Japanese Grand Prix 2022

Just like that we have our World Champion and Max Verstappen has his 2nd consecutive championship. While it was a shortened Japanese Grand Prix it was not without controversy, in the first lap Sainz went aquaplaned and spun off the track, luckily for everyone his Ferrari was completely off the track as with such little visibility and the cars going as fast as they could it might’ve ended badly for more than one driver.

The big controversy came as Pierre Gasly, who had been forced to pit after a piece of advertising board had hit his car, was trying to catch up to the pack who were behind the safety car under the yellow flag. Gasly was further behind and sped past a tractor which was on the track and barely visible from the car until Gasly was right next to it, understandably the Frenchman was angry, he was visibly upset talking to his team during break after the red flag. After the race many drivers also voiced their anger at danger presented by recovery vehicles being in the track at the same time as the cars, especially after Jules Bianchi’s fatal crash in 2014 at Suzuka in similar wet conditions.

While most of the time in the three-hour race was spent discussing this, once the race resumed the on-track drama did not disappoint. Verstappen flew away from the rest of the pack, by the time he passed the chequered flag he was 27 seconds ahead of the next car. Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc were battling for 2nd place, Leclerc finished the race in 2nd, however on the last corner he locked up and left the track, gaining an advantage when he re-joined. This ended with him being handed a 5 second penalty during the post-race interviews, meaning Verstappen had to brought back to be interviewed and told he had won his 2nd world title.