Red Bull Racingโs Max Verstappen has secured his second Formula 1 world championship title after a chaotic, confusing, and controversial 2022 Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.
Heading into the weekend, the extremely dominant Dutch motorsport talent โ who has claimed 12 victories from the past 18 races โ only needed closest challenger and Scuderia Ferrari rival, Charles Leclerc, to finish P3 or lower to retain his throne. Mathematically speaking, this was the Leclercโs final chance to secure the necessary points to stay in the title fight.
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And right until the 28th and final lap, Charles Leclerc was still technically in contention for this yearโs crown. But in a Drive To Survive-worthy moment of symmetry that mirrored the 2019 season conclusion in Abu Dhabi, Verstappenโs teammate Sergio Perez (AKA the Minister of Defence) pressured Leclerc into exceeding track limits, effectively earning the latter a five-second penalty. As a result, Perez was awarded P2 despite crossing the finish line behind Leclerc.
โIt was a bit hectic with Charles [Leclerc], good racing, I tried to make a move and he locked up and went off. The penalty was fair.โ
Sergio Perez
Now, the only driver on the grid who can realistically dethrone Max Verstappen is old Checo. Which we know with 100% certainty will never happen given the next six years of Red Bull Racingโs team orders probably definitely involves some variation of โhelp Max win at all costs.โ
โItโs crazy. Very mixed emotions, first of all winning the race, looking back now at what a year Iโve had so far, itโs been incredible,โ said Max Verstappen during his post-race interview at the 2022 Japanese Grand Prix.
โSomething I could never have imagined happening after last yearโฆ Iโm so thankful to everyone who has contributed to this success. The work weโve done together with Honda all the way through, constantly improving rapidly to win now twice.โ
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โI didnโt expect it when I crossed the line. Was it going to be half points? I didnโt know how many points I was going to get.โ
Max Verstappen
Red Bullโs Max Verstappen has become a two-time Formula 1 world champion with four races to spare. The next race on the calendar after the 2022 Japanese Grand Prix (Suzuka) is the 2022 United States Grand Prix (Austin).
