Max Verstappen Joins The Rare List Of F1 Champions Crowned On A Saturday

Posted on October 7, 2023 | by Charley Williams MAX VERSTAPPEN, YOU ARE A THREE-TIME F1 WORLD CHAMPION! After an incredibly dominant 2023 season, Max has just sealed his third championship. But, in true Max Verstappen fashion, his title can’t be won without some sort of abnormality! ???? In 2021, well… you know, and in 2022, no one was actually sure he’d won the championship, including Max himself, amid confusing over just how many points the shortened Japanese GP was going to be worth! That was until Johnny Herbert conducted the top three interviews and told everyone. It was a confusing time. In this case, whilst much more straightforward than in past years, it was won on a Saturday during the Sprint Race in Qatar! Starting P3 on mediums, Verstappen’s start was compromised by how rapid those around him starting on the softs were. He dropped down to fifth and a handful of safety cars helped those soft runners’ tyres last a bit longer.. But once he race settled, the mediums finally came to life. Max’s world championship was won when his teammate and championship ‘rival’, Sergio Perez, was taken out of the race in a collision with Esteban Ocon and Nico Hulkenberg. That didn’t stop him from pushing through to the front, and although he was unable to catch first-time sprint winner Oscar Piastri, he took the chequered flag and officially became a three-time world champion ???? Whilst he is the first driver to do so during a sprint (what is one more record added to his 2023), he isn’t the first to take the title home on a Saturday. It seems rare, particularly in recent years  – actually, it hasn’t happened since the 1980s – but it has happened before when F1 grands prix sometimes did happen on Saturdays rather than Sundays. Here are five other drivers who have won their F1 championships on a Saturday: Juan Manuel Fangio – British GP, 1955 Nelson Piquet – 1981, Caesars Palace GP and 1983, South African GP Jack Brabham – United States GP, 1959 Graham Hill – South African GP, 1962  Keke Rosberg – Caesars Palace GP, 1982 Huge congratulations to Max, and welcome to the Saturday club, we guess! ????