The Latest Breaking News on 'A huge win for F1': Lewis Hamilton hails Las Vegas Grand Prix as 'better than most European tracks'

Verstappen spun around after hitting the kerbs in the second segment of the weekend’s shorter qualifying session, where the drivers were obliged to run mediums in Q1 and Q2 and then softs in Q3. 

World champion has lap defeated for exceeding track limits

A flurry of soft-tyre runs in preparation for qualifying later on Friday defined the final 10 minutes of practice, and Verstappen was one of the earlier takers to punch in a 1m35.912s to overturn Alex Albon's timesheet-topping lap as Williams opened running on the softest compound.

Both McLaren drivers finished on the podium at Suzuka and Losail, while Piastri also took the sprint pole, which he converted into a win at the latter venue.

Things haven’t been entirely plain sailing for Leclerc since the 2020 season. As rapid as he is, he finds himself behind team-mate Carlos Sainz in the points.

Schumacher, who drove for Haas in F1 in 2021-22, sampled the Alpine A424 at the Jerez circuit on Tuesday as part of a multi-day test at the Spanish venue.

Having been pretty much unstoppable since the early phase of the season, it is hard to argue against Verstappen delivering an intensity of form like never before.

The Dutch driver secured a clean sweep of pole, fastest lap and victory in Qatar – just a day after he was crowned champion in the Sprint race – and with another Sprint this weekend, there are two more opportunities for top spot.

Max Verstappen has been crowned as world champion but there is still plenty more racing to be done