broken the record for most consecutive grands prix victories, scoring 10 in a row from the Miami to the Italian grands prix.
The championship has never previously been won in a sprint race. The format was only introduced to the series two years ago.
Verstappen has also become the first driver since Nelson Piquet in 1983 to clinch the championship on a Saturday. Piquet, the father of Verstappen’s partner Kelly Piquet, won his second title on a Saturday in the South African Grand Prix.
It is the second year in a row both Verstappen and his team have won their respective championships. Red Bull clinched the constructors’ title in Japan two weeks ago.
List of Formula 1 drivers’ champions as of 2023
| Rank | Driver | Championships | Years |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael Schumacher | 7 | 1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 |
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | 7 | 2008, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 |
| 3 | Juan Manuel Fangio | 5 | 1951, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957 |
| 4 | Alain Prost | 4 | 1985, 1986, 1989, 1993 |
| 4 | Sebastian Vettel | 4 | 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 |
| 6 | Jack Brabham | 3 | 1959, 1960, 1966 |
| 6 | Jackie Stewart | 3 | 1969, 1971, 1973 |
| 6 | Niki Lauda | 3 | 1975, 1977, 1984 |
| 6 | Nelson Piquet | 3 | 1981, 1983, 1987 |
| 6 | Ayrton Senna | 3 | 1988, 1990, 1991 |
| 6 | Max Verstappen | 3 | 2021, 2022, 2023 |
| 12 | Alberto Ascari | 2 | 1952, 1953 |
| 12 | Jim Clark | 2 | 1963, 1965 |
| 12 | Graham Hill | 2 | 1962, 1968 |
| 12 | Emerson Fittipaldi | 2 | 1972, 1974 |
| 12 | Mika Hakkinen | 2 | 1998, 1999 |
| 12 | Fernando Alonso | 2 | 2005, 2006 |
| 18 | Giuseppe Farina | 1 | 1950 |
| 18 | Mike Hawthorn | 1 | 1958 |
| 18 | Phil Hill | 1 | 1961 |
| 18 | John Surtees | 1 | 1964 |
| 18 | Denny Hulme | 1 | 1967 |
| 18 | Jochen Rindt | 1 | 1970 |
| 18 | James Hunt | 1 | 1976 |
| 18 | Mario Andretti | 1 | 1978 |
| 18 | Jody Scheckter | 1 | 1979 |
| 18 | Alan Jones | 1 | 1980 |
| 18 | Keke Rosberg | 1 | 1982 |
| 18 | Nigel Mansell | 1 | 1992 |
| 18 | Damon Hill | 1 | 1996 |
| 18 | Jacques Villeneuve | 1 | 1997 |
| 18 | Kimi Raikkonen | 1 | 2007 |
| 18 | Jenson Button | 1 | 2009 |
| 18 | Nico Rosberg | 1 | 2016 |
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
2023 Japanese Grand Prix
- Norris: Red Bull’s dominance down to ‘small things which make a big difference’
- Mercedes must halve deficit to Red Bull before 2024 season starts – Hamilton
- Mercedes expect “tight” fight for second in championship after Ferrari gains
- Norris breaks Hulkenberg’s record for most points without a win in F1
- Transcript: What Alonso really meant by being “thrown to the lions” at Suzuka
Nitzo (@webtel)
7th October 2023, 19:07
Congratulations to Max.
Homerlovesbeer (@homerlovesbeer)
7th October 2023, 19:25
What about Piastri? He just won his first race.
PeterG
7th October 2023, 19:48
@homerlovesbeer But he didn’t as sprint races don’t count as race wins. It won’t be listed in the record books as a race win. He won’t get the winners trophy either.
Liberty don’t even refer to the sprints as a race.
Armchair Expert (@armchairexpert)
7th October 2023, 19:10
Simply The Greatest of All Time!
f12007v (@f1fan-2000)
7th October 2023, 19:14
Good job max and red bull. Never seen such consistency at such high levels.
BLS (@brightlampshade)
7th October 2023, 19:17
Well, didn’t that just sum up Perez’s season.
elchinero (@elchinero)
7th October 2023, 19:26
Well, didn’t that just sum up Stroll’s season
Homerlovesbeer (@homerlovesbeer)
7th October 2023, 19:26
That RedBull is an utter waste on him.
Doggy
7th October 2023, 19:30
Not really. The only thing Perez was at fault is qualifying badly earlier today. But there is nothing he did wrong in that accident.
95% of Checo’s issues this season is because his own wrong doing; not because a series of unfortunate events.
On a different note, this could be a record breaker. 3 safety cars in 19 laps with dry track.
Regardless brilliant drive from Oscar and Max.
BLS (@brightlampshade)
7th October 2023, 20:47
I don’t know, getting taken out by a Alpine and a Haas because he can’t qualify his hugely dominant car anywhere near the front is pretty on point.
Jordi Casademunt (@casjo)
7th October 2023, 23:22
Forcing a 3-wide into a corner on the outside while fighting 2 midfielders might not be a breach of the rules, but it’s about the most stupid thing you can do in a Red Bull. He would have passed the two cars easily once the fight was over, instead he got taken out for being impatient.
Walt
7th October 2023, 22:01
Perez back to AM, Alonso to RB. Great fun for sure.
Lewis
7th October 2023, 19:26
Yahoo!! Congrats Max, megajob!
Kribana (@krichelle)
7th October 2023, 19:31
Congratulations to Verstappen. Perez is going to lose 2nd to Hamilton at this rate. You do wonder if he has given up on his season.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
8th October 2023, 5:41
And on his seat, cause it’d be pretty embarassing to lose to a non-red bull this year, he managed to do that last year to leclerc, and bottas almost managed to do that to verstappen in 2020.
HK (@me4me)
7th October 2023, 19:35
Congratulations and job well done Max Verstappen. Extremely good season.
Also congratulations to Piastri for his first win.
MobileApps
7th October 2023, 19:39
Give credit to Christian Horner has to take a lot of credit. As team principal he now has as many WDCs as Toto. Christian built this team in both their periods of success.
Illusive (@illusive)
7th October 2023, 19:48
Congratulations Max, it was inevitable that he would win a championship but it feels he is just getting started even after winning three.
Asd
7th October 2023, 19:53
0. Driver | Championships | 2nd Places| 3rd Places |
1. Michael Schumacher | 7 | 3 | 4 |
2. Lewis Hamilton__ | 7 | 3 |(1)|
3. Juan Manuel Fangio | 5 | 2 | – |
4. Alain Prost____ | 4 | 4 | – |
5. Sebastian Vettel__ | 4 | 3 | 1 |
6. Jackie Stewart___ | 3 | 2 | 1 |
7. Ayrton Senna_ | 3 | 2 | 1 |
8. Nelson Piquet___ | 3 | 1 | 2 |
9. Jack Brabham__ | 3 | 1 | – |
10. Niki Lauda___ | 3 | 1 | – |
11. Max Verstappen_ | 3 | – | 2 |
MadMax (@madmax)
7th October 2023, 20:29
Congrats to Piastri. No lame RBR rocketship cruise to another easy victory.
Jackal
7th October 2023, 21:20
Perez is such a joke
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
8th October 2023, 4:44
it was either that or let him beat Max and sully the legend. kind of funny how his performance dropped off a cliff when the infighting happened between him and verstappen’s family. as good a job as rbr do, they could put perez on the top step if they wanted too, or they can keep lying about helping him and watch perez dive bomb. im sure they will do just enough to keep him in front of Hamilton, in fact rbr will take it to the last race and probably take hamilton’s p2 from him, such is the entertainment value rbr wield at the moment. its all show.
Jackal
8th October 2023, 5:56
Keep telling yourself that. Perez is massively underperforming and he has only himself to blame. He simply is not good enough to be with a top team ….. he proved it while at McLaren and he’s left no doubt at all while with RBR.
EffWunFan (@cairnsfella)
8th October 2023, 2:09
A somewhat reluctant, though clearly deserved…. “Well Done Max!”.