Max Verstappen claimed the F1 Drivers title on Sunday as he romped to yet another win, this time at the Qatar Grand Prix.

It wasn’t the easiest race for Verstappen who, speaking to the media after the chequered flag, said it had been tough.

Verstappen finished first followed by Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris as McLaren’s good form continued and they claimed a double podium.

Speaking after the race Verstappen said: “What made the race was my first stint, after that I could just manage my pace, making sure that the tyres were always in a good window.

“But the McLarens were quick again today, I had to push for it, it was definitely a tough race out there.”

Pushed to describe just how tough the race had been, he said: “One of, top five probably.”

Verstappen said he would take time out to celebrate his title but added that he would not get carried away with anything because there were still plenty of races in the season ahead. “I’m already sweating quite a bit so I wonder what happened last night, but we will enjoy it a little bit.

“But there are still quite a few races out there that we want to win.”

“I prefer when we can just push for as long as we can on a tyre and not force pit-stops, you know we design cars to be good on tyres but today we couldn’t optimise that fully because that’s usually our strong point,” he said.

From Qatar the F1 circus moves to the United States where the next race is on 22 October at Circuit of the Americas.