When history-making Max Verstappen can be crowned F1 champion this season

Max Verstappen is closing in on a hat-trick of titles (Picture: Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Only a miracle can surely now stop Max Verstappen from claiming the third Drivers’ World Championship title of his career.

The Formula 1 ace has been in scintillating form in the 2023 season, having won 10 of the 12 races to date – including the last eight in a row since the Miami Grand Prix at the start of May.

And such has been the magnitude of Verstappen’s sheer brilliance, the Dutchman boasts a 125 point lead over Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez with ten races remaining between now and the end of the season.

And so with Verstappen’s procession to the F1 crown now all-but a formality, fans have been asking just how soon the 25 year-old can win the title.

Let’s take a look at the earliest Verstappen can win the F1 title this year in a season that has seen the history books repeatedly rewritten.

When can Max Verstappen win the F1 championship?

Under current projections, based on his current run of results, Verstappen will win the F1 championship at the Qatar Grand Prix.

Verstappen won the Belgian Grand Prix – the final race before the summer break (Picture: Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

The race at the Losail International Circuit will take place on the weekend of October 7 and 8.

Verstappen could even clinch the title during the sprint race on the Saturday.

This would mark the first occasion in F1 history that a driver has won the title on any day other than a Sunday.

If Verstappen is indeed celebrating his third world title when the F1 paddock is in the tiny Gulf state, there would be five races remaining in the season.

This would leave him one race short of the all-time record held by Michael Schumacher, who won his fifth title in 2002 with six races left to go – albeit when a different points system was used.

Verstappen could even finalise the championship one round earlier, at the Japanese Grand Prix on the weekend of September 23 and 24.

This would see him tied with the great Schumacher to make yet more history in the sport.

What is the biggest winning margin in F1 history?

Sebastian Vettel boasts the record for the biggest points difference between first and second place, ending up on 397 points – an astonishing 155 more than runner-up Fernando Alonso in 2013.

The Dutchman has been in a league of his own this year (Picture: Alessio Morgese/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

The German won 13 races that season, including all nine after the summer break.

What is the most points ever won by a driver in an F1 season?

Verstappen himself currently holds the record for the most points won by a driver in a single season.

Title number two arrived last year with 454 points, courtesy of 15 wins and 17 podiums from 22 Grand Prix.

Those 15 wins also saw Verstappen break the record for the most wins by a driver in a season.

Lewis Hamilton collected 413 and 408 points for Mercedes in 2019 and 2018 respectively, whilst Vettel picked up 397 and 392 for Red Bull in 2013 and 2011.

It’s when, not if, for Max.