Verstappen clinches second consecutive title at sodden Suzuka with win and last lap penalty to Leclerc in rain-shortened race; Perez promoted to P2 to aid Red Bull team & teammate’s cause

On a day where the rains returned in force to the Suzuka International Circuit and prompted an epically long Red Flag delay awaiting raceable weather, Red Bull’s peerless Max Verstappen still found a way to prevail when Sunday’s eventful Japanese Grand Prix resumed. With the entire field restarting on full Wet weather Pirelli tires, Verstappen and team Red Bull changed for Intermediates a few laps after the restart with approximately 30-minutes remaining along with all the main contenders. But once that switch had been made, Max was simply superior in getting his tires to work on the drenched circuit to greater effect than his few mathematical championship rivals, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and his own teammate Sergio Perez. By the time the checkers flew to end this rain shortened 28-lap contest Verstappen’s lead had ballooned to over 26-seconds to the P2 Prancing Horse of Leclerc, earning him the full 25 Championship points since the race had exceeded the halfway mark of the originally scheduled 53-laps. Better still for the Dutch Master, his teammate Perez hounded Leclerc to the bitter end, forcing the Monegasque into an error on the final lap that saw the P2 Ferrari go off track and then rejoin in front of Perez awkwardly. While Leclerc crossed the line in P2 he was docked five-seconds by the stewards for gaining an advantage and when the points were all recalculated that made Verstappen the winner of the 2022 F1 title, his second in succession. This season, unlike last year’s controversial last race nail-biter, was essentially a runaway, Ferrari’s and Leclerc’s early competitiveness giving way to unforced errors by the Scuderia team and drover and, frankly, the sheer superiority of the Red Bull RB 18 in Verstappen’s masterful hands. While Red Bull as a team will have to wait at least one more race to clinch the all-important Constructors’ title, that, too, is certainly a fait accompli. There may be four more rounds remaining in this year’s F1 season but it’s now all over but the shouting.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Outside that consequential top three, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon was able to skillfully fend off the multiple-lap charge of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, besting the seven-time champ to the line, P4 to P5. Likewise, the second Alpine of Fernando Alonso pitted late for a fresh set of Inters and was then able to pip Hamilton’s teammate George Russell for P7. Splitting that two-team quartet was the Aston Martin of Sebastian Vettel, who was one of the first to switch to Inters off of full Wets and road that brave decision to finish P6 in a brilliant drive at his final Japanese GP. Williams’ Nicholas Latifi did well to keep his car intact and come home P9, while McLaren’s Lando Norris took the last point in P10.

Top 10 finishers of the Japanese GP:

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in two weeks time and halfway round the globe — the always enjoyable United States Grand Prix from the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. We’ll hope for drier conditions and you can be sure the newly crowned two time King Max will still be gunning for victory in the Lone Star State. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!