Max Verstappen won the 2022 Japanese Grand Prix and is now officially the World Champion of the 2022 season.
After a dramatic Japanese Grand Prix, Max Verstappen was officially crowned the 2022 Formula 1 World Champion.
The race was red-flagged after a couple of incidents on the opening lap and the “undrivable” conditions. The rain was ever-increasing.
The race was delayed heavily due to rain to a point that people lost hope. The fear of a repeat of the 2021 Belgian GP was looming. However, the patience of fans eventually paid off.
With 40 or so minutes remaining on the clock, the race director allowed a rolling start behind the safety car.
Max Verstappen led the race after the resumption as he was the one in the lead when the race was red-flagged. From there, Verstappen would go on to dominate the whole race making a gap of more than 24 seconds to Charles Leclerc in second who would ultimately lose out to Sergio Perez in P2 after a 5-second penalty at the end of the race.
Ultimately, this 5-second penalty proved crucial to crown Max Verstappen the World Champion in Japan. Since Leclerc ended P3 after the penalty, this made Verstappen clear off Leclerc and Perez by more than 112 points and ultimately the World Champion.
A season of pure dominance by Verstappen and Red bull
The 2022 season started at a rather low point for Max Verstappen and Red Bull. The Dutchman wasn’t able to finish 2 out of the first three races due to mechanical failures.
However, from there it has been a story of redemption for Verstappen and Red Bull.
Max Verstappen continued to drive in a league of his own ever since. The now two-time world champion went on to win 11 out of the next 15 races.
He came from being behind in the championship by 46 points to wrapping the championship in Japan with four more races to go.
That was the level of dominance from Max Verstappen this season.
On top of that, Verstappen got the privilege to win the World Title here at Suzuka. Although the title news reached him in a rather oddly manner.
Red Bull has also shown dominance in terms of team. Sergio Perez has 2 wins for the team this season with Red Bull leading Ferrari by 165 points in the constructors’ standings.
Sergio Perez and Verstappen gave five 1-2 finish to the Milton Keynes-based outfit. It is the maximum 1-2 finishes for Red Bull in any season.
Max Verstappen and the F1 world react to the crowning of the Dutchman in 2022
It was not until the top three reached the cooldown room that Max Verstappen realized that he had just clinched the title here in Japan.
Max Verstappen said after the race:
“I’m just very happy that we got to race at the end. It was raining quite heavily and it was just really tough for us to drive. But luckily, we got quite an amount of laps in and the car was flying in the inter conditions as well. I’m very pleased to win here, but also very happy to see all the fans and that they stuck around,”
said race winner and world champion Verstappen.
“[As for the title], what can I say? Incredible, of course! It’s very special also to do it here, in front of all the Honda people, all the Japanese fans.”
Many people were first to congratulate Verstappen. Most noticeably, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso wished the new world champ for his second consecutive title just after the race.
The party has already started at Red Bull, and they have earned it.
Well done to Max Verstappen from everyone here at Six Sports for having a sensational 2022 season. We wish for many more to come.
Formula 1 now heads to Austin for the 2022 United States Grand Prix.
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