1 Confusion reigns as well as Max in truncated race
Max Verstappen claimed his second world championship in a peculiarly anticlimactic fashion despite winning the rain-delayed and shortened Japanese Grand Prix by a commanding margin. Revisions to the sporting regulations in the wake of last year’s farcical non-race in Belgium had a crucial bearing on how many points could be awarded, but the majority of the teams failed to pick this up – Verstappen himself believed he had fallen short.
The final moments of the race and its aftermath therefore played out in utter confusion as first there was uncertainty over whether the race was actually over once the chequered flag had been waved, then disbelief when Max was informed he was the world champion – mid-way through the parc fermé interviews. Central to the ambiguity was the hiatus of over two hours between the initial red flag and the restart, leaving just 40 minutes before the mandatory three-hour cut-off. Not enough to complete the 75% race distance many teams thought was the threshold for full points.
Having secured pole in dry conditions by 0.01s from Leclerc, Max made heavy weather of his getaway in
