Dutch racer Max Verstappen was crowned as a world champion with a Japanese GP victory on October 9, 2022. With this, Verstappen also became the 2022 Formula 1 World Champion. The round 18 of the 2022 season took place at a 5.807-kilometre track at Suzuki International racing course. As the race began, Charles Leclerc got a lead against Verstappen. However, the Dutch racer took no time in taking the first spot by the first corner itself. Max Verstappen went on to register a comfortable win after the race was delayed when Carlos Sainz crashed into the barriers.
After a lengthy delay, the two-hour window came into force after almost one hour of the initial start. The racing control also waited for a suitable gap in the weather to restart the action. With just 50 minutes remaining to finish the race, Verstappen switched from from wets to intermediates as the track surface was improved and went on to cross the finishing line with more than 25 seconds still remaining.
Max Verstappen won his 2nd Formula 1 title
With this win, Max Verstappen went on to seal his second Formula 1 title as he was crowned World champion in the Japanese GP. However, the Dutch racer himself wasn’t that he retained his title and got to know it during the post-race TV interview. “It’s a crazy feeling, of course, as I didn’t expect it when I crossed the line,” Verstappen said shockingly during the interview as quoted in Aljazeera.
Max Verstappen won the Formula 1 title in 2021 and 2022 respectively. He went on to win the FIA Formula One World Championship as well. The 27-year-old racer from Belgium has registered 61 wins in his career so far. Apart from that, Verstappen also won several awards in his career including Dutch Sportsman of the Year (2016, 2021, 2022), Autosport International Racing Driver Award (2021, 2022, 2023), Best Driver ESPY Award (2023, 2024) and many more.
