Verstappen wins in Japan and is world champion for the second year in a row: “The title of 2021 is exciting, but this is the best”

Max Verstappen with his Red Bull won the Japanese F1 GP after the red flag and the restart after two hours of interruption behind the safety car and is world champion for the second time thanks to the penalty in the final of Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari who finished third behind Sergio Perez’s other Red Bull. «I am grateful and I want to thank those who work on the track, but also to the whole team in fever» said Max Verstappen, then he also dedicated a thought to Honda: «Every year we have improved thanks to the work together». Second consecutive drivers ‘title for the Dutch Red Bull driver: 2021 and 2022, «I think the first was more exciting, but the second is better for the many victories and the constructors’ title. It is a special year, which I want to remember because it doesn’t happen often like this ».

The race judges even though 75% of the laps were not completed awarded the entire stake to the Dutch driver because the race ended with time and therefore the reduced scores were not awarded allowing the Red Bull driver to win. the title. The Dutchman restarted in the lead after the interruption and maintained the lead without problems ahead of Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari.

At the end of the race the Monegasque loses control of his car for a moment and cuts the chicane, remaining in front of Perez at the last corner. Finished under investigation he is penalized by 5 seconds closing in third position. Fourth place for Esteban Ocon’s Alpine and Lewis Hamiton’s Mercedes. Sebastian Vettel’s Aston Martin sixth with a tactically perfect race that precedes Fernando Alonso’s Alpine and George Russell’s Mercedes. Ninth place for Nicholas Latifi and tenth for Lando Norris.

«A great effort and suffering on those tires in the last laps. We need to understand why we destroy the tires after a few laps. Congratulations to Verstappen on the title. For us today it was frustrating, there was no step. We will try to do our best between now and the end of the season to improve as a team for next year ». This is the thought of Charles Leclerc, at the end of the Japanese Grand Prix.

While Mattia Binotto, Ferrari team principal, judged the 5-second penalty imposed on Charles Leclerc, who relegated the Monegasque from second to third place in the Japanese GP, “ridiculous and unacceptable”, giving the go-ahead to the second driver’s title for Max Verstappen . The Ferrari driver would not have gained any advantage from the cut of a chicane: “Charles was ahead of Perez and stayed there,” said Binotto in connection with Sky Sport. Furthermore, “the penalty was decided in a few minutes, without even hearing the pilots”, while in Singapore it took almost three hours to punish Perez.