Red Bull driver Max Verstappen has won his third Formula 1 championship.
The 26-year-old Dutchman dominated the season and won the championship ahead of schedule at the Qatar Grand Prix at the Lusail circuit.
The driver finished second in the sprint, behind McLaren driver Oscar Piastra. Verstappen, who won 13 of the 16 races in the season, needed to finish sixth or higher to win the title early.
Prior to Sunday’s race, his teammate Sergio Perez was the only driver who retained a mathematical chance of winning the championship this season. But the Mexican retired on lap 11.
With six rounds left in the Formula 1 Championship, Verstappen has 400 points and is 177 points ahead of Perez. There were 180 points left in the championship. The Dutchman also became only the second driver in the history of Formula 1 after Michael Schumacher to win the championship with six rounds to go.
Having won his third F1 championship, Verstappen equalized the number of titles with Ayrton Senna, Nelson Piquet, Niki Lauda, Jackie Stewart and Jack Brabham.
Only Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton, Juan Manuel Fangio, Alain Prost and Sebastian Vettel have more titles.
