Australian rookie Oscar Piastri has taken his first victory in Formula 1, winning the sprint race in Qatar.

The McLaren driver held off Max Verstappen, who wrapped up his third consecutive F1 world championship by finishing second.

Piastri was strong over the 19-lap race which had multiple safety cars.

While other drivers started on the soft tyres and made early progress those tyres faded quickly, which allowed the medium compound runners like Piastri and Verstappen to cement themselves up front.

The Australian held firm in the final laps as Verstappen tried to close the gap and win.

"It was a very stressful race, when all the soft guys came through at the beginning I thought we were in trouble, but then they fell away pretty quickly," Piastri said. 

The win is the first of any kind for McLaren since Daniel Ricciardo won the Italian Grand Prix in 2021.

Max Verstappen hails 'incredible year' to secure world title

Verstappen only needed a sixth-place finish in the sprint race to secure the championship, with six grands prix left in the season.

"A fantastic feeling, it's been an incredible year," he said. 

"I feel super proud, but super proud of the job of the team.

The Red Bull star joins Juan Manuel Fangio, Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton as the only drivers to win three consecutive championships.

Verstappen and Red Bull have been nearly unstoppable in 2023. 

Red Bull has won every race, except the Singapore Grand Prix which was taken by Ferrari's Carlos Sainz. 

Verstappen went on a streak of 10 consecutive race wins, a new record in F1.