Max Verstappen crowned two-time champion with uncertainty at Suzuka

MADRID, 9 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Dutch driver Max Verstappen (Red Bull) has prevailed this Sunday in the Japanese Grand Prix race, the eighteenth round of the Formula 1 World Championship marked by the reduction of laps due to the rain in Suzuka, and has been proclaimed world champion by second time, while the Spanish Fernando Alonso (Alpine) finished seventh and Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) had to leave due to an accident on the first lap.

With four appointments to go, 'Mad Max' revalidated the title with his twelfth victory of the year and after the Monegasque Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), who finished second, suffered a five-second penalty for skipping the last chicane and was weighed down to third place, ahead of the Mexican Sergio 'Checo' Pérez (Red Bull).

Everything led to a surreal situation in which, for a quarter of an hour, it was not known exactly if the Dutchman had mathematically raised the title. According to the regulations, all the points cannot be awarded if you do not complete 75% of the laps before the race is definitively suspended; however, as it was not suspended in this case and despite having been reduced to 28 laps, all the points are distributed.

In the strangest Grand Prix of recent times, everything was finally resolved in a kind of 40-minute sprint after a frustrated start due to rain that forced the race to be suspended for more than two hours.

In the first start, Verstappen knew how to defend his privileged position against Leclerc, while Sainz lost control of his vehicle and went against the protections at the exit of the hairpin in a very dangerous situation of lack of visibility.

The Thai Alex Albon (Williams) stayed out of the race due to a breakdown, the Canadian Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) overtook eight cars and the Frenchman Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri) 'ate' the advertising of one of the barriers, before living one of the most tense situations of the appointment.

The Frenchman was still rolling on the track when he encountered a crane that was trying to remove Sainz's car, and avoided a tragedy like the one that cost Jules Bianchi his life in 2014. The red flag sent all the cars to garages.

After more than two hours of hiatus, the drivers grouped together at the start to complete 28 laps, in which men like Alonso or Mick Schumacher came to lead amidst the chaos. The Spaniard made one more stop that led him to seventh place, although he finally fell just 11 thousandths behind the German Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin).

Ahead, Verstappen crossed the finish line unopposed and, behind, he had the action that gave him the title; In the midst of the fight for second position, Leclerc skipped the last chicane and was penalized five seconds, a time that condemned him to third place and gave 'Mad Max' his second championship.