The Qatar Grand Prix Sprint is Max Verstappen's first chance to wrap up his third straight World Championship.
He is 177 points clear of Sergio Perez with 180 left on the board, meaning a sixth place finish on Saturday at Lusail will be enough to ensure the trophy stays on top his drinks fridge by his sim rig for another year.
When Verstappen does win the title, he will become the 11th driver to win three or more titles, and sixth to be a triple World Champion.
On the current list of those he can match include his 'father-in-law', Sir Jackie Stewart and Ayrton Senna. Not bad company then...
Three-time F1 World Champions
| Driver | Title years |
|---|---|
| Sir Jack Brabham | 1959, 1960, 1966 |
| Sir Jackie Stewart | 1969, 1971, 1973 |
| Niki Lauda | 1975, 1977, 1984 |
| Nelson Piquet | 1981, 1983, 1987 |
| Ayrton Senna | 1988, 1990, 1991 |
Those with more than three
Of course, some drivers have gone beyond the magical three-time threshold, and interestingly, they all but one have something in common with Verstappen.
The drivers listed below, with the exception of Alain Prost, have all won three (or more) titles in a row, with Michael Schumacher's five with Ferrari the all-time record.
F1 drivers with more than three World Championship titles
| Driver | Titles | Title years |
|---|---|---|
| Michael Schumacher | 7 | 1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 |
| Lewis Hamilton | 7 | 2008, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 |
| Juan Manuel Fangio | 5 | 1951, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957 |
| Alain Prost | 4 | 1985, 1986, 1989, 1993 |
| Sebastian Vettel | 4 | 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 |
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