Max Verstappen has been crowned the 2022 Formula 1 World Drivers Champion after winning the Japanese Grand Prix comfortably this evening.
Starting off pole in a shortened, rain impacted event, Verstappen was never challenged as he cruised to victory over teammate Sergio Perez after a five second penalty was awarded to Charles Leclerc post-race.
The penalty came about after Leclerc was found to have gained an advantage from leaving the track on the final corner, an error which put him out of reach of the challenging Perez.
News of the penalty only came through after Verstappen had spoken in his post-race interview, Verstappen called back to the stage to be informed of the victory.
“The first one is a little more emotional, the second one is more beautiful,” said Verstappen after the announcement.
“It’s been a special year, and you need to remind yourself as these kind of years you don’t have very often.
“It’s crazy. Very mixed emotions of course winning the race, but looking back now winning the championship. What a year we’ve had its been incredible. Something we could never have imagined after last year fighting until the end and then have a good car this year.
“I am so thankful to everyone that has contributed to this success not only here but back at the factory that are working flat out. The work we’ve done with Honda all the way through to constantly improve and to win now twice with them is emotion also to win it here with them watching which gives you pressure, but fun pressure.
Had Leclerc finished second, the Dutchman would have had to wait at least one more round for the title. Third, however, was enough to take the crown.
The victory is Verstappen’s 12th of the year, one more will equal the record set by Michael Schumacher and Sebastien Vettel in 2004 and 2013 respectively. With four races to go, even beating that record remains a strong possibility.
Perez also jumps Leclerc to take second place in the standings, one point the buffer.
Throughout the rest of the field there were other impressive drives, Esteban Ocon holding off Lewis Hamilton to take a well-earned fourth, whilst Sebastien Vettel held off Fernando Alonso by .011 of a second to take sixth.
George Russell was eighth fastest on the day, whilst Nicholas Latifi scored his first points of 2022 after finishing ninth. Lando Norris rounded out the top 10.
Race Report
Verstappen had qualified on pole for the race, with Leclerc alongside, proceedings halted by a red flag after just one lap completed due to the bad conditions and the incidents it had caused.
The delay was brought about by a dramatic race start in treacherous conditions which saw Verstappen and Leclerc race side-by-side into Turn 1. Verstappen bravely took the outside line and took the lead, Leclerc slotting in behind.
The conditions behind, however, were less than desirable. Spray from cars ahead limited visibility and several drivers were hydro-planing, even off the start.
Sebastien Vettel was the first casualty, side-contact with Fernando Alonso sending the German spinning into the runoff area at Turn 1.
Several corners later it was the Ferrari of Sainz in trouble, aquaplaning on a right-hander and sliding rear-first into the outside wall. He was forced to retire him from the race.
An advertising hoarding came loose from the wall in the crash and bounced on track, only to be claimed by Pierre Gasly, who had started from pit lane, at the rear of the pack.
The hoarding wedged itself in the AlphaTauri’s front wing, the Frenchman having to return the the pits for a new one.
Alex Albon was another casualty, a hydraulic failure in the Williams caused by contact in the corners prior. He was forced to withdraw from the race.
Another issue arose when Gasly rejoined the track following his stop as he went about rejoining the pack behind the safety car ahead. A recovery vehicle had already entered the circuit to retrieve Sainz’s Ferrari, Gasly struggling in the poor visibility but luckily taking a different line putting him out of the path of an accident. This came about seconds after a red flag had been called for.
Following the untimely death of Jules Bianchi in 2014, recovery vehicles are not permitted to enter the circuit until the race is fully neutralised. In that incident, Bianchi had been competing in the Japanese Grand Prix, also in bad conditions, and slid off only to make contact with a recovery vehicle.
The truck on track all but brought memories flooding back of that terrible day, Gasly and a number of other drivers expressing their extreme displeasure at the situation.
Albon also commented that he was unsure as to why the race began in those conditions with visibility so limited and the water so intense.
After a delay of over an hour the weather gods finally worked in the drivers favour. The rainfall had softened and the sky was clearing.
A rolling start got proceedings back underway, with only 40 minutes left on the clock.
Verstappen led the field over Leclerc, Perez rounding out the top three. Esteban Ocon was running an impressive fourth ahead of Hamilton and teammate Alonso.
The field went about stopping to switch from wets to intermediates almost immediately. This paid dividends for Vettel, who was the first to switch, who gained five seconds and moved into the top 10. Nicholas Latifi was another benefactor in a move up to eighth.
Mick Schumacher was the only one to remain out on wets, running as high as third as Haas hoped for a safety car intervention to allow for a cheap pit stop to make the change.
This didn’t work out for the team who had to stop several laps later to return at the rear of the field.
George Russell was another one who lost out after the early stops, a double-stack for Mercedes failing and putting him out of the top 10.
Up front, Verstappen had built up a 14 second lead over Leclerc with 15 minutes remaining.
Ocon held off a spirited Hamilton charge at the same point, the straight line speed of the Alpine seemingly superior to that of the Mercedes.
Perez went about catching Leclerc in second, a fierce last lap battle seeing Leclerc hold on for second. Race officials, however, noted Leclerc had cut across a rumble strip on the final corner and impeded the Red Bull.
A five second penalty was applied to the Monegasque at the end of the race, Verstappen informed of the penalty, which resulted in him retaining the world championship, in post-race interviews.
The penalty promoted Perez to second, some 27 seconds behind his teammate. It is the fifth 1-2 for Red Bull this season.
Leclerc kept third over Ocon, who had held off Hamilton for over 15 minutes.
Alonso, who stopped for fresh tyres with 10 minutes remaining, used the four-seconds-per-lap advantage to work through the top 10, falling just short of Vettel by .011 of a second in the battle for sixth.
Russell managed to work his way back to eighth, whilst Latifi scored his first points of the season with a clean ninth.
Norris rounded out the top 10 ahead of teammate Daniel Ricciardo.
