'It's been incredible' - Max Verstappen celebrates 'crazy' title win at Japanese Grand Prix
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Updated 09/10/2022 at 10:24 GMT+1
There was confusion in the immediate aftermath of the Japanese Grand Prix when it became clear that Red Bull driver Max Verstappen would be awarded full points for his win at Suzuka. That elevated him to world champion status for the second year running, allowing him to reflect on a campaign that saw him again crowned the best driver in the world, while Christian Horner also piled on the praise.
Max Verstappen - Suzuka
Image credit: Getty Images
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen basked in a "crazy" victory at the Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka that gave him a second successive world championship title.
The 25-year-old received the news that he was champion in slightly anticlimactic circumstances.
Initially it was expected that Verstappen would receive 13 points for the win after a rain-hit Grand Prix contained fewer than half the allocation of laps, following delays of around a couple of hours.
That would have left Verstappen facing at least a two-week wait to become champion, with the next race set for the United States.
However, upon examination of Formula 1's extensive list of rules and regulations, it became clear that the fact that the race was paused and then restarted meant that full points would be awarded.
Title rival Charles Leclerc of Ferrari had finished in second place but under pressure from Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, he left the track towards the end of the final lap and was given a five-second penalty, relegating him to third place.
Ultimately, that meant that the Dutchman secured the world championship for the second consecutive time in his career in confusing circumstances.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the conclusion of the race, Verstappen admitted it was confusing circumstances.
"It's crazy. Very mixed emotions," he said.
He then reflected on the campaign as a whole, observing: "Looking back, what a year we've had so far. It's been incredible.
"It's something I could never have imagined. After last year, fighting until the end, and then having such a good car again this year. I'm so thankful to everyone who has been contributing to this success."
Later, Verstappen gave more detail about his race strategy as he anticipated receiving only half points.
"It's a pretty crazy feeling, of course, because I didn't expect it when I crossed the line. Of course, you could see it slowly happening, but it's incredible at the end of the day that we did win it here," he added.
"I didn't know how many points I was going to get and I wanted to go for the fastest lap, but I think the gap was just not safe enough to go for an extra stop.
"I was also very happy with the race we had, so there was no real fuss or stress about it."
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner also admitted he was not quite clear about whether the driver would be champion in the circumstances.
Horner explained: “We thought it wasn’t going to be full points awarded. We thought we were one point short. We were looking at pitting him for the fastest lap and so on. Wow, that’s beyond all our dreams.
“Max has been truly, truly dominant. That’s our 14th victory, a record for us, and the way he has driven since the first race…
“We came back from some difficulties in the first couple of races, but he and the team have just raised it to another level.”
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