Red Bull's Max Verstappen celebrates after winning the championship.
Credit: Reuters Photo
Max Verstappen clinched the 2023 Formula One title on Saturday, still with six Grand Prix races remaining on the season.
Verstappen finished in second place at the Qatar Grand Prix sprint race and scored seven points, good enough for an insurmountable 184-point lead over his Red Bull Racing teammate, Sergio Perez.
McLaren rookie Oscar Piastri, the pole sitter, won the sprint race.
Verstappen, 26, won the pole for Sunday's Qatar Grand Prix and is the favorite to win his 14th race of the season in 17 starts. In the races he hasn't won, Verstappen has finished second twice and fifth once.
This season, he has led 712 of 962 laps completed.
Last season, Verstappen, from the Netherlands, had 15 wins to set an F1 record.
Formula One legends Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton hold a record seven circuit titles.