SUZUKA, Japan —
Max Verstappen said it was a
“crazy feeling” to retain his Formula One world championship Sunday in dramatic
fashion after winning a rain-shortened Japanese Grand Prix and then seeing his
nearest rival Charles Leclerc relegated to third by a five-second penalty.
اضافة اعلان
The result gave Red Bull driver Verstappen an
unassailable 113-point lead in the championship, making him only the third
driver after Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel to clinch the title with
four races to spare.
Ferrari’s Leclerc crossed the line second in front
of Red Bull’s
Sergio Perez, but he was hit with a penalty after squeezing Perez
in the final chicane and being deemed to have gained an advantage by leaving
the track.
Verstappen was only informed he had retained his
title midway through the post-race TV interview, and even the driver himself
was not sure if he had sealed the deal.
“It’s a crazy feeling of course as I didn’t expect
it when I crossed the line,” said a surprised Verstappen.
“Was it going to be half points? I didn’t know how
many points I was going to get. I was happy with the race we had.”
The race got off to a chaotic start in heavy rain.
Leclerc was quicker off the line than pole sitter
Verstappen, who admitted he made “a terrible start”, before the Dutchman
regained the lead with a brave overtake around the outside of turn one.
“It was very close but that’s what people like to
see,” Verstappen said.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz spun out on the first lap and
the Williams of Alex Albon broke down prompting a safety car.
A red flag soon followed and forced the drivers back
to the pit lane for more than an hour before the action restarted at the second
time of asking under a safety car rolling restart.
Verstappen resumed with a lead over Leclerc and
Perez and extended it with ease once the safety car period ended and track
conditions gradually improved.
‘Congratulations to Max’
“It was very difficult and
they made the right call,” Verstappen said of the red flag.
“The first time they tried to restart it was not
right. Once we got going it was fine.”
Verstappen took the checkered flag but there was a
furious battle for second behind him, with Leclerc cutting across a corner
while jostling for position with Perez.
Leclerc beat Perez to the line but later conceded
that his penalty was “the right thing to do”.
“I don’t have much to say — I made a mistake and
tried to minimize it,” said Leclerc, who led the championship early in the
season.
“Huge congratulations to Max and Red Bull. Max has
been incredible and it’s a title fully deserved.”
Verstappen has won 12 of 18 races in 2022 and
thanked his team for an “incredible” year.
“The first (championship) is a little more
emotional, the second one is beautiful,” he said.
“It’s been a special year, and you need to remind
yourself as these kind of years you don’t have very often.”
Red Bull team principal
Christian Horner said
Verstappen had “grown” as a driver.
“Carrying that number one this year, he’s done it
with a lot of pride,” he said.
French driver Pierre Gasly reacted furiously after
passing a tractor on the track early in the race.
AlphaTauri’s Gasly said he could have been killed
after encountering the vehicle, which was deployed to recover Sainz’s car.
It brought back painful memories of the tragic 2014
race at Suzuka, when another French driver Jules Bianchi died after colliding
with a recovery vehicle in poor conditions.
That prompted a review of safety and the introduction of the
“halo” cockpit head protection system for drivers.
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