Max Verstappen reigned in a chaotic Japanese Grand Prix and his 12th victory of the season. sentence world and win your second title. The race, which was interrupted for more than two hours after Carlos Sainz’s accident on the first lap, was reduced to 45 minutes due to adverse weather conditions. Red Bull got a precious coupleSergio Pérez took a 5-inch penalty for finishing second on the podium after Charles Leclerc, who crossed the finish line ahead of the Mexican, and eventually finished third.

If the weather made for a strange race, confusion spread further below. Analysts and even pilots thought that the points distribution would be cut. As 50% of the planned rounds were not completed, an addition to the FIA ​​regulations allowed the usual 25 points to be awarded to the winner, which made Verstappen a two-time world champion.

Sainz’s accident

race is started Under the rain, with the track in very precise conditions and the forecast of more water in the next hour. However, pilots intermediate and it was soon seen that it was risky. Vettel touched Alonso after the start and a large chunk of his Aston Martin flew off, sinking into the nose of Gasly’s car that started from the pit lane due to a penalty.

Lost to Sergio Pérez in the fight for the third starting position, Carlos Sainz suffered from aquaplaning, lose control of it ferrari first round and hitting the wall. Initially, the stewards appealed to the safety car, but minutes later the FIA ​​chose to “remove the remains of the damaged vehicles” and stop the race with a red flag for safety. Verstappen was in the lead at the time after a great pole defense against Leclerc and Leclerc got off to a fantastic start and put him in the tightrope.

Gasly’s Big Fear

After Sainz’s crash on the first lap, Gasly drove through the pits to repair his front wing, and when he got back on the track, he was almost out of sight. had to escape from a crane, in a scenario where a similar situation costs the life of fellow citizen Jules Bianchi. “My God, what is this tractor doing on the road! This is unbelievable, unacceptable“Gasly cried out on the radio, out of his mind. Later, when the race stopped, the French driver got out of the car in a panic because of great fear.”could kill me“, he told the team leader. Unbearable.

The FIA ​​said it had launched an investigation into the incident, and as Gasly returned to the track, the race was defused with a safety car and the French driver was traveling at high speed to catch up with the group. exceeded 250 km / h under the safety car regime. The truth is they took red flag just two seconds ago It can be seen that Gasly passes the tow truck and even in some videos circulating on social networks, the tow truck was already on the way before that.

Bianchi’s father reacted to the extremely dangerous situation on the networks: “That’s not disrespectful to a pilot’s life, it’s disrespectful to the memory of Jules.Incredible.” The drivers were also infuriated. “How can we explain that we never want to see a crane on the track again? “We lost Jules because of this, and what happened today is unacceptable.”

few minutes of action

Race restarted two hours later, only 45 minutes left, the team behind the safety car with natural light running margin and extreme rain tires. When the action restarted, Vettel was the first to dare to stop playing with the breakers, while Leclerc kept the pressure on Verstappen despite the low visibility due to the large amount of spray left over from the Dutchman’s car.

Favorites changed to: Intermediate with 35 minutes remainingTemporarily leaving Fernando Alonso ahead of the race with extremes. The Asturian driver made a straight and lost many positions due to his late entry (9th place) and the strategy favored his predecessor Ocon.

Verstappen cleared the lead over Leclerc by over 10 seconds. many degradation issues. Pérez was driving third and Hamilton was very aggressive, putting pressure on Ocon on everything, but the Frenchman defended himself competently.

Pérez threw himself on Leclerc to beat Monegasque. The war was glorious and it’s over A ‘trip’ through the Ferrari driver’s lawn to defend himself from the Mexican’s final attack in a maneuver that cost him 5 second penalty to Charles, who lost second place both in Japan and in the championship.

Verstappen imposed his own law and was declared champion with four races left at home after Honda’s failed first “match point” in Singapore. Max is equal to another two-time champion Fernando Alonso with 32 wins in total. The Spaniard had a tough day today but managed to get back into the points zone (7th) after the last two disappointments.