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    Japanese GP: Max Verstappen clinches F1 title in shortened race

    Max Verstappen secured his second Formula 1 championship in a weather-shortened Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday.

    After an initial start, a long rain delay limited the action to just 28 laps at Suzuka, but in a 40-minute sprint, Verstappen was dominant, crossing the finish line 27 seconds clear of the field.

    Charles Leclerc crossed the line second but was given a five-second penalty for a last-lap incident with Sergio Perez, promoting the Mexican up to second and dropping the Ferrari driver to third.

    Race Review

    Increasing rain just before the start led to an eventful opening lap as Leclerc made the better start off the line but Verstappen swept around the outside of Turn 1 and 2 to retain the lead.

    Sebastian Vettel made a good start but contact with Fernando Alonso spun the Aston Martin into the gravel but both were able to continue.

    With all drivers starting on intermediates, Carlos Sainz aquaplaned into the barriers through 200R causing a Safety Car as Alex Albon pulled off due to a hydraulics problem.

    Pierre Gasly had two scary moments as he collected an advertising board dislodged by the Sainz crash and had to pit for a new front wing.

    Then, as he tried to catch up to the pack, he passed a recovery vehicle that was on track to collect the stricken Ferrari at high-speed in an eerie moment reminiscent of Jules Bianchi’s fatal crash in 2014.

    A red flag was thrown as the rain intensified leading to a lengthy suspension to wait for the weather to clear.

    Eventually, the race resumed after a few laps behind the Safety Car and Verstappen pulled away from Leclerc.

    Vettel and Nicholas Latifi immediately switched to intermediates and were faster leading a stampede into the pits.

    Haas opted to leave Mick Schumacher out in hopes of a Safety Car but quickly fell down the field as their gamble didn’t pay off.

    The closest battle was between Esteban Ocon and Lewis Hamilton for fourth, though the Mercedes was clearly faster in the corners, he couldn’t get ahead on the straights.

    Teammate George Russell was making progress with unique moves around the outside of Turn 6.

    The main issue was high degradation on the front tyres as conditions improved, with a few drivers opting to make a pit stop for fresh interest and running several seconds faster.

    Leclerc enquired but Ferrari chose to stay out but which put him under pressure from Perez as the time ticked down.

    And on the final lap, a mistake from the Monegasque into the final chicane gave Checo the run to the finish line but Charles defended strongly to just stay ahead.

    The stewards though quickly gave Leclerc a five-second penalty for going off track and gaining an advantage, demoting him to third behind the Red Bull.

    Ahead, Verstappen was in a class of his own as he took the chequered flag with the late drama securing his back-to-back world championships.

    Esteban Ocon defended like a lion to finish fourth for Alpine, ahead of Hamilton.

    Vettel’s early stop for intermediates promoted him up to sixth just 0.011s ahead of Alonso in seventh as they had a drag race to the line.

    Russell claimed eighth as Latifi claimed his first points of the season in ninth.

    Lando Norris completed the top 10 for McLaren.

    Full results from the Japanese GP can be seen below:

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