Dutchman Max Verstappen won his second Formula 1 championship this Sunday (9) by winning the Japan Grand Prix18th stage of the 2022 season.
But the category’s return to the Suzuka circuit after two years, due to the pandemic, saw a confusing and rainy race, as meteorologists had already predicted.
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In the rain, the race had an accident with the Spaniard Carlos Sainz even before the first lap was completed. With a lot of water on the track, the race direction chose to interrupt the dispute with the red flag.
The race was only resumed after two hours of waiting. As the regulations stipulate that, once started, an event cannot exceed three hours in duration, the pilots left for just 40 minutes of race.
Verstappen, in another great performance, only lost the lead when he went to the pits to change the heavy rain tires for the intermediates, but regained the lead a lap later, when he overtook Mick Schumacher who had not changed the tires.
The Red Bull driver only opened up an advantage over Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who was now being pressured by the Austrian team’s other car, with Mexican Sergio Perez.
While Verstappen took the checkered flag with a huge advantage, Leclerc and Perez dueled for second position on the final lap. But in the dispute, the Monegasque went straight at the last chicane and despite finishing the race in 2nd place, he ended up being punished in five seconds for the track cut, which guaranteed Perez the second place, leaving the Ferrari driver to be content with the third rank.
This penalty ended up guaranteeing Verstappen the title, as the Dutchman did not set the fastest lap of the race and that would keep the championship open by just one point. But with Leclerc in third, the title race was set.
With the drivers’ title defined, Formula 1 now turns its attention to the dispute for the runner-up, which involves Pérez and Leclerc. The next stage will be on October 23 in Austin, Texas, with the United States Grand Prix.
Check out the results of the F1 Japanese GP:
1) Max Verstappen (Red Bull), 28 laps
2) Sergio Perez (Red Bull), +27,066
3) Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), +31,763
4) Esteban Ocon (Alpine/Renault), +39,685
5) Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), +40,326
6) Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin/Mercedes), +46,358
7) Fernando Alonso (Alpine/Renault), +46,369
8) George Russell (Mercedes), +47,661
9) Nicholas Latifi (Williams/Mercedes), +1’10.143
10) Lando Norris (McLaren/Mercedes), +1’10,782
11) Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren/Mercedes), +1’12,877
12) Lance Stroll (Aston Martin/Mercedes), +1’13,904
13) Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri/Red Bull), +1’15,599
14) Kevin Magnussen (Haas/Ferrari), +1’26.016
15) Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo/Ferrari), +1’26,496
16) Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo/Ferrari), +1’27,043
17) Mick Schumacher (Haas/Ferrari), +1’32,523
18) Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri/Red Bull), +1’48,091
OUT) Carlos Sainz Jr. (Ferrari), Abandonment
OUT) Alexander Albon (Williams/Mercedes), Abandon
Drivers’ Championship
1) Max Verstappen, 366 points
2) Sergio Perez, 253
2) Charles Leclerc, 252
4) George Russell, 207
5) Carlos Sainz Jr., 202
6) Lewis Hamilton, 180
7) Lando Norris, 101
8) Esteban Ocon, 78
9) Fernando Alonso, 65
10) Valtteri Bottas, 46
11) Sebastian Vettel, 32
12) Daniel Ricciardo, 29
13) Pierre Gasly, 23
14) Kevin Magnussen, 22
15) Lance Stroll, 13
16) Mick Schumacher, 12
17) Yuki Tsunoda, 11
18) Zhou Guanyu, 6
19) Alexander Albon, 4
20) Nicholas Latifi, 2
21) Nyck de Vries, 2
22) Nico Hulkenberg, 0
Constructors’ Championship
1) Red Bull, 619 points
2) Ferrari, 454
3) Mercedes, 387
4) Alpine/Renault, 143
5) McLaren/Mercedes, 130
6) Alfa Romeo/Ferrari, 52
7) Aston Martin/Mercedes, 45
8) Haas/Ferrari, 34
9) AlphaTauri/Red Bull, 34
10) Williams/Mercedes, 8
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