Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen has clinched his second Formula 1 world championship in confusing circumstances after winning a rain-shortened Japanese GP.

He added to Sky Sports F1: "It's a pretty crazy feeling, of course, because I didn't expect it when I crossed the line. 29 years, 137 days 25 years, 9 days

Red Bull's Max Verstappen won a rain-impacted, red-flagged and shortened Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka on Sunday to be crowned Formula 1 world champion.

In a marathon Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix, Sergio Perez’s victory was only assured hours after the race due to a stewards investigation. A testing return to the Singapore Grand Prix in tricky conditions created plenty of hazards and mistakes for the Formula 1 drivers to fall into. After seemingly being stuck in limbo at AlphaTauri - too good to let go, but not a realistic prospect for a Red Bull return - Pierre Gasly has finally shaken off the shackles to join Alpine.

Max Verstappen won the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday in dreadful conditions, but will have to wait if he is to clinch the Formula 1 championship.

Leclerc was forced to take the run off area and cut the final chicane, and as a result his P2 is taken away from him as he is awared a five second time penalty! Verstappen looks all set to take the victory here in Suzuka as he is around 24 seconds ahead of Leclerc, who is in P2. Verstappen drove beautifully, and pulled out a huge gap of over 26 seconds to Leclerc behind him as the timer ticked over to zero after 30 minutes of hard racing. He takes the victory by a barnstorming 26 seconds over Charles Leclerc, who just about hangs on to second place ahead of Sergio Perez despite the Red Bull almost getting alongside him down the main straight! The Ferrari is struggling with its front tyres as Leclerc is lapping two seconds a lap slower than Verstappen ahead of him. The session was eventually red flagged at the beginning of the third lap and all the drivers returned to the pit lane as the heavy rain continued to fall.

Max Verstappen was crowned world champion for the second time in bizarre circumstances following a dominant victory at the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday.

I am hearing different things,” Verstappen said, after he was initially crowned world champion during a second post-race interview. On the final corner, Leclerc eventually yielded to Perez’s pressure and locked up on the final chicane of the race, cutting the corner and picking up a five-second penalty that demoted him to third. Verstappen was among them and once out of the pits, he weaved his way through the field with ease to take the lead again, opening up a four second lead over Leclerc, who initially looked comfortable in second, eight seconds ahead of Perez. When the race restarted behind a safety car to help clear the track of water, the sky was still overcast and each car trailed a plume of spray behind it. So when Verstappen finished, he initially only celebrated a race victory – his 12th of the season – and completed his first post-race interview accordingly. For much of the race, it seemed as if the Red Bull driver would be forced to wait until the next grand prix in Austin to secure the drivers’ title for the second time in his career as the race was red-flagged due to rain.

Max Verstappen capped a sublime Formula One season with a similar performance at the Japanese Grand Prix to clinch his second straight championship.

I didn't know how many points I was going to get. "I didn't know, like, was it going to be half points? There was confusion at the end of the race as Verstappen did not think he had won the championship.

Max Verstappen sealed his second Formula 1 world championship amid huge confusion after winning a chaotic, rain-shortened Japanese Grand Prix.

But for the Japanese GP there was a different interpretation of the rules, which state that the reduced points are only applied if a race is suspended "and cannot be resumed". I'm so thankful to everyone who has been contributing to this success." 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 Sergio Perez.

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen clinched his second consecutive Formula One drivers' title by winning the Japanese Grand Prix in the rain at Suzuka on ...

In 2014, French driver Jules Bianchi collided on the course with a recovery vehicle. This incident apparently came just as the race was red flagged. The Dutchman started from pole in pouring rain only for the race to be stopped after two laps as several cars crashed. Organizers stopped the race after two laps. But a short time later, the FIA — F1′s governing body — awarded full points. After a two-hour delay, the races restarted and Verstappen never looked back, leading the rest of the way.

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen celebrated a 'crazy' victory at the Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka that gave him a second successive world championship.

“Max has been truly, truly dominant. "It's a pretty crazy feeling, of course, because I didn't expect it when I crossed the line. We thought we were one point short. "It's something I could never have imagined. After last year, fighting until the end, and then having such a good car again this year. Japanese Grand Prix

After a dominant victory at the Japanese Grand Prix, Max Verstappen is now a double world champion although the Red Bull driver was forced to wait till ...

However, the Ferrari driver was later adjudged to have gained an advantage after leaving the track at the final chicane, in his defence against Sergio Perez for second place. The Monegasque was consequently given a five-second time penalty dropping him down to third after the race. After a dominant victory at the Japanese Grand Prix, Max Verstappen is now a double world champion – although the Red Bull driver was forced to wait until after the race to get the good news...

The Dutchman, who now has back-to-back world titles to his name, is just one race win shy of tying the record of most F1 race wins in a season.

The Frenchman had pitted after the first lap and was catching up to the rest of the pack, who were behind the safety car when the crane was on track. The FIA released the following statement about the incident: “In relation to the recovery of the incident on Lap 3, the safety car had been deployed and the race neutralized. We also take into account the shock the driver experienced on seeing a truck on the racing line in the corner of the incident.” We’ve got lucky so far.” He also [said](https://twitter.com/autosport/status/1579000131025862656?s=20&t=d1si5jhI63ZlWQz5YrZUmQ) “there needs to be a full investigation into why there was a full recovery vehicle on the track.” “However, in mitigation of penalty, we take into account that although the speed could not by any measure be regarded as ‘slow’ as required in the regulations, it was slower that the maximum speed that could be achieved under these conditions. But for Nicholas Latifi and Sebastian Vettel, the decision to be the first two to pit after the race resumed had the risk of being disastrous. He was part of the decision to make the early switch to intermediates and this paid handsomely as he soon got into a potential points scoring position,” Dave Robson, Williams’s Head of Vehicle Performance, said in the team’s post-race recap. We are far away from P1 but the feeling in the car is something special when the fuel is light and the tire is fresh.” He briefly ran in the top three and managed to lead the grand prix, even if it was just a passing moment before Verstappen overtook him. It’s something I could never have imagined happening after last year already, fighting to the end and having such a good car again this year,” Verstappen said after the race. With just over 40 minutes to get racing in, the drivers emerged from the pits behind the safety car and mixed reports emerged in terms of visibility. “Of course, also we’re leading the Constructors so we really want to focus on that as well to try and secure that.

On Sunday, Max Verstappen's victory came after Ferrari competitor Charles Leclerc was given a five-second post-race penalty at the Japanese Grand Prix. - ...

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen triumphed in the Formula One world championship for the second time amidst the chaos. Verstappen described winning his second consecutive championship as “a crazy feeling” since he had not anticipated it when he crossed the finish line. There was immediate uncertainty on whether full points had been granted during the abbreviated race due to the rain and if the title would be decided at the US Grand Prix on October 23, however, the regulatory authority of the FIA validated the victory.

The Dutch driver's Japanese Grand Prix victory, which came in a rain-marred event, was his 12th of the season.

That enabled Verstappen to pass Hamilton on the final lap of the race, inviting confusion and acrimony from Hamilton’s Mercedes team and many observers Two hours later, the race was resumed but only 28 of 53 laps were completed, with Verstappen leading all the way. With one more victory, the 25-year-old Dutch driver would tie the single-season record set by Michael Schumacher in 2004 and matched by Sebastian Vettel in 2013. “Once I crossed the line I thought: ‘It was an amazing race, good points again, but I’m not world champion yet,’” he later said. “The championship obviously did not come the way this time around,” he said, That gave Verstappen a 113-point lead with only 112 points possible over the final four races.

Max Verstappen clinched his second consecutive F1 championship by winning a rain-shortened race in Japan, where Red Bull finished 1-2.

The elder Verstappen was once a teammate of Michael Schumacher with Benetton for part of the 1994 season. Schumacher had one of the most dominating seasons in 2002 when he won the title at the French Grand Prix with six races still to go. Verstappen has won in all fashions this season – from the back of the field, or recovering after a spin. He is the youngest driver to ever make a Formula One debut, at 17 driving for Toro Rosso in 2015. He had the title wrapped up before the summer break, and it was never a question of if he would win – but when and in how many races. He’s been the best driver, in the best car, with the best team. The latter would be a public-relations setback and is not expected. The only blemish is last year’s controversial title, taking the season championship in the final race – on the last lap – ahead of seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes. In 2014, French driver Jules Bianchi collided on the course with a recovery vehicle. “Nevertheless, it’s a great day in the end.” The Dutchman started from the pole in pouring rain only for the race to be stopped after two laps as several cars crashed. The incident came just as the race was red flagged.

Max Verstappen admitted he had no idea he had taken his second Formula One world championship as confusion rather than celebration characterised his ...

“The plan was to win the race but once I crossed the line I didn’t know if it was full points, half points or 75% points because you’re reading through the rules.” “It’s been a very enjoyable year and a very special year, which will be very hard in the future to match,” he said. “When I crossed the line I didn’t believe that we would have won the title because I also didn’t know if we’re going to get full points or not,” he said.

A post-race penalty for Charles Leclerc drops the Ferrari driver to third on the day.

Vettel secured the title with four races remaining [during the 2011 season](https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516590&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.formula1.com%2Fen%2Fresults.html%2F2011%2Fdrivers%2FSEBVET01%2Fsebastian-vettel.html&referrer=sbnation.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sbnation.com%2F2022%2F10%2F9%2F23394916%2Fmax-verstappen-formula-one-f1-red-bull-japanese-grand-prix-championship), which was the second of his four-straight championships. Schumacher himself has the fastest title in F1 history, when he won the championship in 2002 with six races remaining. The penalty dropped him into third place, clinching the championship for Verstappen. But with other drivers having posted faster lap times, despite Verstappen’s lead in the race, the Red Bull driver needed Leclerc to finish no better than third to secure the title. After making the switch, Verstappen’s dominance was on full display, as the Red Bull driver built a lead of around 20 seconds, pulling away from the field. When the Japanese Grand Prix restarted, it was 4:15 local time, over three hours after the race began, and under F1 timing regulations there would be just around 40 minutes of race time. But the restart was suspended before it began: [#JapaneseGP] [#F1] [pic.twitter.com/LVM6ww5F7j] [October 9, 2022] [barriers and ending his day](https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516590&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.formula1.com%2Fen%2Flatest%2Farticle.sainz-explains-crash-that-took-him-out-of-japanese-grand-prix-on-lap-1.4vllU5JSkbWhHzKb7NRlCe.html&referrer=sbnation.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sbnation.com%2F2022%2F10%2F9%2F23394916%2Fmax-verstappen-formula-one-f1-red-bull-japanese-grand-prix-championship): “Basically, by the time we started the race we were on inters but the track was nearly into extreme conditions. The drivers pulled into pit lane and exited their race cars, finding shelter under umbrellas as they — like the thousands of fans in the stands — waited for the weather to clear and did their best to stay dry. Shortly thereafter a pair of incidents illuminated the tricky race conditions. Leclerc appeared to have the better start between the two drivers, but Verstappen was able to maintain his speed on the outside of the turn, solidifying his lead coming out of Turn 2.

Red Bull boss Christian Horner says a "mistake" was made with the rules that allowed Max Verstappen to clinch his second Formula 1 drivers' title at the ...

Just looking at the points, a shortened race giving full points is not how the new-for-2022 rule following a farcical Belgian GP last year was intended. Verstappen added: "To be honest, I don't mind that it was a little bit confusing, I find it actually quite funny. "But, yeah, once I crossed the line, I was like, 'OK, that was an amazing race. "I had no clue what they were going to decide with the points," he said. But article 6.5 of F1's sporting regulations says that reduced points only apply if a race is suspended "and cannot be resumed". "So we felt we were going to be one point short.

During post-race interviews after the rain-delayed Japanese Grand Prix, Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen was told multiple times that he had won his ...

Instead, the FIA interpreted the rule to mean that, because the race had been restarted and subsequently hit the three-hour time limit window, it counted for full points — even if only a fraction of the intended race distance had been completed. Because this year’s Japanese GP hit that three-hour time limit for the broadcast window, the race was ended quickly. The start of the Japanese GP was a wet one, and drivers were only able to complete two laps before the race was red-flagged due to unsafe conditions.

Max Verstappen may not crave a dynasty, but - after clinching his second title at the age of 25 - this could well be the start of the Verstappen era of F1.

Max Verstappen is now a double world champion following the Dutch driver's victory at the Japanese Grand Prix and after Sunday's triumph, he sat down with ...

Lastly, he talks to us about his plans for the 2023 season and beyond, as he explains why Red Bull are well set up to have more success in the future. The Red Bull driver also pays tribute to his team, who he calls his “second family”, following the work they did to build the RB18 and for the way they improved the reliability issues that plagued the team at the beginning of the year. Verstappen talks through his emotions upon finding out he had won the title, as he reveals what was going through his mind during the confusion about whether he had won the championship or not, and why winning at Suzuka was so special.

As Max Verstappen celebrates sealing his second F1 World Championship, F1 Nation host Tom Clarkson braves the champagne spray to speak to some of those ...

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