It was a grand finish to a rain-hit race. Fans had to wait for way too long for the race to restart. But it turned out the wait was worth it. While Max Verstappen taking his 2nd World Drivers’ Championship was the highlight of the race, it was quite a finish for P6.
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Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso battled it out for P6 for quite a while after the restart of the race. Vettel was defending the position, while Alonso was tailing him aggressively, coming close on some occasions. The best was, however, saved for the last, and fans were left in disbelief at how close the two finished the race.
After a long wait, the race restarted behind the safety car. While Max Verstappen was the only driver who gained significant ground and was at no risk of losing his position, there were some interesting battles that went on until the end of the race. One such battle was for P6 between Vettel and Alonso. While Vettel came out victorious with a 0.01s advantage, he was confused at the end.
Fans were left dumbfounded after the finish.
Alonso Passing Seb then Seb doing his thing👑👏🏻 #JapaneseGP #SV5 #Vettel
WARRA BATTLE BETWEEN ALONSO AND VETTEL TO THE CHEQUERED FLAG x.com/robin012341/st…
P9 - P20 - P6 DOTD and fathered Alonso. Sebastian Vettel for you
It irked fans that they did not broadcast this legendary battle live.
we were robbed of the Vettel/Alonso photo finish on the world live feed
Vettel and Alonso were separated by 0.011 across the line. And we missed it.
NEED to see that Vettel vs Alonso last lap. 0.011 on the line!
Vettel deserves every bit of praise.
This is how close the call was.
Vettel’s innocence had this fan in splits.
"where are we, in Japan?" I can't with him😅 man doesn't know if the race is over for 2 minutes straight, we really cannot afford to lose him 😭😭
Vettel’s conversation on the radio left fans in splits. The Aston Martin driver asked on the radio if the race had ended. “Is it still going, the race? Or is it over?” he asked.
To this he was told, “Chequered flag is out. All over. All over.” Vettel continued, “I’m so lost man. We are we? Japan? Suzuka?”
The Lap 1 saga and confusion over Verstappen’s WDC crowning
After starting in the rain, on a track with puddles, it became hard for drivers to keep their cars on the tarmac. The very first lap saw Carlos Sainz spin and smash into the barriers. His car came back on the track after ricocheting from the barriers.
The incident could have proved fatal as cars were rushing past him one after the other amidst spray from cars in the front. Soon on the same lap, Alex Albon had a hydraulic failure issue and stopped on the side of the track. The safety car was immediately hauled in and soon on the 3rd lap, the race was red-flagged and subsequently suspended.
Reuters
Formula One F1 – Japanese Grand Prix – Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka, Japan – October 9, 2022 Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel and Williams’ Nicholas Latifi in action during the race REUTERS/Issei Kato
Verstappen led in every lap, gaining distance over Leclerc as minutes passed by. He won the race comfortably and after Leclerc’s 5-second penalty for gaining an advantage by going off the track, he was declared the WDC winner.
Watch This Story: Max Verstappen: ‘Is my title tarnished? Not at all. I really deserved it’
Initially, there was a lot of confusion, especially among the fans regarding Max’s title. The confirmation came in that he had indeed won his second title in two years.