After dominating a Japanese Grand Prix that was cut short by heavy rain, Max Verstappen cliched a second victory in extraordinary circumstances.
After Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who finished second, was fined for cutting the track and gaining an advantage on the final lap, Verstappen led SergMax Verstappen cliched a second title in extraordinary circumstances after dominating a Japanese Grand Prix truncated by heavy rain.io Perez in a Red Bull one-two.
Because it was not immediately clear whether full points would be awarded for a race that was just over half the distance, there was uncertainty following the race as to whether Verstappen had accomplished enough to tie up the championship.
Reduced points, according to governing body the FIA, only apply if a race that has been suspended cannot be restarted.
Verstappen himself inquired, “Are you sure?” reflecting the historical precedent that fewer points are given in such situations, when he was informed that he was the champion.
But it appears that when the rules were revised over the course of last winter in the wake of the contentious Belgian Grand Prix, this protocol was unintentionally left out.
However, there can be no doubts about the legitimacy of Verstappen’s championship because he won his 12th race of the season by dominating the field in his Red Bull car, the same way he has done to seize the championship lead.
Disputes over officials’ use of a recovery vehicle on the track while the cars were still moving after a collision marred the race.
Drivers and team bosses united to call the decision from race control “unacceptable”, eight years after Jules Bianchi lost his life after crashing into a tractor on track
The race was stopped shortly afterwards, leading to a two-hour delay while officials waited for the persistent rain to ease sufficiently for racing to resume.
When it finally did, Verstappen and Leclerc initially pulled away from the rest of the pack, but as the laps ticked by Ferrari’s tyre problems reared their head.
Leclerc dropped back from Verstappen and Perez began to reel in the Ferrari. Leclerc held him off for several laps and looked to have done enough, only to lock up at the final chicane on the last lap and cut the corner.
Leclerc held Perez off to the line, but was deemed to have gained an advantage by going off track and was demoted back behind.
Behind them, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon held off Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes for the entire race, with Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel doing the same to Fernando Alonso’s Alpine.
Alonso made a stop for fresh tyres with just 15 minutes of race time remaining and dropped to ninth, reclaiming sufficient ground to finish the race right on Vettel’s tail, but unable to pass.
Mercedes’ George Russell climbed up to eighth from 13th, after being delayed by being stacked behind Hamilton in the pits when the field changed from wet to intermediate tyres, and the final points when to Williams’ Nicholas Latifi and McLaren’s Lando Norris.
