Max Verstappen has won the 2023 F1 world championship after Sergio Perez crashed in the sprint race at the Qatar Grand Prix on Saturday night.
Red Bull driver Verstappen, 26, has won an astonishing 13 out of 16 races this season as well as two of the four sprint races, which includes a memorable 12-race (including sprints) win streak from Miami in May to Italy in September.
Needing to only finish in the top six to seal the title in the shortened 100km dash at the Lusail International Circuit on Saturday night, Verstappen now cannot be caught by second-placed team-mate Sergio Perez with six races and two sprints to go, after Perez crashed in the sprint.
The Dutchman in the end finished second in the sprint, behind first-time F1 winner Oscar Piastri for McLaren, with Lando Norris finishing third.
Here is everything you need to know.
What is the race schedule?
(All times BST)
Sunday 8 October
How can I watch it online and on TV?
The entire race schedule from Qatar will be broadcast live on Sky Sports F1 and in the UK and Ireland. Sky’s coverage of the race on Sunday starts at 4:30pm (BST).
The weekend’s action will be broadcast on ESPN in the United States.
Free-to-air highlights in the UK will be aired on Channel 4; for the grand prix on Sunday night at 11pm.
Sky Sports subscribers can watch all the action in Qatar on the Sky Go app. If you’re not a Sky customer you can grab a NOWTV Day Pass here to watch without a subscription.
Max Verstappen can secure his third world title in the sprint in Qatar
(Getty Images)
What is the starting grid?
1) Max Verstappen
2) George Russell
3) Lewis Hamilton
4) Fernando Alonso
5) Charles Leclerc
6) Oscar Piastri
7) Pierre Gasly
8) Esteban Ocon
9) Valtteri Bottas
10) Lando Norris
11) Yuki Tsunoda
12) Carlos Sainz
13) Alex Albon
14) Nico Hulkenberg
15) Logan Sargeant
16) Lance Stroll
17) Liam Lawson
18) Kevin Magnussen
19) Zhou Guanyu
20) Sergio Perez (pit lane)
Driver Standings (before Saturday sprint race)
1) Max Verstappen – 400 points
2) Sergio Perez – 223 points
3) Lewis Hamilton – 190 points
4) Fernando Alonso – 174 points
5) Carlos Sainz – 150 points
6) Charles Leclerc – 135 points
7) Lando Norris – 115 points
8) George Russell – 115 points
9) Oscar Piastri – 57 points
10) Lance Stroll – 47 points
11) Pierre Gasly – 46 points
12) Esteban Ocon – 38 points
13) Alex Albon – 21 points
14) Nico Hulkenberg – 9 points
15) Valtteri Bottas – 6 points
16) Zhou Guanyu – 4 points
17) Yuki Tsunoda – 3 points
18) Kevin Magnussen – 3 points
19) Liam Lawson – 2 points
20) Logan Sargeant – 0 points
21) Nyck de Vries – 0 points
22) Daniel Ricciardo – 0 points
Constructors’ Championship (before Saturday sprint race)
1) Red Bull – 623 points
2) Mercedes – 305 points
3) Ferrari – 285 points
4) Aston Martin – 221 points
5) McLaren – 172 points
6) Alpine – 84 points
7) Williams – 21 points
8) Haas – 12 points
9) Alfa Romeo – 10 points
10) AlphaTauri – 5 points
What is the 2023 F1 calendar?
ROUND 18 – QATAR (sprint weekend)
Lusail International Circuit, Lusail – 6-8 October
ROUND 19 – UNITED STATES (sprint weekend)
Circuit of the Americas, Austin – 20-22 October
ROUND 20 – MEXICO
Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, Mexico City – 27-29 October
ROUND 21 – BRAZIL (sprint weekend)
Interlagos Circuit, Sao Paulo – 3-5 November
ROUND 22 – LAS VEGAS
Las Vegas Street Circuit – 16-18 November
ROUND 23 – ABU DHABI
Yas Marina Circuit – 24-26 November