Japanese Grand Prix Race Report: Verstappen takes his second title in a controversy filled GP
Japanese Grand Prix Race Report: Verstappen takes his second title in a controversy filled GP
Max Verstappen will never win the Formula 1 championship without drama. The Red Bull driver secured the second title by winning the Japanese Grand Prix, but only after a long day of conflict and agitation, a climax at the very last turn of the final lap.
Verstappen beat Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez to the finish line in the rain-shortened Japanese Grand Prix. But after pushing Perez off the track in the last corner, Leclerc was demoted to third.
Even with Leclerc finishing third and Verstappen taking the lead, the championship race should have gone to Austin. It was anticipated that fewer points would be awarded because they had completed between 50% and 75% of the race.
Instead, they concluded that it was a full race since they continued despite a red flag and finished within the three-hour deadline.
From pole position, Verstappen just held onto the lead in the rainy conditions that immediately worsened and caused Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz to crash. On lap three, the race was red-flagged, which resulted in a significant delay as the heavy downpour persisted.
Nevertheless, there was a tense moment when a tractor was permitted to enter the circuit despite numerous cars being on track amid terrible visibility. Pierre Gasly nearly collided with the tractor’s rear.
Despite drivers’ complaints about the poor visibility, it was agreed there would be a rolling start around two hours after the red flag was raised. So the race restarted with 40 minutes remaining in the three-hour race window.
After fiercely defending against Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes, Esteban Ocon finished a solid fourth for Alpine. Sebastian Vettel finished in sixth place when he made his farewell appearance at Suzuka.
Fernando Alonso slapped on another set of intermediates in the final stages to finish in P7 ahead of George Russell. Nicholas Latifi finished in P9, taking his first points this season, with Lando Norris rounding up the top 10.
Daniel Ricciardo narrowly missed out on points as he took P11 ahead of Lance Stroll, home favourite Yuki Tsunoda, and Kevin Magnussen. Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu finished in P15 and P16, respectively, with Pierre Gasly finishing in P17.
The other driver to retire was Alex Albon, who collided with Kevin Magnussen in the first lap and had to leave the track because of a mechanical problem brought on by the collision.
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