How Max Verstappen was able to become the 2022 World Champion at the rain shortened Japanese GP amidst the confusion
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Max Verstappen
The 2022 Japanese GP was deemed to be the race where fans were more than ever ready for Max Verstappen to clinch his second world championship at the Suzuka circuit. After lights out, the Red Bull driver got a great start and managed to stay ahead of Charles Leclerc as they went toe to toe into turn one. Following multiple first lap incidents, the FIA red flagged the session. After a long wait, the weather cleared up and it was time to go racing in Suzuka.
With 40 minutes left on the FIA countdown clock, it meant that 28 laps of racing was possible and the amount of action that we got in those 28 laps was unprecedented . Eventually Max Verstappen crossed the finish line in P1 with a 26.7 second gap to P2. F1’s governing body has a tired system that will show the amount of points awarded to the drivers depending on the distance raced in total. This is why, many thought that Verstappen didn’t take the title when he crossed the finish line.
It was previously thought that ‘points column 3’ would be in place and 19-14-12 points would be awarded to the top 3 respectively instead of the normal 25-18-15. However there was a small twist in the end. Although Charles Leclerc managed to finish P2, he did that by cutting the last corner and gaining a lasting advantage which meant a 5 seconds penalty was struck upon him. This in turn promoted Sergio Perez to P2 who had been tailing Leclerc all through the final few laps. But what did that mean for Max?
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“I am not [World Champion], am I? Are you sure?” Max Verstappen says amidst the confusion
Johnny Herbert had confirmed that Max was world champion in the parc ferme interview, yet everyone was scratching their heads as confusion arose. Although it was confirmed in a few moments that Max Verstappen was indeed the world champion as Leclerc’s 5 second penalty meant that he would drop to 3rd place and promote Checo to P2. This made sure that the gap in points between Verstappen and Leclerc was enough for the Dutchman to win the World Championship.
With 28 laps done and dusted out of the total 53 laps, full points were awarded for the 2022 Japanese GP. Article 6.5 of the FIA Sporting Regulations states that the staggered points system does not apply if the relevant red flag period ends and the race restarts instead of calculating points on a pure lap-count basis. Here is what it says. “If a race or sprint qualifying session is suspended in accordance with under Article 57, and cannot be resumed, points for each title will be awarded in accordance with the following criteria:
a) No points will be awarded if the leader has completed less than two (2) laps.
b) No points will be awarded unless a minimum of two (2) laps have been completed by the leader without a Safety Car and/or VSC intervention.”
The FIA further went on to confirm this with the following statement. “Article 6.5 only applies in the event of race suspension that cannot be resumed, and therefore full points are awarded and Max Verstappen is World Champion.”
Finally the confusion came to an end and Verstappen was rightfully crowned champion for the second time in a row.
Christian Horner confirmed that Jonathan Wheatley had been rigorously going through the FIA rulebook to make sure that Max is in fact, the champion. The driver has been dominant all round the season. Amassing a total of 12 wins till now, this is the Dutchman’s best season in the sport so far statistically with 4 more rounds left. The pressure is off now and Max Verstappen will be keen to enjoy the last few races of this season in an even calmer manner compared to his usual.
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Varad Joshi
(940 Articles Published)