The surprised Verstappen, the angry Binotto and how everything “conspired” in favor of Honda

Rain was the dominant but not the trigger for what happened at the Japanese GP. In a race that was delayed and shorter than normal, the clear dominance of Max Verstappen and a mistake by Charles Leclerc in the final “S” finally brought the Dutchman his second Formula 1 world championship title.

These are the TOP 5 conclusions of the Japanese GP.

01. A surprised, surprising Max

Max Verstappen had one more race to go, in his own race! An absolute dominator and a worthy winner. Impressive that he managed to close the gap from second to 27 inches in just 28 laps – we’re talking almost a second faster per lap on average!

The Dutchman’s swagger was evident on the first start as he briefly lost the lead to Leclerc only to regain it soon after by passing him on the first right.

He was rightly named the 2022 F1 World Champion, with 12 wins from 18 races and a car that’s clearly at a different level after the summer.

The amazing Max was of course surprised when he was told he had secured the title. He wondered before the ceremony if he really was the champion, despite Johnny Herbert telling him so during the post-game announcements. But with the confusion surrounding the final grades awarded, it makes sense.

02. A justifiably angry Binotto

Mattia Binotto described how quickly the FIA ​​decided on Leclerc’s punishment as ridiculous and unacceptable. Of course, the Italian wasn’t referring to the penalty itself, which is absolutely correct, although it hurt Ferrari a lot, as that one mistake by Leclerc in the race mathematically gave Verstappen the title.

Binotto points out that in this particular case, the referees made the decision on the penalty immediately, unlike most cases in recent races, where decisions are usually made much later, very late, so it’s a joke has become.

After all, the Scuderia boss is referring specifically to the Singapore GP, where the responsible bodies decided too late for Perez and the safety car.

The right thing, of course, is that these decisions are made immediately, as happened in Suzuka.

Binotto is doing well and complaining, but it’s not the FIA’s decisions that deny Ferrari victories. The Italian team needs to regroup, develop a champion mentality, bring the car back to the top level and now have the fight that we all want for the title in 2023.

03. The Lord Leclerc

He got a better start than Max, leading for a short time but then lost the lead. If the scene we saw at the start of the race between Leclerc and Verstappen played out between Hamilton and Verstappen, what do you think would happen? Would Lewis make room for Max like Charles, or would he squeeze him in such a way that he was forced to either cut the track or go off the track?

Leclerc has shown tremendous kindness on track this year, delivering incredible fights always within the framework of ‘fair competition’… Of course, there are some who say he should fight harder if he wants to be champion. However, we endorse the behavior of the Monegasque on and off the track.

04. Vettel the cat

Sebastian Vettel was the unlucky starter at the start of the Japanese GP, one of his favorite races, which he actually drove for the last time. Vettel had a contact at the start trying to gain positions which threw him way back.

However, when the race restarted, the German was the first to realize that the conditions on the track made it possible to switch to intermediate tires and immediately pitted. He then made up places and finally ended up in sixth place. A good result in a game that was predicted to be disastrous.

05. Everything “conspired” in favor of Honda.

The Japanese narrowly avoided a second F1 hara-kiri. The first was in 2009 when their team Ross Brawn, renamed Brawn GP, ​​won both the Drivers’ and Manufacturers’ titles that year, using Mercedes engines of course.

They almost did the second one this year, but they did it. Honda first announced its exit from the sport in 2021, then won the championship with Verstappen and Red Bull and has been on the road this year but in the background.

In Suzuka, however, the Japanese “saved” and celebrated Max’s second title, in their country, on their own track. Everything “conspired” in their favor: the agreement with Red Bull was struck at the right time, so that the name “Honda” returned to the cars of the Austrian team at the Japanese GP, the rain that almost prevented the race finally stopped The race was over and all points were duly awarded, Leclerc made his only but fatal error on the final lap, at the final ‘S’, and the stewards immediately made the decision to penalize the Ferrari driver for the advantage he had Perez had won against Sergio, which meant that the Monegasque dropped back to 3rd place and the title now goes to Verstappen.

The Japanese undoubtedly deserved this year’s title and the constructors’ championship with Red Bull. They’re elevating the sport and hopefully we’ll see the Honda name in Formula 1 beyond 2026.