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Brilliant Piastri wins chaotic Sprint; Verstappen is crowned champion
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The Aussie kept his head, while Verstappen is officially a triple-world champion

Oscar Piastri claimed victory at the Saturday’s Sprint Race to further underline the unbelievable progress McLaren have made.

It was a race of two different strategies with the McLarens, along with Max Verstappen opting for the more durable medium tire, while George Russell and the Ferrari chose the quicker, but much more degrading soft.

That made for an enthralling start as Russell jumped from 4th to first in a space of 2 corners, while Verstappen and Norris sank to 5th and 6th respectively.

The medium rubber however soon came to full affect as they crawled they way back to the top. First it was Piastri jumping Russell for the lead and then Verstappen easily through both Ferraris and the Mercedes as well.

The race was interrupted by 2 Safety Car periods – the first one at the start between Liam Lawson and Logan Sargeant, and the second a spectacular crash between Ocon, Perez and Hulkenberg.

With Perez out of the race, it effectively meant that Verstappen is crowned champion before even crossing the line.

The Dutchman came home in 2nd and congratulated himself with a third consecutive title – a phenomenal year for him and the team, where they dominated and essentially broke all the record there are to be broken. The 26-year-old joins an elusive list of high-profile names such as Jack Brabham, Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna as 3-time world champions.