Max Verstappen is crowned world champion for the THIRD consecutive year as rampant Red Bull superstar confirms his dominance after Sergio Perez crashes in Qatar sprint

• Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has wrapped up his third consecutive world title 
• The drivers’ championship leader needed to finish just sixth or above in Qatar
• His triumph was confirmed after closest rival Sergio Perez span out the race

Max Verstappen has officially secured his third consecutive Formula One world title.

The rampant Red Bull superstar has proven untouchable this year and confirmed his dominance once and for all after Sergio Perez crashed out of the Qatar sprint race.

Verstappen needed to finish at least sixth to add another championship trophy to his tally but was nudged over the line following an incident involving Perez.

Perez’s two early victories in Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan and Carlos Sainz’s win in Singapore remain the only blots on Verstappen’s masterful record this season.

He now trails his team-mate by a staggering gap totalling over 180 points. 

Max Verstappen secured his third consecutive world title during the Qatar Grand Prix sprint

The rampant champion has won 13 of the 16 races so far this year and proven untouchable

Verstappen needed to finish just sixth to confirm his triumph but went on to take second place

Verstappen has won 13 races to date this year, with Perez and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz the only other drivers to take the chequered flag in first place.

He also set a new record for racking up 10 consecutive victories earlier in the campaign, surpassing the legendary Michael Schumacher in the process.

Further underlining his status as one of the all-time greats, Verstappen, who narrowly missed out in Qatar, also emerged on top in two of the year’s four sprints.

His triumph leaves Perez and Lewis Hamilton locked in a tussle over the runner-up position, with Fernando Alonso unlikely to mount a last-gasp push.

Perez had looked to delay the inevitable but was sent into an unfortunate spin following a racing incident tangle involving Esteban Ocon and Nico Hulkenberg.

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