Singapore GP 2022: All the highlights from the Japanese Grand Prix 2022 held at Suzuka Circuit.
READ: Verstappen wins Japanese Grand Prix, clinches second F1 world championship title
Verstappen wins the Japanese Grand Prix and the world title after a prolonged rain delay. Leclerc holds off Perez, barely. The Ferrari racer had to cut a corner in the end and that would be under investigation. Ocon pulled off an unbelievably composed defensive drive against Hamilton to come fourth.
However, Formula One confirmed that Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc who had emerged to second was pushed back to third after receiving a 5-second penalty for cutting a chicane at the end. Leclerc’s drop meant Verstappen’s compatriot Sergio Perez finished second.
According to FIA rules, the staggered points only come in “if a race is suspended in accordance with Article 57, and “cannot be resumed”. The race was resumed, so the FIA said full points were awarded for Verstappen after a brief twist.
The win marked Verstappen’s second-successive F1 title.
Perez is still chasing Leclerc. Verstappen has a 23-second lead and he is enquiring about pitting to put on better tires to get the fastest lap and win the title.
Perez thought he had Leclerc at the hairpin. But the Ferrari driver salvages the position in the last moment. Hamilton still can’t get past Ocon.
Hamilton’s pursuit of Ocon continues. And up front, Verstappen’s lead mounts to 18 SECONDS. Leclerc is now within the striking distance of Perez.
Russell now pulls ahead of Latifi. He is now eighth. Red Bull has asked Perez to attack Leclerc for the second position.
The Ocon-Hamilton battle continues and the French driver is defending ‘like a lion.’ They almost touched as Hamilton struggles to make the overtake without the help of DRS.
Ocon shows tremendous control to hold off Hamilton. Verstappen has built a huge cushion, pushing Ferrari to contemplate pitting for fresher tires.
Hamilton is inching closer to Ocon as Russel curves his car around Tsunoda to get into the points. Verstappen is rapid as he increases his lead to 10 seconds. Russel next hunts down Norris as Alonso gets closer to Vettel.
Verstappen improves his lead to seven seconds. Meanwhile, local favourite, Yuki Tsunoda is tenth and is battling with George Russel to hold on to the last point position.
Ocon is now running at an impressive fourth position and Vettel is sixth at his favourite circuit. Hamilton has his sights locked on Ocon’s fourth position.
Leclerc is clocking some good times, but he is behind Verstappen by a good four seconds. Schumacher pits and Perez moves into third.
Alonso pits and Verstappen takes his lead back and Leclerc is back into the second position. Mick Schumacher, who hasn’t pitted yet, is third with Perez following.
Verstappen, Perez, Leclerec, and Hamilton are among the bunch who pits for intermediate tires and now we have Alonso leading the race.
Norris and Bottas are the next to change into the intermediate tires. Max Verstappen holds on to the lead and Leclerc tracks him closely.
40 minutes left on the race clock and Max Verstappen starts things off. Vettel and Latifi are the first ones to gamble on the intermediate tires.
A rolling start is on order and all cars are out on the circuit despite the track not being in the best conditions.
Race to start soon as all teams hurry to set their cars up. Drivers are moving to their car as the fans roar in approval.
Lando Norris tweets about the Pierre Gasly incident, where a recovery vehicle was on track while the AlphaTauri racer was passing in poor visibility and almost causing a potentially dangerous crash. Gasly was livid after the incident and the lack of attention from the organisers.
The drivers are getting ready and it looks like the race will restart behind the safety car and the safety car to persist for more than a lap. The rain doesn’t relent and the attempts are abandoned. A longer wait in store for us.
It is raining even harder now and a restart might not happen soon. The teams are protecting their cars and drivers are cooling their heels.
FYI, no points can be awarded if a minimum of two laps are completed without a safety car or Virtual Safety Car.
A recap of the new race distance rules;
This was bound to be chaotic with the slippery conditions and low visibility. Sainz slid through the track as if he was on ice. Zhou Gunayu too had a spin, but he is back. AND NOW WE HAVE A RED FLAG. Racing has been suspended until the conditions improve and the drivers are back in the pit lane. CARLOS SAINZ AND ALEX ALBON ARE OUT OF THE RACE.
Leclerc almost steals the lead after a superb start. But Verstappen immediately fights back to hold on to the lead. Meanwhile, Vettel has spun and is now was back in the grid. CARLOS SAINZ CRASHES OUT OF THE RACE AND WE HAVE A SAFETY CAR IN THE VERY FIRST LAP.
We are minutes away from the race and we have wet weather conditions for the Japanese Grand Prix. The drivers set off for the formation lap. Almost everyone is on the intermediate tires.
TITLE RACE SCENARIOS
Max Verstappen is guaranteed of taking the season title if he wins the race today and also gets a bonus point for turning the fastest lap. He could also win the championship for a second straight year without a victory depending on the other results.
Even if he fails, Verstappen is likely to take the title in two weeks in the United States GP in Austin, Texas. He has a massive 104-point lead over Leclerc with five races to go, including Sunday’s race.
Saturday qualifying was run on a dry circuit. However, rain is predicted for Sunday. Those were also the conditions in Friday practice.
QUALIFICATION REPORT
Max Verstappen put himself on course to wrap up a second successive Formula One title in the Japanese Grand Prix by edging Ferrari rival Charles Leclerc to pole position in qualifying at the Suzuka circuit on Saturday.
The Red Bull racer lapped the 5.8-km track in one minute, 29.304 seconds, beating Leclerc by just 0.010 seconds, with Carlos Sainz also only 0.057 seconds off the pace in his Ferrari in third.
Top 10
Verstappen, however, was set to be investigated by the stewards after the session for an incident with Lando Norris in which he appeared to swerve into the speeding McLaren driver's path.
RELATED: ALL HIGHLIGHTS FROM JAPANESE GRAND PRIX QUALIFYING
The Briton was forced to drive onto the grass to avoid contact.
"It was incredible to drive here again, of course very happy to be on pole but just super happy to be back here," said Verstappen after taking the 18th pole of his career and fifth this season.
Sunday "will be interesting with the weather, I'm quite confident we have a good car," he said.
Verstappen leads Leclerc by 104 points in the overall standings and needs to score eight points more than the Monegasque to wrap up proceedings on Sunday.
That means he will be champion if he wins ahead of the Ferrari driver and also takes the fastest lap.
Verstappen's Red Bull team mate Sergio Perez was fourth, ahead of Alpine's Esteban Ocon and Lewis Hamilton in his Mercedes.
Home hope Yuki Tsunoda, racing a Formula One car in front of his fans at Suzuka for the first time, was 13th.
When and where to watch?
The Japanese Grand Prix 2022 will be telecast on the Star Sports Network and live streamed on Disney+Hotstar from 10:30 AM IST on Sunday.
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