Verstappen is a two-time champ in a chaotic GP with a foul by Leclerc – 10/09/2022

The start started on a very wet track, everyone Tires brokers.

Leclerc drove better, but Verstappen showed why he’s a special man, a genius in the making, and a two-time champion by all means.

In the middle of the fight for the title, he eased nothing: he climbed hard and, despite the drenched asphalt, regained his position from the outside in the first corner.

Moreover, there is a display of errors. Vettel spinning after Alonso’s touch, Sainz crashed single-handedly and wrecked the back of a Ferrari, Albon, Zhou and Gasly met up somehow snapping up an ad banner along the way.

“You can’t see anything,” the Frenchman from AlphaTauri said over the radio. The safety car didn’t take long to get out. Moments later the red flag came. Everything stopped on the second lap.

In the top ten were Verstappen, Leclerc, Perez, Ocon, Hamilton, Alonso, Russell, Ricciardo, Tsunoda and Schumacher. Two of the injured, Albon and Sainz, had already dropped out of the race.

It was a continuation of a debate that began in Singapore.

Is F1 no longer racing in the rain? What are blue rain tires? Why didn’t the race trend decide on a “wet race” forcing everyone to wear it at first? Shouldn’t that safety car that keeps doing thousands of laps around the track before the race give some warning?

In an interview with the Band, Mario Isola, director of Pirelli, gave some answers: “We had conditions for the mediators at first, but the rain got heavier just before the cars left. Full wetness caused three times more drizzle. Can you? Imagine what it would be like to see the pilots ?There are rivers on the track, hydroslide conditions… so the decision to stop was the right one.”

But this was not the worst.

While everyone was waiting for the restart, pictures of a tractor appeared in the middle of the track on lap three, when the drivers were still there, on their way to the potholes. Gasly passed too close and he was angry for good reason. Yes, he is just, Bianchi’s best friend, who died after colliding with a tractor at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix, on the same track.

FIA? He penalized Gasly after the Grand Prix by adding 20 seconds to his last race time, on the grounds that the red flag had already been raised and he was speeding over 250 km/h at the time.

Yes, the same FIA ​​that picks up punctured drivers wouldn’t mind a tractor on the track…

the unforgiven. unjustified. inexplicable.

“How can this happen? We lost a life in a situation like this years ago. We risked our lives, especially in conditions like this. We want to race but this is unacceptable,” Norris wrote on Twitter while waiting in a pit. “How can we make it clear that we never want to see a tractor on the track again?” Perez wrote.

After 68 minutes of waiting, the timer started. The countdown to the end of the race has begun. Two hours and 15 minutes after the first start came another attempt.

The cars finally started behind the safety car and on the mandatory wet tyres.

“The track is very good,” Hamilton said shortly. “Visibility has improved,” Okun said. “It’s not bad,” Leclerc fired. “Visibility is still poor behind the other cars,” Bottas said.

Three laps later, the safety car entered the pits. The timer indicated 40 minutes from the start of the GP.

Vettel and Latifi, who had nothing to lose, went to the pits and put up intermediate tires. After two rounds, the gang up front decided to do the same.

Verstappen, Leclerc, Pérez stop. Alonso drove up to the Grand Prix, Schumacher was a few meters ahead, but quickly regained order.

With 30 minutes left, the rain was already light.

In the top ten were Verstappen, Leclerc, Perez, Ocon, Hamilton, Schumacher, Vettel, Alonso, Latifi and Norris.

There were no great feelings until the last lap. Verstappen crossed first and Leclerc came second, a result that would delay the title decision to the US GP.

But the moment came that decided the championship. Leclerc was wrong. He cut another chicane and returned to the track in front of Perez.

Even because of the importance of the situation, the FIA ​​was quick to issue a quick penalty: 5 seconds. Leclerc III, world champion Verstappen.

The Dutchman was doing the post-race protocol interview when he was surprised by the news. A bit rigid, he just said he thinks it’s “amazing.”

Suzuka, the home of Honda, partner of Red Bull, fulfilled its mission: it decided to participate in the world championship for the twelfth time.

Verstappen is taking firm steps to achieve his goal: to collect more records and more titles in F1.