Verstappen survives Qatar heat to claim another victory

Max Verstappen celebrated winning his third world title in style by claiming his 14th Grand Prix victory of the season on Sunday in baking hot conditions.

While Williams driver Logan Sargeant was forced into retirement because of the heat, Esteban Ocon was sick in his helmet, and Lance Stoll and Alex Albon struggled to get out of their cars after the race, Verstappen kept a cool head en route to the win.

Having wrapped up the championship on Saturday when he finished second in the sprint race, Verstappen survived a hot-tempered incident at the first corner, which saw Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and George Russell collide while challenging the Dutchman for the lead of the race.

It left Verstapen clear to control the race from the front, keeping McLaren pair Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris at arm’s length to claim his fist win in Qatar.

“We had a really good race today,” he said. “I think what really made it for me was the first stint where we were strong and good on the tyres. I had a slow stop at the end so the McLarens were quite close at the chequered flag but they have been quick all weekend.

“Of course, with the mandatory three stops, we weren’t able to get the best out of our car as we are good on tyres, but we won and that’s the main thing.

“My hunger for winning hasn’t stopped since winning the Championship, I want to keep going and maximising the performance of the car each weekend.”

For Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez though, it was a weekend to forget. After crashing out of the sprint on Saturday, the Mexican racer started from the pitlane and struggled in the middle of the pack, picking up several five-second penalties for breaching track limits, taking just a point for tenth.

He said: “We lost our car yesterday due to the incident in the sprint and we had a completely new car for today. It was therefore very difficult to draw conclusions with the car we had, we had to revert on the specifications.

“I really suffered with the new track limits, they were brought in very last minute, which I don’t think is right but it is the same for everyone and I should have done a better job.

“It was hard for me to judge them inside the car because I think, a little like in Austria, I am sitting a bit too low and that made things harder, I should have maybe altered that when the changes were implemented.

“Overall, we have plenty to look at and I will be in the factory this week working hard with my team.”