Victory in Suzuka ahead of Prez and Leclerc after two hours of suspension due to heavy rain. Abandonment of Sainz and seventh place for Alonso in a race that only lasted 40 minutes.
He crossed the finish line with his usual smugness, culminating his twelfth victory of the year, oblivious to the dangers that had lurked for 40 minutes in the rain. As soon as I got out of the car, Max Verstappen They told him he was world champion. However, during her talk with sergio prez Y charles leclercOn the way to the podium, he himself realized that the math didn’t add up. He didn’t even give the Monegasque five-second penalty, for gaining the lead in the last chicane, it gave him the necessary advantage. Neither Red Bull considered the job finished nor Mad Max he felt entitled to sit on his throne. Such a ceremony of confusion was an insurmountable embarrassment. So he had to intervene Jenson Button, with the official Formula 1 microphone, to make the matter official. Verstappen had won his second crown for a singular application of the regulations.
Nobody understood why all the points were awarded for a race in which only 28 of the 53 scheduled laps had been completed. That is, 52% of the total, which should give the winner 19 points, instead of the usual 25. With these figures on the table, the FIA had to issue a note to shed some light. “The rules regarding the allocation of reduced points (article 6.5) only apply in the event of suspension of a race that cannot be resumed. Therefore, today all points are awarded and Verstappen is world champion,” explained the governing body
Still stunned amid such chaos, perhaps without the courage to celebrate properly, Verstappen announced that tonight he would fly back home. A year after the strange events in Abu Dhabi, with that controversy caused by Michael Massi, F1 doubled down on its toughest yet at Suzuka. Verstappen, twice champion already as Alberto Ascari, Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Emerson Fittipaldi, Mika Hakkinen Y Fernando Alonso, deserved better. His performance in Suzuka, as throughout this World Cup that he has dominated from start to finish, was immeasurable.
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“It is unacceptable that there is a crane on the track”
“It is unacceptable that there is a crane on the track”
At the exit, where someone else would have settled for lucubrations, Mad Max launched into boarding. Before reaching the first corner, Leclerc had already put the length of a car inside. However, the Dutchman kept full gas on the outside to get out of the jam as if nothing had happened. Right in that sector, where Ayrton senna Y Alain Prost They fought like beasts, Verstappen left an unforgettable maneuver for the memory.
It had been raining hard for hours and the situation was immediately complicated by the car accident. Carlos Sainz and the irruption of a crane on the runway when Eduardo Freitasrace director, ordered the start of the safety car. The exasperating two-hour break updated that ridiculous 2021 Belgian GP. Waiting for more precipitation, the only order was to send the medical car to examine the track. Not even Bernd Maylanderwith more than two decades of experience in the securityobtained permission to go out and explore the asphalt.
The Battle of Alonzo
Between the indignation of the pilots and the doubts of the faithful Japanese fans, after an aborted start and with the shocking memory of jules bianchi At every corner of the track, the race finally resumed under the safety car. Just like a week ago in Singapore, the asphalt conditions were on the dry side, so the parade began immediately. boxes. Sebastian Vettel he was the first to mount the intermediate compound, which only a couple of minutes later sent him flying into the fastest lap. The favorites, of course, followed suit, with the exception of Daniel Ricciardo, Mike Schumacher, Guanyu Zhou and Alonso, provisional leader for two laps.
The four were obviously pining for more precipitation or the providential appearance of a safety car, but your prayers will not be answered. After an excursion through the chicane, the Spaniard mounted the green wheels, losing position with Vettel and returning to his seventh step on the grid. With just over a quarter of an hour to go, any achievement was at the expense of tire management.
Leclerc could well attest to this, whose snail’s pace ended up exciting Prez’s appetite. “Have you fallen asleep?” asked the Mexican over the radio. “You’re on the beat, so go for it,” replied Hugh Bird, your track engineer. There was less than a second there, as between Lewis Hamilton Y Stephen Ocon, who gave us a fantastic hand in hand. There was no respite, no humane way of managing rubber bands, so Alonso went a second time to renew his footwear. What seemed like a desperate measure turned out in his favor.
The brutal overtaking lando norris in the mythical 130R was only the beginning of his runaway race to George Russell. Not even with the Mercedes could the British stop the two-time champion, who still had the strength to go for Vetttel. That sixth place slipped away by a hundredth. And the fast lap, despite not being rewarded with the usual bonus, lost it by a thousandth to Guanyu Zhou (1:44.411).
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