Verstappen overjoyed after third title: 'Fantastic feeling'

"It's a fantastic feeling," Verstappen said after the sprint race. "Been an incredible year. Lots of great races, super proud of the job from the team. It's been so enjoyable to be part of that group of people."

The Dutchman continued: "To be a three-time world champion is just incredible. We will keep on pushing [for the rest of the year], doing the best we can. Today was quite an exciting race, a bit of a shame with the Safety Cars, but overall it was fun out there. Just incredibly happy at the moment."

On Oscar Piastri, he has words of praise: "He drove a great race. It was not easy because we were on the medium tyres and obviously some drivers starting around us had a bit more grip," said Verstappen, who saw Piastri take his first (sprint) win in the king class of motorsport. "He did well, I tried everything to catch up. We just came up short at the end."