Verstappen was 46 points behind Leclerc after three races but went on to dominate, winning 11 of the next 15 grands prix. "Congratulations to Max, he's done exactly the job he needed to do to win his second title," said seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, who Verstappen pipped to the championship a year ago in controversial circumstances. Verstappen resumed on a rolling start ahead of Leclerc and Perez and extended his lead with ease once the safety car dived back into the pits and track conditions began to improve. Max Verstappen (right) passes Ferrari's Charles Leclerc around the first turn in Japan Toshifumi KITAMURA AFP
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Hamilton praiseįerrari's Carlos Sainz spun out on the first lap and the Williams of Alex Albon broke down prompting a safety car.Ī red flag soon followed and forced the drivers back to the pit lane for almost two hours. "It was very close but that's what people like to see," he said. Leclerc was quicker off the line than pole sitter Verstappen, who admitted he made "a terrible start", before the Dutchman regained the lead with a brave overtake around the outside of turn one. The Japanese Grand Prix was staged for the first time since 2019 because of the pandemic, but the race got off to a chaotic start in heavy rain. "Eventually we had enough points so we were world champion again."
"I was told I was the world champion, we celebrated and then people told me 'no, you're still missing a point'," he said of the post-race confusion.
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The amended result gave Verstappen an unassailable 113-point lead over Perez and made him only the third driver after Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel to clinch the title with four races to spare.
Max has been incredible and it's a title fully deserved." "Huge congratulations to Max and Red Bull. "I made a mistake and tried to minimise it," said Leclerc, who led the championship early in the season. Max Verstappen (front, centre) and the entire Red Bull pit crew and team celebrate winning back-to-back world championships at Suzuka Toshifumi KITAMURA AFPįerrari's Leclerc crossed the line second in front of Red Bull's Sergio Perez, but he was hit with a penalty after squeezing Perez in the final chicane and being deemed to have gained an advantage by leaving the track.
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