Max Verstappen has won a rain effected Japanese Grand Prix to seal his second world title. The Dutchman took victory in a bizarre set of circumstances after his title rival Charles Leclerc was handed a penalty.
Verstappen headed Sergio Perez in a Red Bull one-two after Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who crossed the line second, was penalised for cutting the track and gaining an advantage on the last lap. Verstappen controlling the race to pull a twenty seven second lead over his teammate.
However while this race will be controversial, there is no question that the Dutchman won fairly and decisions by race control did not affect the outcome. Verstappen was unsure given the controversy around last years race at Spa, reflecting the historical precedent that reduced points are awarded in such circumstances.
But it seems that this protocol was inadvertently left out of the rules when they were rewritten over last winter following the controversial Belgian Grand Prix, when a result was declared despite no racing taking place.
This wasn’t however Abu Dhabi, Verstappen had as he has done so many times in 2022, controlled the race from the start taking his twelfth win of the season.
He said, “”It’s a crazy feeling of course because I didn’t expect it when I crossed the line. Of course, you could see it happening but it’s incredible at the end of the day that we did win it here
The Dutchman would have been denied the title if Charles Leclerc had come second, but the Ferrari driver’s final-lap error saw him given a five-second penalty – for leaving the track and gaining an advantage – that demoted him to third behind the other Red Bull of Perez.
The race started on time but was almost immediately stopped following a messy opening lap. Leclerc took the better launch of the front row, but into Turn One Verstappen put his foot in and held the line retaking the lead, while the two title rivals were fighting it out there teammates were fighting it out for third.
Leclerc said “From lap five, it was all downhill. I really struggled with the tyres but after three four laps we just destroyed them. 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.”
Carlos Sainz passed Sergio Perez into Turn One, only for him to be caught out by standing water which spat him into the wall and saw him retire. Joining the Ferrari driver was Alex Albon who stopped with engine issues and Guanyu Zhou who also spun before re-joining in seventeenth.
The Spaniard escaping serious injuries after being stuck in the middle of the straight, with him stranded the red flag was brought out. However, replays would then emerge showing that both a recovery vehicle and marshals had been allowed on track while cars were still out there.
That prompted was anger as the recovery truck was sent on to the track to recover the cars before the race had been stopped. Several drivers angry of that decision following the fatal crash at Turn One in 2014, when Jules Bianchi crashed into a recovery truck leaving him with head injuries.
Drivers and team bosses united to call the decision from race control “unacceptable”. Following the red flag several drivers took to Twitter condemning the situation.
Gasly, who passed the recovery truck vented his frustration, “I passed next to it. This is unacceptable. Remember what happened. Can’t believe this! We don’t want to see ever, a crane on the track.”
The stewards however said Gasly was at fault for driving too fast in the conditions, and the Frenchman was given a 20-second penalty after the race which demoted him to 18th – last of those who saw the chequered flag.
When the race did start Verstappen controlled it, while Leclerc penalty was given after gaining an advantage on Perez. The Ferrari driver had spent several laps reeling in Perez but on the last lap cut Casio gaining an advantage, and was dropped behind the Red Bull.
Esteban Ocon finished the race fourth holding off the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton for the entire race, to finish eight tenths ahead of the seven time champion. Sebastian Vettel brought his Aston Martin home sixth he gained position after Fernando Alonso made a late stop.
Alonso made a stop for fresh tyres with just 15 minutes of race time remaining and dropped to ninth, reclaiming sufficient ground to finish the race right on Vettel’s tail, but unable to pass.
George Russell was one of few drivers to gain positions to finish eighth, the Mercedes driver cleanly passing Yuki Tsunoda, Lando Norris and Nicolas Latifi. Earlier in the race Russell had been held up when Mercedes decided to double stack, with Hamilton benefiting the most.
Latifi had been one of the early gamblers on inters, allowing him to pass the two McLarens of Norris and Daniel Ricciardo.
Lance Stroll brought his Aston Martin home twelfth, finishing ahead of Yuki Tsunoda and Kevin Magnussen. Valtteri Bottas finished ahead of teammate Zhou, Gasly ahead of Mick Schumacher
