Fans believe Max Verstappen has proven himself to be among the greatest ever F1 drivers after sealing his third consecutive world title in Qatar on Saturday.
The Dutchman finished second in the Sprint to claim enough points to seal the drivers’ championship – although his closest rival, teammate Sergio Perez, crashed out midway through the race.
After his extremely narrow victory in the 2021 championship, the last two have been significantly easier for the 26-year-old, and this time around, he achieved the success with six races remaining in the season.
Users of X (fka Twitter) were quick to praise the Dutchman for his skills to success, as well as that of the Red Bull team, with one writing: ‘Congratulations Max! Best driver, best car, best team: the perfect combination.’
Another added: ‘A brilliant flawless WDC (World Drivers’ Championship) victory from Max.
Max Verstappen sealed his third consecutive drivers’ championship in the Qatar Sprint race
The Red Bull star celebrated with his team after sealing the prize with six races remaining
Fans on X were quick to praise Verstappen and Red Bull for their achievements this season
‘Kudos to RB (Red Bull). Another well executed season. Untouchable. Producing once again the fastest car possible.’
Red Bull sealed the constructors’ championship several weeks ago, with Verstappen and Perez one and two in the drivers’ championship.
The Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton, the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso and the Ferraris of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc have been unable to compete with the leaders in the Red Bull.
Some fans believed that it put Verstappen among the all-time F1 greats, as he has taken three consecutive titles. One wrote: ‘Max Verstappen, you are a 3 time world champion, you join the upper echelon of Formula 1 greats and have once again written yourself into the history books.’
And someone said it moved the Dutchman amongst the greatest F1 drivers in the history of the sport, by noting: ‘Verstappen is in the goat conversation btw’.
Verstappen now has three consecutive titles. Michael Schumacher holds the record with five in a row between 2000 and 2004, while Juan Manuel Fangio, Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton all managed four in a row.
Alongside those four drivers, the only other person to win more than three titles was Alain Prost, who sealed his quartet of trophies between 1985 and 1993.
Verstappen is under contract with Red Bull until 2028 – and could win more championships
X users believe that the Dutchman is one of the greatest F1 drivers of all-time after this success
One fan hopes F1 is ‘more competitive’ in 2024 after two easy campaigns for Verstappen
Schumacher and Hamilton both have seven championships to their name – but with no end to Verstappen’s dominance in sight, he could easily get close to this before his current Red Bull contract ends in 2028.
The ease with which Verstappen has taken this year’s title – after winning it last year in Japan with four rounds remaining – has led fans to hope for a more open F1 season next time around.
One fan wrote: ‘Was only a matter of time before Verstappen passed the points threshold to be uncatchable. Red Bull just simply had an out-and-out better car than everyone else this year + Max drove it incredibly well. A thoroughly deserved winner, just hope F1 is more competitive next year.’
After Qatar on Sunday, there are five more rounds of the 2023 season. Then work begins for the 2024 campaign – the 75th running of the F1 championship – which is set to begin in Bahrain on March 2 next year.
