[RahulNagaraj]

Max Verstappen has clinched his second Formula 1 World Championship after winning a confusing 2022 Japanese Grand Prix.

Verstappen needed eight points more than Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and six points more than his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez this weekend. While Leclerc did finish the race in second, a 5-second penalty at the end saw him relegated to third, with Perez moving to second place. This helped Verstappen seal the 2022 world driver's championship with four races to go.



With heavy rains and a long red flag, the championship title was covered in confusion, as it was initially believed that full points wouldn't be awarded as only 29 of the total 53 laps were completed. However, since the race finished under the allotted 3-hour window, full points were eventually handed out, sealing the championship battle.

Verstappen crossed the line without knowing he had won the championship. However, with the 5-second penalty to Leclerc and full points being awarded, Max ended up becoming a two-time world champion.

Link to Team-BHP news

[FuelInjector]

while Max driving skills were truly masterclass this season, he was ably supported by a fantastic car and wonderful pit crew. his strategists and analytics team was also much better than their compatriots.

Checo helped push Charles to make that small mistake in the final turn of the final lap yesterday!

Personally Suzuka is one of my favourite circuits, but yesterday could have been much better for race enthusiasts. While the press talked about the best place to win championship, honda, japan, red bull da da.. I felt the whole point of a good full time race was sadly stolen by elements.

Few bits of entertainment between Alex and Lewin, Charles and Checo, Alonso and Vettel but too short.

Nonetheles, Max was anyways going to win either here or in another race or two.

[AutoConsultant]

Max can’t win a championship without a bit of chaos Thoroughly deserved championship win, anyone who had even the slightest of doubt on his capabilities or the worthiness of his win last year should get their answers now.

No doubt RedBull has had a dominant car if you look at the overall season (Ferrari’s package was between than RB in the first half) but the almost robotic nature of his performance this year has been a class apart. Minimum number of mistakes and maximising the car performance has been his trademarks this season. The experience of a championship fight he had last year gave him the edge over Leclerc even at the start of the season but the maturity he has shown is quite noteworthy.

He is definitely the fastest driver on the grid at the moment and has the fastest car as well. I am almost certain Merc will give a good fight next season and hopefully Ferrari also steps up. With a 24 race calendar next year we would desperately need a championship fight!

[svsantosh]

Originally Posted by RahulNagaraj

Max Verstappen has clinched his second ...

..and his 1st 'controversy free' Championship.

Last year, 'that' day I was in DXB. Believe me - next morning the whole country was going ga-ga over that eventful evening.

Congratulations this time around.

[Turbohead]

Congrats to Max! I don't think anyone else deserved this win! Insane team work from Red Bull. The engineering team and strategic team were nearly if not completely flawless and honestly underappreciated in this effort. Ferrari have so much to learn from these guys apart from actually growing up instead of whining like 3 year olds!


I don't think I'll ever bother to see the Abu Dhabi finale (the race times for US, MEX and BRZ is simply impractical for me). There's nothing really to watch unless Goatifi decides to create a new race winner!

[Akmal]

Max is undeniably one of the best, if not the best driver on the grid today with a car "that's on fire" in most races and a pit crew that change 4 tires within 2.4 seconds on most occasions. Checo deserves the best supporting driver award in Redbulls' efforts in making Max the two time world champion. RB's strategists have never shied away from sending the "no fighting" messages over the radio whenever Checo was leading and Max was challenging him. Perhaps, the championship outcome may not have changed even with no holds barred contest between the two RB drivers, but it did rob us (the viewers) from some pure racing moments. I'm hoping RB plays it fair next season and we see a champion rise up to victory without favors from teammate or instructions from the pitwall.

[attinder]

Originally Posted by Akmal

RB's strategists have never shied away from sending the "no fighting" messages over the radio whenever Checo was leading and Max was challenging him.

I can’t remember Checo ever gifted Max a position (unless on different strategies) let alone a win.

I remember Bottas asked to let Hamilton through in Russia 2018. That was appalling.

Max/RB reminds me of Schumacher/Ferrari era.
Amazing talent and a very well deserved second championship.

[cartron]

Max is a worthy champion!! Really enjoyed this season but not as much as 2021 which was full of drama. I hope next season we get Mercedes in the mix with RB and Ferrari.

Redbull and Max are a deadly combination, Checo is lagging post-summer as the car is not ore to his liking, But one should never forget his contribution to the constructors' championship
I really hope RB will tweak the setup to suit both equally, we have seen that at the start of the season Checo equally matched to Max If given a setup of his liking

I will really miss Seb from 2024 on the grid, But the chaos his move caused across teams was fun and it will be really exciting to see new talents entering formula 1

[Emvi]

Max Verstappen is the second youngest F1 double World Champion losing out to Sebastian Vettel in this regard.

Max wrapping up the championship with 4 races to go in the season is the testimony of his clear dominance over rivals. With 32 Grand Prix(GP) wins under his belt, he is already tied 6th place in the all-time GP winners list. With ever expanding F1 calender, and age on his side, it won't be long before Max enters top-3 of the elite list.


Source- Wikipedia

[Warmachine]

Originally Posted by cartron

Checo is lagging post-summer as the car is not ore to his liking
I really hope RB will tweak the setup to suit both equally, we have seen that at the start of the season Checo equally matched to Max If given a setup of his liking

In my opinion, RB has developed a car that has become faster as the 2022 season has progressed. It's just that Checo was slower to adapt to it than Max. But Singapore and now Japan have shown that Checo is improving. However, Max is in a league of his own, winning at a wet and shortened Suzuka by almost 27 seconds. Hoping for another win for Checo at Mexico. Would love to see his dad's reaction then :)

[Cyborg]

Originally Posted by AutoConsultant

Max can’t win a championship without a bit of chaos Thoroughly deserved championship win, anyone who had even the slightest of doubt on his capabilities or the worthiness of his win last year should get their answers now.

Max is a great driver, this year his performance is nothing short of spectacular and at only 25 years of age. The last time Red Bull had such a dominant car they won 4 titles with Vettel. It’s not difficult to imagine Max breaking all existing records in a 10 year timeframe.

Having said the above, I still feel Max was not a deserving champion last year, it was gifted to him, he surely didn’t deserve the final victory which made him champion. Sure he drove amazingly last year as well but the way Lewis came back under pressure in the last 4-5 races, he was easily more deserving of the title than Max.

With 2022 done and dusted, it’s going to be interesting to see what Mercedes can do in 2023. Hope Ferrari don’t shoot themselves in the foot again and manage to give Charles a car and strategy support to fight for the championship. A three way or six way (both drivers competing from the big three) championship fight would be extremely interesting for us.

Cheers

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by Cyborg

Max is a great driver, this year his performance is nothing short of spectacular and at only 25 years of age. The last time Red Bull had such a dominant car they won 4 titles with Vettel. It’s not difficult to imagine Max breaking all existing records in a 10 year timeframe.

Max might not stay around in F1 for that time frame. There are several hints thrown by Horner and Helmut (Marko) indicating that Max doesn't cherish a long career in F1 and might bow out of F1 for other aspirations / interests after a few years while he's still at the top. Only time will tell.

[Dippy]

As much as I am a Ferrari fan, very happy to see Max win the championship. He totally deserves it and he along with the Red Bull team have been flawless all season. Their strategies have been top notch and the team has been working in total harmony. I really thought it might be Ferrari's year when the Bahrain GP happened, but strategy goof ups and reliability issues cost them dearly. Feel very sorry for Charles . He gave it his all.

Congrats double World Champion. You totally are worthy of the no. 1 on your car.

[Mr.Ogre]

Didn't Ferrari score own goals with their botched up strategy this year? I think Ferrari too had competitive cars and fast drivers, it is their strategy and poor execution that robbed them of championship points.

[shabih]

Originally Posted by Akmal

I'm hoping RB plays it fair next season and we see a champion rise up to victory without favors from teammate or instructions from the pitwall.

No particular offense to you brother but I don't understand this. F1 fans were complaining when Ferrari refused to intervene between Sainz and Leclerc and now I see complaints from people for RedBull intervening.