Verstappen 'blames' F1 for ruining title celebrations
Verstappen 'blames' F1 for ruining title celebrations
Max Verstappen joked Formula 1 chiefs are to blame for his bizarrely-timed title celebrations during the Qatar Grand Prix weekend.
The world champion secured his third consecutive drivers' standings success last time out, with his dominance confirmed after a sensational, record-breaking year.
However, due to a quirk in the scheduling of the event, Verstappen confirmed his title on the Saturday after finishing second in the sprint, behind Oscar Piastri.
As a result, the 26-year-old was effectively forced to split his party into two, with the race itself coming less than 24 hours after Verstappen clinched his glory.
Post-race, the Dutchman addressed the unusual scenario with Channel 4.
READ MORE: Unstoppable Verstappen is a MAJOR PROBLEM for F1
Verstappen's three-peat
"I blame F1 for that, for introducing the sprint weekends," he quipped.
"These kinds of things aren't in your control, I always try to score as many points as possible and that made it possible to win on a Saturday. It's OK."
Verstappen is among the small group to have sealed a hat-trick of titles in a row, joining names such as Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton.
"I never thought these kinds of things were possible," he admitted.
"I remember watching F1 and you want to be on that podium and try to win races, so to be here with three titles is quite crazy to think about.
"You never think these kinds of things are possible, to put your name in between those names, but I am incredibly proud.
"On the radio on the in lap, you talk a lot about performance and thank a lot of people for their performance and what they contribute to the car and to the success of the team.
"But don't really talk about just the enjoyment of working with people. Every weekend, you get to the track and there are so many brilliant minds, but also just nice people to work with so it's just fun as well."
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F1 Standings
Drivers
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Nyck De Vries
- Liam Lawson
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
- Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2023
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2023
- Grand Prix of Australia 2023
- Grand Prix of China 2023
- Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2023
- Miami Grand Prix 2023
- Qatar Airways Gran Premio Del Made In Italy E Dell'emilia Romagna 2023
- Grand Prix of Monaco 2023
- AWS Gran Premio de España 2023
- Grand Prix du Canada 2023
- Grand Prix of Austria 2023
- Aramco Grand Prix of Great Britain 2023
- Grand Prix of Hungary 2023
- Grand Prix of Belgium 2023
- Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2023
- Grand Prix of Italy 2023
- Grand Prix of Singapore 2023
- Grand Prix of Japan 2023
- Qatar Grand Prix 2023
- Grand Prix of the United States 2023
- Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2023
- Rolex Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2023
- Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2023
- Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2023
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