The confusion and controversy that should never overshadow Verstappen’s Suzuka magic

The latest case of motorsport’s topflight making heavy weather of heavy weather, total fury from drivers over when recovery vehicles should be on circuit, a track limits penalty that a gravel trap might have prevented, confusion concerning the length of a race and how points are awarded, plus the champion only learning of his success between interviews. Certainly, last weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix wasn’t short of conflict and drama as the FIA has again emerged from a Formula 1 title decider being pounded with criticism.

The governing body has many questions to which it must provide satisfactory answers. Until those arrive, the fallout should not overshadow what was a mesmeric wet-weather victory from Max Verstappen. One that, unbeknown to us all at the chequered flag, had fittingly secured the Red Bull driver back-to-back world championships.

A confusing finish for the champion

Ever since Charles Leclerc crashed out of the lead of the French GP back in late July to hand Verstappen a 63-point cushion, it hasn’t felt like a ‘will he, won’t he story’. The coronation thereafter seemed inevitable. Even the Dutch racer admitted that, departing Paul Ricard, his reaction had been “this is a gap which we cannot give away anymore”. But as he crossed the line in a time-restricted and sodden Suzuka affair, there definitely was a ‘has he, hasn’t he’ story. The driver, his team, media, and fans didn’t think he’d sealed the deal.

In response to the 2021 Belgian GP washout, for this season the FIA voted in new rules concerning the allocation of points in the event of a heavily interrupted race. As the lap counter last weekend eventually climbed to 28, over half of the scheduled 53 tours had been completed in the battle to cram in as much racing before the three-hour event time limit elapsed and evening drew in. But since under 75% of the distance was covered, many thought Verstappen would be awarded 19 points for his win rather than the full 25.

However, as per the updated regulations, reduced points are only handed out if the race is suspended and “cannot be resumed”. Although the exact wording has exposed a scenario where a race being called off after three laps is still worthy of full points, Verstappen was wholly entitled to the 25 score. But even for those across this, a group that didn’t include Red Bull, still it seemed the title would have to wait until the United States GP.

When Verstappen crossed the finish line he wasn't confirmed as F1 world champion until penalties and rule clarifications arrived

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

Verstappen had romped clear to victory by nearly half a minute. But with Sergio Perez not passing Leclerc to create a rolling roadblock, the leader hadn’t been free to pit for a fresh set of intermediate tyres. That deprived him of a go at nicking the bonus point for fastest lap, set by Alfa Romeo driver Zhou Guanyu. As such, with the Ferrari clinging on against Perez to cross the line in second, Verstappen was one point short of a successful title defence.

To muddy the water that bit more, Verstappen’s race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase radioed his driver to explain that he wasn’t entirely sure whether the contest was even over... for, if the on-track action runs up to its regulated two-hour limit, when the countdown timer hits zero, there’s one more lap to run.

But at Suzuka, because of the protracted 127-minute pause between the red flag and rain showers abating enough for racing to resume, the limiting factor was the three-hour duration of the whole event itself. In that scenario, there’s no 'plus one lap' – it’s a hard and fast cut-off. And, given such cases are rare, the swift appearance of the chequered flag caught many off-guard.

All told, as Verstappen navigated Degner corner once again, there was no initial celebration from team boss Christian Horner about his driver having chalked a 32nd win to draw level with Fernando Alonso – let alone any mention of championship glory. No, Lambiase instead said: “OK, Max, there seems to be some confusion over whether the race is over. We do think it is. But just bring it home.” Leclerc also had to ask: “Is it over?”.

"I had no clue what they were going to decide with the points. Once I crossed the line, I was like, ‘OK, that was an amazing race. Good points again. But not world champion yet.’ Then I did my interview after the race. And then suddenly, my mechanics started to cheer, and I was like, ‘What's going on?’" Max Verstappen

Back in the RB18, there was silence for 17s before Horner jumped on the line to congratulate his driver on winning the race only. Then Verstappen could begin waving to the drenched spectators before parking in the pitlane.

After hopping out of the cockpit, he followed the standard win procedure of throwing himself into the Red Bull crew, walking over to the FIA weighing scales and then chatting with Perez, who talked his team-mate through a last-lap incident with Leclerc for which the Ferrari driver was now under investigation. Again, as normal, Verstappen waited for the parc ferme interviews to begin. With question master Johnny Herbert leading the conversation, the race winner talked through his long afternoon and walked off.

Then the FIA media delegate revealed to Verstappen that his 2022 title rival Leclerc had dropped to third with a five-second penalty for cutting the chicane to gain an advantage in his defence against Perez. This was the first time Verstappen learned his coronation might be on the cards. As news spread to a now whooping-and-hollering Red Bull crew, Herbert attempted another chat with the likely champion. Verstappen muddled through a sentence and then couldn’t contain his composure. He dived back into the crowd of mechanics, this time for a proper celebration. The grandstands went wild.

Confusion reigned in parc ferme as Leclerc's post-race penalty for cutting the final chicane was announced

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

He later explained the sequence, saying: “I had no clue what they were going to decide with the points. Once I crossed the line, I was like, ‘OK, that was an amazing race. Good points again. But not world champion yet.’ Then I did my interview after the race. And then suddenly, my mechanics started to cheer, and I was like, ‘What's going on?’

“Then I realised that Checo was second instead of Charles. But I still didn't know if it was full points, half points or whatever is 75%. [The FIA media delegate] came to me and he said that I was the world champion. So, then we celebrated. Then suddenly people were telling me, ‘No, you're still missing a point’. So, it was like, ‘Oh, that's amazing. That’s a bit weird.’ But then eventually we had enough points so then we were world champion again.”

Even in the driver cool down room, Verstappen was still questioning it: “No, I’m not. I am? You sure? Because people keep telling me different things.” Horner, meanwhile, reckoned he wasn’t certain of his driver’s achievement until the twilight podium ceremony. It was quite the bewildering turn of events considering for so long, it looked as though the grand prix would be abandoned following only one uninterrupted lap.

The battle to run the race

After COVID canned trips to Suzuka for two seasons, F1 once again opted to travel to the coastal circuit in early October – right at the end of typhoon season. The championship therefore got what it deserved when Friday running was soaking wet. In those slippery conditions, Ferrari looked rather strong when Carlos Sainz dared a brief race simulation. Although, that was set to be virtually meaningless because, 48 hours before the race, the weather forecast predicted rain to hit shortly after the chequered flag.

Verstappen topping the hour of dry practice on Saturday before seizing pole over Leclerc by one hundredth – despite running slower on his final lap owing to damage – then looked as though it might pave the way for a thrilling climax. For, 24 hours before lights out, the meteorologists reckoned a shower would now arrive in time to disrupt the final stint. Perhaps the Scuderia would come on song in the closing damp stages after Verstappen took an early command.

Overnight, the radar changed again. It began to rain in the lead up to the race. Unlike the previous round in Singapore, though, the start time wasn’t delayed. But there was enough standing water to force everyone onto the green-walled inters for what would remain a proper standing start.

As he had done seven days earlier to trigger anti-stall, Verstappen was going to attempt to pull away in second gear to cut wheelspin. He tried prepping the clutch on the way to the grid but had a “terrible” launch. Likewise when he scrabbled out of his grid box to dictate the formation lap. Nevertheless, he refused to deviate from the plan and would simply accept his getaway “was not going to be amazing”.

Leclerc was in front going into the first corner only for Verstappen to power around the outside

Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images

How right he was. The revs fell away so considerably once Verstappen had started rolling that his head violently juddered back and forth. That created an opportunity for front-row rival Leclerc to draw alongside and then begin to edge ahead.

The Ferrari had first place by half a car length and the inside line into the double-apex first right-hander. But Verstappen kept his foot in on the outside, which – as is so often the case in the wet – offered more grip. That enabled a committed Verstappen to slice around the outside and decisively retake the lead.

“There was quite a bit of grip on the outside, so that's where I could brake a little bit later,” explained Verstappen. “It was very close but that's what people like to see.”

With the advantage of clear visibility, he completed a clean opening lap. The same could not be said of the pack behind. Ninth-starting Sebastian Vettel tagged with Alonso into Turn 1 to spin into the gravel. Rookie Zhou rotated by himself, while Alex Albon and Kevin Magnussen made light contact that was sufficient to damage the Williams FW44’s radiator to cause a leak and kill the engine from a lack of water pressure.

After the field returned to the pitlane, newly confirmed 2023 Alpine driver Gasly was filmed blowing his top. Little wonder. In the low visibility, after pitting for a new front wing and full wets, he’d dived past a tractor that was on track to collect the wrecked Ferrari

Also in the wars was Sainz. The Spaniard had dropped behind Perez to fourth as he backed off the throttle into the first bend after being blinded by the spray. His bid to regain the lost ground was hastily curtailed. As he pulled through the gears on the long run through Turn 12, the fat rear Pirellis caught a patch of standing water. The car snapped violently sideways to render Sainz a passenger as his F1-75 skated into the outside barrier before coming to a rest on the track, where he was fortunate not to be collected.

With the Williams stricken, the Ferrari out with a terminally damaged rear wing and Pierre Gasly crawling round (having started from the pitlane due to wing changes and a suspension tweak, the AlphaTauri racer careered into the advertising hoarding ripped off in Sainz’s impact), the safety car was deployed. A lap and a half later, at 1408 local time, in view of the treacherous conditions, the marshals reached for the red flags to halt proceedings.

After the field returned to the pitlane, newly confirmed 2023 Alpine driver Gasly was filmed blowing his top. Little wonder. In the low visibility, after pitting for a new front wing and full wets, he’d dived past a tractor that was on track to collect the wrecked Ferrari. The whole grid had, as it turned out, gone by the recovery vehicle but Gasly – attempting to close to the pack – had done so approaching 155mph.

After Gasly's near-miss with the recovery vehicle, the AlphaTauri driver went to speak with race direction about the incident

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

That near-miss at a track where Jules Bianchi’s fatal crash in 2014 prompted the introduction of the halo created an almighty talking point. It served to fill the gap before race control issued an update to say the contest would be restarted at 1450. Then, with two minutes to go, there was a change of heart and the procedure suspended indefinitely.

With heavy showers arriving periodically, grandstands began to clear. Alpine rounded up the non-F1 media flown to Japan for the reveal of its awkwardly named ‘Fernando Alonso’ edition sportscar – an ill-timed tribute to the departing two-time champion – and sent them home on a bus. Although the medical car ventured out occasionally for reconnaissance laps, it looked as though, after only two tours, the race was spent.

Lewis Hamilton did take to social media to write: “Let’s get going… give it a shot”. Then, rather unexpectedly, at 1604, another messaged flashed up from race direction. The event would get going again in 11 minutes. Albeit behind the safety car, with a rolling start and full-wet tyres mandated, it did.

Verstappen shows his class

Some 135 minutes after the first formation lap, the grid was rolling again. The safety car led an out-, full and in-lap during which time the drivers had ample opportunity to report poor visibility but sound enough track conditions. There was, of course, one person with a clear view ahead. So, with 38 minutes left on the timer, Verstappen made it count by leading away cleanly to prevent Leclerc having so much as a sniff. He then extracted an impressive 1.3s advantage at the end of what was now the sixth tour.

Vettel and Nicholas Latifi, though, had dropped to the foot of the order after pitting immediately for inters – to again raise questions over F1’s extreme caution when it comes to racing in decently wet weather. The Aston Martin and Williams may have been clumsily released side-by-side but there was nothing poorly executed about Latifi’s next sectors, which turned purple on the timing screens to indicate the crossover had arrived.

Verstappen dived for the pits and was serviced in 2.7s as the team double-stacked Perez. The arrival of the second RB18 meant Leclerc was held in his pitbox for a total stop time of 3.8s. Apart from lap 10, when the Ferrari was 0.5s quicker than Verstappen on the inters, there was no indication Leclerc could repeat his work from Singapore to close to the leading Red Bull and mount a late challenge for the win. The Scuderia’s Friday pace in the damp had gone.

Verstappen simply charged clear after his switch to intermediate tyres

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

During what would be his final stint as a one-time champion, Verstappen was remarkable. He consistently lapped 1-1.5s faster than his red-clad adversary, who was showing only top-six pace as the track ever so gradually dried. Partly, that performance came with the advantage of good visibility. A drop off in Ferrari pace and rear tyre management since the FIA porpoising-related technical directive came into effect at Spa also contributed. It’s longer-standing front-graining issues played a part, too. As did the development of the lighter RB18 that has a front-bias weight distribution to suit Verstappen’s hatred of understeer.

But for however much those factors combined, the talent from the cockpit still shone through on this gloomy day. At the same time as Leclerc was struggling to nurse his rubber, Verstappen was able to simultaneously conserve his and still hold the fastest sustained pace of anyone.

“The car was very good, but also we were looking after the tyres quite well,” he said. “We could keep the front tyres alive, which around here is quite tough on these intermediate tyres. That's basically what gave me such a pace advantage because in that first sector, if you have a bit more front grip, that helps a lot. It was very enjoyable.”

"Charles was making it really hard so I knew that the only way I could get him was if I pushed him into a mistake" Sergio Perez

The payoff for that affinity was Verstappen disappearing up the road to an exquisite 26.763s triumph ahead of the Ferrari. It was his 12th win of the campaign to now sit only one short of the season record shared by Michael Schumacher (2004) and Vettel (2013).

Officially, though, Verstappen is recognised as having won by 27.066s over Perez. The Mexican also had the legs on Leclerc, but by a more modest half-second per lap. That was still quick enough to close to the rear of the F1-75 and even attempt a couple of half-hearted lunges to keep the Monegasque on his toes. But with the Ferrari driver defending well, Perez had another idea. He said: “Charles was making it really hard so I knew that the only way I could get him was if I pushed him into a mistake.”

Leclerc refused to crack until he was three corners from home. Then, without the risk of becoming beached in a gravel trap, he ran straight on through the first part of the right-left chicane. He’d departed the track 0.5s ahead of Perez but rejoined it with only a tenth in hand. He ran Perez as far as he reasonably could to the edge of the circuit to just hold onto second place at the flag by 0.303s. But then he was placed under investigation and ultimately copped the 5s penalty that would finally extinguish any small remaining hope that he might still fight for the title.

Leclerc's faint title hopes were ended by his post-race time penalty for cutting the final chicane

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

Scuderia boss Mattia Binotto was initially incensed. After 151 minutes were needed to punish Perez’s safety car infringements in Singapore, the Italian was baffled by the rapid workings out of the stewards. Also relating it to the week-old precedent, he wanted to know why Perez was able to argue his case but Leclerc deemed straightaway bang to rights and couldn’t give his version of events. Finally, Leclerc had actually lost time going off-road so had not gained in any way.

The FIA reasoning cited “numerous driver briefings where the race directors advised that an advantage would be considered as having gained if you go off track and return in the same position whilst defending”. Further referencing the similar incidents and penalties copped by Zhou in Saudi Arabia and Alonso in Miami, the stewards made a convincing case.

Either way, Leclerc must now fight to even come away from this once-promising season even as the runner-up. Perez has now jumped the Ferrari racer to second by one point, his reward for being the ultimate wingman when it really counts, now having played an active role in Verstappen clinching both of his titles on the day.

PLUS: 10 moments that won Verstappen the 2022 Formula 1 title

For the final four rounds this term, with one championship now settled, Red Bull can notch its first constructors’ crown since 2013 next time out should it simply match or outscore Ferrari at Austin. As for next year, given how strong the car, team and driver are, more world titles look a real possibility. If that is the case, perhaps it will be third time lucky for Verstappen should he ever want to seal the glory in anything resembling a conventional fashion.

The Japanese GP was controversial but there was no doubting Verstappen as a worthy winner and world champion

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