DOHA: Max Verstappen can win his third consecutive F1 title at the Qatar Grand Prix and he can do it on Saturday (tomorrow).
Verstappen will secure the title if he finishes sixth or higher in the sprint race, which could leave Sunday’s main Grand Prix as an afterthought.
Winning the title in a sprint – a 19-lap competition that F1 refuses to call a “race” – could be a little awkward for the series and for Verstappen. He has previously argued that the format should be scrapped.
“It’s not proper racing, it’s more of a gamble,” he said after the first sprint of the season in Azerbaijan in April. “I think I’ll have more success in Vegas if I go to the casino. I like to race, I’m a pure racer and I think this is more for show.”
It was a relentlessly dominant season from the Dutch driver, who had the fastest car with Red Bull but also left team-mate Sergio Perez far behind in the standings.
Perez is the last driver with a mathematical chance of catching Verstappen in the six remaining rounds of the championship, but even if Verstappen drops out of the sprint race, Perez will need to finish in the top three to keep the competition alive.
Perez paid tribute to Verstappen’s achievements on Thursday, but said the difference in their seasons was partly due to the development of the Red Bull car not suiting his own driving style.
“Max did a tremendous job. I don’t think any credit should be taken away from what he’s done this season. I think he rode at a different level than anybody else, and that’s something I have a lot of respect for,” Perez said. “I felt like from Barcelona (Spanish WC in June) I was starting to struggle and had some flaws with the car.
Verstappen was not only fast, but consistent. He set a new F1 record when he won his 10th consecutive F1 race at the Italian Grand Prix last month. Red Bull have won 16 of the last 17 races since the end of last year.
Speaking on a Red Bull podcast released this week, Verstappen said “you can’t really have off days or off weekends in F1” and said his entire career since making his Toro Rosso debut in 2015 at the age of 17 has been a process of correcting mistakes.
“I was very young when I entered Formula 1, so naturally you lack a lot of experience. And because of that lack of experience, sometimes you make a few mistakes,” he said. “In a way, you have to make mistakes in life as well to become a better driver, a better person, and it’s about how you learn from those things and how you implement improvements, and I think that’s a continuous process.” This is not something that will ever stop. It only stops when you stop racing. In that sense, it’s about being on that learning curve and trying not to make the same mistake twice.”
The lengthy process to add an 11th team to F1 took a step forward on Monday, when the governing body, the FIA, said American team Andretti Global met the criteria for entry.
That doesn’t mean Michael Andretti’s team will get on the grid. The decision now rests with F1 commercial rights holder Liberty Media. Teams are mostly opposed to adding a new team, but do not have the ability to vote on expansions.
“Having a name in Formula 1 is obviously a good name. But at the same time, this decision is not up to us, so let’s wait and see,” Perez said.
American driver Logan Sargeant has yet to score a point for Williams and does not have a confirmed contract for 2024, but the team has indicated it wants to keep him.
“Logan has very clear goals to achieve by the end of the season and we are working with him around the clock,” team principal James Vowles said in a video message last week. “We want him to succeed and we want him in the car next year.
Sargeant crashed in qualifying and collided with Valtteri Bottas in the final race in Japan, but Vowles said the American was making progress and stressed he was close to team-mate Alex Albon’s performance in Japan.
On Thursday, Albon had kind words for Sargeant. “I think he doesn’t get the credit he deserves. Logan has a lot of speed and talent. I think that was just offset a little bit by the few mistakes he had,” Albon said. “I get along with him very well and I think he just he just needs a little more time and confidence and he’ll put it together there.”
