Max Verstappen dominated a rainy race to become World Champion! However, the end of the Japanese GP was marred by great controversy

Goal accomplished, title defended! Max Verstappen won the rainy Japanese Grand Prix and deservedly became the 2022 World Champion. However, the eighteenth round of this year’s season was marred by controversy at the end, when the current champion only discovered that he was indeed the champion during an interview.

Max Verstappen started from pole position for the eighteenth race of the season, setting a time of 1:29.304 in qualifying on Saturday. He beat his nearest pursuer, Charles Leclerc, who started from the second starting slot at Suzuka, by just 10 thousandths of a second!

Carlos Sainz and Sergio Pérez formed the second row, Esteban Ocon started the Japanese Grand Prix fifth, Lewis Hamilton sixth, Fernando Alonso seventh, George Russell eighth, Sebastian Vettel ninth and Lando Norris in the McLaren rounded out the elite ten.

It should be noted that the seventeenth position was originally supposed to be started by Pierre Gasly in the AlphaTauri, who is moving to Alpine for next season. However, after qualifying, he changed the rear wing specifications and suspension set-up, so he had to start from the pits.

Like last week in Singapore, the drivers had to contend with a wet track and deteriorating conditions in Japan. It should be added that the drivers saw a lot of rain in both of Friday’s opening practice sessions. Saturday’s qualifying was dry.

The opening of the Japanese Grand Prix

The wet and deteriorating conditions were the downfall of several drivers after the start of the Japanese Grand Prix. Germany’s Vettel ended up in a duck after contact with Alonso, while Guangyu Zhou also spun after a few corners.

The worst of all, however, was Sainz, who encountered significant aquaplaning and crashed like that before turn 12.

Yellow flags were first waved on the track and the race directorate called the safety car to the Suzuka circuit. After the second lap, however, the FIA resorted to red flags, through which the Japanese Grand Prix was suspended.

In addition to the Spanish driver in the service of Ferrari, Alexander Albon in the Williams also prematurely ended his participation in the Japanese Grand Prix. However, a technical failure forced him out of the race.

This is how the standings looked after the suspension of the 18th race of the season. Verstappen heroically held on to his lead after the first corner, even though Leclerc had the better of his starting slot.

It should be noted, all drivers started the Japanese Grand Prix on intermediate tyres. However, due to the safety car exit and wet conditions, they all had to change to extreme rain specification tyres.

Japanese Grand Prix restart

Similar to Singapore, the race directorate at Suzuka Japan resorted to a time-out as the time limit for the Grand Prix to be completed was slowly but surely approaching. After two hours of waiting for more favourable racing conditions to emerge, the drivers finally emerged from pit lane.

Accompanied by the safety car, of course. The car then pulled up to the end, leaving everyone involved with 40 minutes of racing left.

However, the track was already in such good condition that after just one lap Vettel and Latifi went to their mechanics, as a result of changing to intermediate tyres. Norris and Bottas subsequently did the same, and all but Alonso, Ricciardo, Schumacher and Chou stopped in this way.

It should be noted that in the next two minutes these drivers also stopped, except for Mick Schumacher, who stayed on the track. It was a poor team decision, however, as the young German driver gradually fell down the order on the extreme wet tyres.

In the end, he too had to pit, and the order of the elite ten with 26 minutes to go in the Japanese Grand Prix was as follows. Verstappen, Leclerc, Pérez, Ocon, Hamilton, Vettel, Alonso, Latifi, Norris and Cunoda.

Beautiful battles for position

In the last 20 minutes, the fans watched some beautiful battles for position. Frenchman Ocon held his fourth place until the finish of the Japanese Grand Prix ahead of Hamilton, with Russell also working his way up the order.

With eight minutes to go, the veteran Alonso opted for one more pit stop. After completing the pit-stop, he dropped to tenth place behind Norris, but he eventually managed to overtake him, along with Latifi and Russell, to finish seventh.

A mere eleven thousandths of a second behind sixth-placed Vettel in the Aston Martin, it must be added! A very close finish indeed.

And very close and equally controversial was the battle between Pérez and Leclerc. The Monegasque driver, in the service of Ferrari, drove straight through the last chicane, for which, according to the regulations, he gained an advantage over the Mexican driver, whom he even blocked in the last corner.

This meant that Leclerc was handed a five-second penalty by race directors, and Pérez eventually took second place after a several-lap battle.

Verstappen defends his championship title

In Japan, despite a long wait and only 40 minutes of racing, full points were handed out. According to the FIA, whose words were quoted by Motorsport, the rules regarding the reduced points allocation (Article 6.5) only apply in the event of a race interruption that cannot be restarted, and therefore full points are awarded and Max Verstappen is world champion.

In fact, after last year’s fiasco in Spa, Belgium, the FIA modified the sport’s rules, which state that half points are no longer awarded for an unfinished race of its classic length, but a reduced number of points are given out depending on the distance covered.

However, based on information from the International Automobile Federation, this does not apply in the above case, and therefore in the case of the Japanese Grand Prix.

This means, therefore, that Verstappen boasts a 113-point lead over the second driver in the overall standings and with four races remaining in the 2022 season, he can celebrate.

However, the Dutch driver only found out this information during the post-race interview, when F1 recalculated the points awarded and his lead at the top of the championship. A controversial end to the Japanese Grand Prix indeed.

Red Bull took out a double at Suzuka in Japan, with Leclerc finishing third after a penalty. Fourth place ahead of Hamiltonen was defended by Ocon, sixth by just eleven thousandths of a second to seventh-placed Alonso was Vettel.

Russell took four points for eighth place from Japan, Canadian Latifi crossed the line ninth and Norris in the McLaren rounded out the top ten.

F1 TV, Motorsport