Verstappen to be crowned 2022 F1 World Champion at the Japanese GP
Given his points lead in the 2022 drivers' championship, there was no doubt that Verstappen would eventually win the title. However, in a move that delayed Verstappen's title, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc cut the chicane on the last lap and received a five-second penalty, dropping him to third place. Red Bull's Sergio Perez moved up to second place.
Despite the heavy rain, the race started as normal with Verstappen on pole and Leclerc on the top grid. However, the race was red-flagged after two laps when Carlos Sainz in the Ferrari and Alexander Albon in the Williams spun and crashed at the start.
The race then resumed with a rolling start, but with only 50 minutes remaining. As the conditions dried out, many drivers, including race leaders Verstappen and Leclerc, opted to pit for intermediates, with Verstappen moving up to fourth and Leclerc to sixth.
A lap later, Verstappen passed Haas' Mick Schumacher for the lead, while Leclerc overtook Alfa Romeo's Guagne Zou for fourth. On lap 9, Leclerc moved into second place, but by then the gap to Verstappen had already widened.
Perez also caught up to Leclerc, but Leclerc cut the chicane on the last lap in an attempt to defend second place. Alpine's Esteban Ocon finished fourth ahead of Mercedes-Benz AMG's Lewis Hamilton. Aston Martin's Sebastian Vettel also suffered an accident on the opening lap when he collided with Alpine's Fernando Alonso, but recovered from the incident to finish sixth.
After this weekend, Verstappen has an unassailable lead in the 2022 drivers' championship with 366 points. However, the battle for second place is still on, with Perez in second place with 253 points and Leclerc in third with 252 points. The battle for the constructors' championship is also barely hanging on, with Red Bull on 619 points, Ferrari on 454 and Mercedes on 387. [The next race is the U.S. Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, in two weeks.
1) Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) 2) Sergio Perez (Red Bull Racing) +27.066s 3) Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +31.763 sec. 4) Esteban Ocon (Alpine) +39.685s 5) Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes-Benz AMG) +40.326s 6) Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin) +46.358s 7) Fernando Alonso (Alpine) +46.369s 8) George Russell (Mercedes-Benz AMG) +47.661s 9) Nicolas Latifi (Williams) +70.143s 10) Lando Norris (McLaren) +70.782s 11) Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren) +72.877s 12) Lance Stroll, Aston Martin +73.904 seconds 13) Hiroki Kakuda, Alfa Tauri +75.599 sec. 14) Kevin Magnussen, Haas, +86.016 seconds 15) Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo +86.496s 16) Guan Yu Zhou (Alfa Romeo) +87.043s 17) Mick Schumacher, Haas, +92.523 seconds 18) Pierre Gasly, Alfa-Tauli +108.091 sec. NC) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari - DNF NC) Alex Albon, Williams - DNF [21
