Max Verstappen’s third Formula 1 world championship could end in a sprint on Saturday in Qatar, a rare occasion for a sport more accustomed to seeing its crown triumph on Sunday.
However, this is not without precedent.
Brazilian Nelson Piquet, three-time world champion in the 1980s and father of Verstappen’s partner Kelly, won two of his titles on Saturday and the other on Friday.
Piquet’s 1981 debut came at the final round of the season in Las Vegas on October 17, a Saturday.
For the second time in 1983 won at Kyalami in South Africa on October 15, another Saturday race.
The Brazilian was assured of the 1987 title in Japan when Williams team-mate and rival Nigel Mansell, who would win in 1992, suffered a season-ending crash on Friday at Suzuka .
Piquet ultimately failed to take any points in the final two races in Japan and Australia, but that no longer mattered with Mansell sidelined.
The first World Championship Grand Prix at Silverstone in 1950 was held on a Saturday, with royalty in attendance, and the British Grand Prix continued to be held on that day of the week until 1977.
Last Long Distance Grand Prix The World Championship race held on Saturday was the 1985 SA Grand Prix, won by Mansell.
Saturday’s 100km sprint in Qatar gives Verstappen his first chance to score the three points he needs to win the championship.
Eight points to the winner, one point to the eighth.
If Verstappen, winner of two of his three sprints so far this season, finishes sixth on Saturday, his Mexican team-mate and sole championship rival Sergio Perez will be beaten. mathematically eliminated from the race.
Verstappen leads Perez by 177 points with 180 points still to be won in the final six rounds and 146 points behind Qatar.
Perez must finish at least second in the sprint but even if Verstappen fails to score on Saturday with the Mexican winning, the title will go to the Dutchman on Sunday if he finished eighth.
It is likely that other titles will be won on Saturday in the future.
Three major races will take place on this day in 2024 – Bahrain and Saudi Arabia welcome Ramadan early while Las Vegas will be 22nd in a record 24 races – and there will also be six sprint races on Saturday.
This year, the Las Vegas Grand Prix on November 18 will also be a Saturday night race.
In the past, races were also held on Mondays and Fridays, sometimes to avoid skirmishes or simply in the hope of attracting a larger crowd on a public holiday.
This was the case in Spain in 1972, when the Jarama race was held on Monday 1 May.
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