Verstappen seals world title after chaotic Japanese Grand Prix

Max Verstappen has won a rainswept Japanese Grand Prix, and that victory means he has also secured the 2022 World Championship title.

In a rather ironic turn, many of the circumstances surrounding this second world title are highly evocative of his first, not least his championship rival missing out on the final lap, and a selection of poor decision-making by the FIA that left both the running of the race in doubt, and Verstappen unsure of the actual result.

The season has been the Dutch driver’s, no doubt, and he was always going to win – but it’s a little disappointing that this anti-climax of a race was the one where it happened.

Things got off to a bad start – it was pouring with rain, and cars were let loose on a wet track. Verstappen held the lead ahead of Charles Leclerc, but Carlos Sainz crashed out at the hairpin, Alexander Albon was also out, and so the safety car was deployed. The cars struggled to follow in the wet conditions, and the race was stopped on lap two to allow vehicles to be recovered.

A terrifying near-miss followed, as Pierre Gasly – who had pitted early, and thus was out of sync with the field – was allowed to drive faster than usual during safety car conditions to catch the rest of the pack. He was going dangerously fast as he passed a tractor deployed to recover the cars – it was not his fault, but he was furious: “I could have killed myself.” The incident evoked the memory of Jules Bianchi at Suzuka in 2014, who ultimately died after hitting a recovery vehicle in similar conditions. His father took to social media to criticise the FIA for taking a similar risk.

The cars sat stationary for around two hours before returning to the track behind the safety car, and resumed racing on lap six. As conditions improved, both Verstappen and Leclerc switched to intermediate tyres, but as with so many races this season, the Red Bull was in immediate control. He cruised to the victory, and Leclerc was more than 26 seconds behind. However, he locked up on the final chicane, cutting the corner, and he received a five-second penalty for gaining track advantage. That sealed the title – Sergio Perez was promoted into second in place, and Verstappen’s championship lead was now unassailable.

But even then, there was uncertainty – neither teams nor drivers knew for a little while whether half-points would be rewarded, and Verstappen was sent to interviews on his own not knowing if he was world champion. Confirmed it was, and Red Bull were soon bringing out the champagne to mark their driver’s world title. He was a deserve victory, and it’s a shame that poor FIA decision-making has again dominated the race.

Having won his second world title, could financial mismanagement by Red Bull lead to Verstappen’s first being rescinded?

Down the table, the top five was rounded out by Esteban Ocon and Lewis Hamilton, the Alpine driver doing superb to hold off the seven-time world champion all race. With just 15 minutes or race time remaining, Fernando Alonso pitted for fresh tyres, and he took the battle right to Sebastian Vettel. George Russell did well to climb from 13^th into the points in eighth, and the fastest-lap bonus point was unusually down the field – it was picked up by Guanyu Zhou, who otherwise finished 16^th.

Before the world title was confirmed, Verstappen said: “I’m just very happy we got to race in the end. It was raining heavily. Luckily, we got quite a few laps in. I’m very pleased to win here. But also happy to see the fans. Very happy that we could race here.

“I mean I was just happy we had a race to not have a race would be terrible. It would’ve been great to win the championship but it’s another opportunity for the next race.”

When he was given the news, he added: “What can I say? incredible! Very special to do it here. In front of the Honda people and the Japanese fans.”

Perez said: “It was a bit hectic with Charles. Good racing. We were fighting really hard. I tried to make a move in the end but he went off, which was fair racing. The penalty was fair.” On Verstappen’s title, he said: “Great result for him and Honda. Great day for our team. Great day for us.”

Leclerc said: “Well from lap five, it was all downhill. I really struggled with the tyres but after three or four laps we just destroyed them. Struggled this time. Huge congrats to Max on his second championship.

“Max’s title this year was just a matter of time. We expected him to win the title. Now we just use the last few races to become a better team.”

The next race will come on 23 October at the Circuit of the Americas, as the cars line up for the US Grand Prix. It’s nothing but the battle for second now in the remaining four races (and supposedly the constructors’ battle, but we all know how that will end up), but the more interesting story will come tomorrow – having won his second world title, could financial mismanagement by Red Bull lead to Verstappen’s first being rescinded? Some very adroit handling of the story meant it didn’t mar this race, but might there be explosive developments ahead?

Drivers’ Championship

1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull, 366)
2. Sergio Perez (Red Bull, 253)
3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari, 252)
4. George Russell (Mercedes, 207)
5. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari, 202)

Constructors’ Championship

1. Red Bull (619)
2. Ferrari (454)
3. Mercedes (387)