Dutch Red Bull driver Max Verstappen, who won the Japanese Grand Prix in the 18th leg of the season in the Formula 1 World Championship, became the world champion for the second time in a row.
While the drivers were having a hard time in the race that started under heavy rain, Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz lost control of his vehicle and crashed into the barriers and said goodbye to the race. Due to the difficulties of other drivers, a red flag decision was issued and the race was stopped.
After a long wait, the pilots re-entered the track with their safety car and started the race with a lively start, with a time limit of 40 minutes. Red Bull driver Max Verstappen did not lose his superiority from the beginning to the end of the race and finished the race as the leader. In the second race, Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc saw the checkered flag in front of Red Bull driver Sergio Perez, and was penalized by the International Automobile Federation (FIA) for 5 seconds after the race due to his mistake in the last corner. Perez moved up to second place after the 5-second penalty from the Monaco pilot, while Leclerc found himself in third place. Max Verstappen, who increased his points gap with his closest rival Perez to 113 after the change of ranking, became the world champion for the second time in a row with 4 races left.
CONfused, FIA ANNOUNCED
What happened after the completion of the race has already passed into history. Since the entire race was not run and 50 percent of the total number of laps was passed, it was expected that the points would be distributed as 19 for the first, 14 for the second and 12 for the third. If the FIA had announced their decision in this way, Verstappen would have been one point away from the championship with 4 races left. Contrary to expectations, the FIA announced that the race was completed under normal conditions and therefore the drivers would be given full points. After the announcement of this decision, Max Verstappen, who finished the race as the leader and scored 25 points, increased his total score to 366 and ended the 2022 season as the champion.
Meanwhile, Max Verstappen became the 17th driver in history to win a world title for the second time. He also took his place in history as the 13th driver to reach the top of Formula 1 twice in a row.
After this victory, 25-year-old Verstappen, who reached 366 points and increased the gap to 113 points with his closest follower and teammate Sergio Perez, secured his second consecutive world championship with 4 races left.
The Dutch driver became the 11th driver to enjoy the championship in a row, after Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso, Michael Schumacher, Mika Hakkinen, Aryton Senna, Alain Prost, Jack Brabham, Juan Manuel Fangio and Alberto Asari.
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, who tried to keep Red Bull driver Sergio Perez behind him in the last laps and passed the checkered flag in second place, left the second place to Mexican Perez after a 5-second penalty for going off the track at the last corner.
The 19th leg of the season, the US Grand Prix, will be run on October 23.
CONGRATULATIONS FROM THE LEGENDS
Two legendary names, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso congratulated Verstappen after his championship.
Following the Japanese Grand Prix, the top 5 places of the drivers’ and teams’ classification were as follows:
– Pilots
1. Max Verstappen (Netherlands): 366 points
2. Sergio Perez (Mexico): 253
3. Charles Leclerc (Monaco): 252
4. George Russell (Great Britain): 207
5. Carlos Sainz (Spain): 202
– Teams
1. Red Bull: 619
2. Ferrari: 454
3. Mercedes: 387
4. Alpine: 143
5. McLaren: 130
