Max Verstappen

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.

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.

There were only 28 laps completed in Suzuka but full points were awarded and the Red Bull driver was able to retain his crown.

The race was then delayed as conditions worsened, but as Gasly attempted to catch the other drivers, he passed a recovery vehicle that had been sent out without the knowledge of the drivers. Confusion hit the paddock as it was unclear if Verstappen had been awarded half-points due to the truncated nature of the race – before it was confirmed full points were given. There were only 28 laps completed in Suzuka but full points were awarded as the race was resumed after a red flag had caused a delay of over two hours.

Max Verstappen has been crowned world champion after winning Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix. Here, the PA news agency takes a closer look at Verstappen's ...

Verstappen secured his second world title against the backdrop of claims Red Bull has broken the financial rules. Verstappen could also match the most number of podiums in a campaign with 18 – a tally he reached last year – and eclipse the biggest points gap to second place. That said, nothing should be taken away from Verstappen, who is in the purple patch of his career.

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

Dutchman takes the title following rain-soaked victory – and confusion – in Japan.

On lap 18, Leclerc recorded the fastest lap (later taken by Alfa Romeo’s Guanyu Zhou) and he eventually found himself fighting off Perez for second as Verstappen crossed the line. Verstappen managed to hold the lead, but behind the leaders it was chaos: Vettel, in his final Then came the controversy: a recovery tractor was on track while Pierre Gasly was heading back to the pits – at some speed. After barely more than a single lap, the race was red flagged. He ran wide and kept just ahead of Perez as they crossed the line but was soon handed a five-second penalty for gaining an advantage. Even race winner Max Verstappen – who romped home to victory nearly half a minute clear of second-placed Charles Leclerc – was confused.

Lewis Hamilton says he has "no doubt" that Mercedes will build a better car for 2023, after congratulating Max Verstappen on sealing a second successive ...

"I wish it was a longer race. "It was a sprint race. "We were just so slow in a straight line. "Red Bull obviously did an amazing job with the car this year," Hamilton added. I have no doubts we'll build a better car next year. 'Second title more beautiful'](https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/12707671/max-verstappen-crowned-2022-f1-world-champion-amid-japanese-gp-confusion-after-winning-wet-race) [Gasly, F1 drivers furious at tractor on track

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...

Max Verstappen has been crowned world champion after winning Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix. Here, the PA news agency takes a closer look at Verstappen's ...

Verstappen secured his second world title against the backdrop of claims Red Bull has broken the financial rules. Verstappen could also match the most number of podiums in a campaign with 18 – a tally he reached last year – and eclipse the biggest points gap to second place. That said, nothing should be taken away from Verstappen, who is in the purple patch of his career.

Even Red Bull were not sure Verstappen had enough points to be declared champion, with the initial assumption that only a percentage of points would be ...

His main complaint was to do with the speed the sanction was handed out, which came almost immediately after the conclusion of the race. Those complaints are likely to fall on deaf ears, however, considering the Monegasque was rightly punished for some very aggressive defending against Perez on the final lap of the race. [Charles Leclerc](https://www.mirror.co.uk/all-about/charles-leclerc) was penalised with a five-second time penalty for overly-aggressive defending against [Sergio Perez](https://www.mirror.co.uk/all-about/sergio-perez), Verstappen's gap at the top of the standings is now insurmountable. "I am so thankful to everyone that has contributed to this success not only here but back at the factory that are working flat out. "Last race it took them an infinite number of laps to take a nonsense decision. It's been a pretty special here and I think it's something you need to remind yourself of because these kind of years don't happen very often." But irrespective of all that, the race which saw Verstappen become champion was a fitting one. But that was only after plenty of confusion in the paddock about how many points would be handed out for the race. The confusion, over whether or not he could be confirmed as champion, is the latest in a string of farcical, confusing scenarios in F1. Something we could never have imagined after last year fighting until the end and then have a good car this year. What a year we've had its been incredible. As they were able to get back out on track at Suzuka, F1 chief decided full points would be appropriate.

Verstappen is well worth his Drivers' Championship but F1 is once again under scrutiny for how it handles driver safety. F1 Japanese Grand Prix Max ...

On Sunday the Dutchman’s victory was all his own making. And Verstappen also had Perez by his side when he needed him. And the German admitted that he has rarely seen such a potentially dangerous incident as at Suzuka on Sunday – and that the drivers got lucky. We’re lucky that nothing happened and we need to make sure it must not happen. We know this for years. In the end he beat Perez into second place with ease, and Leclerc was more than half a minute behind the Dutchman. Few can argue Verstappen hasn’t deserved his world championship this season. it doesn’t matter the speed, I would’ve just died. We lost a life in this situation years ago.” How’s this happened!? Gasly said over the team radio: “What is this tractor on track? Having come into the race at Suzuka needing to effectively better Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez’s results, there was an air of calm inside the Verstappen garage.

Dutchman had to display patience and composure after recovering from a shaky start to dominate his rivals, winning 12 times in 18 races.

As a long-respected driver he recognised only too well that Belgium was the moment when Verstappen had the hammer on the opposition. At Monaco, where the car’s inherent understeer was clearly frustrating and not to his liking, he worked through it, kept it clean and with a superb strategy call from Red Bull managed third, crucially, in front of Leclerc. We have seen it with Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher in the past but this is Max’s time right now, a combination of the Red Bull and his driving.” By the ninth round in Canada, Red Bull had taken the weight out and given Verstappen the sharp front-end he enjoys and his superb win there was indicative of how comfortable he was. He nailed qualifying in the wet and was unstoppable from there despite Ferrari potentially having the quicker race car. This season has belonged to Verstappen who delivered with the command and control of a champion, with an almost untrammelled confidence and ease, yet it was a title for which he most assuredly had to work.

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.