2022 Japanese Grand Prix - Suzuka, Oct 07 - 09 Sportsbook Motor Sport

[Tom]

These cars should be MEGA at this track!

Verstappen pole and win, I think. Everyone else squabbling over the rest.

 

[Franco Pinion]

If Verstappen finishes 6 points ahead of Perez and 8 points ahead of Leclerc he'll be crowned champion this weekend.

 

[Boot Cleaner]

Max Verstappen is in the perfect position to clinch a second world title at the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday by grabbing pole at Suzuka.

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc just missed out on beating Verstappen's earlier time with his final lap but the Red Bull driver held on by 0.01 seconds.

Ferrari's Carlos Sainz took third ahead of the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez.

1	Max Verstappen	1	Red Bull	1:30.224	1:30.346	1:29.304
2	Charles Leclerc	16	Ferrari	1:30.402	1:30.486	1:29.314
3	Carlos Sainz Jnr	55	Ferrari	1:30.336	1:30.444	1:29.361
4	Sergio Perez	11	Red Bull	1:30.622	1:29.925	1:29.709
5	Esteban Ocon	31	Alpine	1:30.696	1:30.357	1:30.165
6	Lewis Hamilton	44	Mercedes	1:30.906	1:30.443	1:30.261
7	Fernando Alonso	14	Alpine	1:30.603	1:30.343	1:30.322
8	George Russell	63	Mercedes	1:30.865	1:30.465	1:30.389
9	Sebastian Vettel	5	Aston Martin	1:31.256	1:30.656	1:30.554
10	Lando Norris	4	McLaren	1:30.881	1:30.473	1:31.003
11	Daniel Ricciardo	3	McLaren	1:30.880	1:30.659	not available-
12	Valtteri Bottas	77	Alfa Romeo	1:31.226	1:30.709	not available-
13	Yuki Tsunoda	22	AlphaTauri	1:31.130	1:30.808	not available-
14	Guanyu Zhou	24	Alfa Romeo	1:30.894	1:30.953	not available-
15	Mick Schumacher	47	Haas	1:31.152	1:31.439	not available-
16	Alexander Albon	23	Williams	1:31.311	not available-	not available-
17	Pierre Gasly	10	AlphaTauri	1:31.322	not available-	not available-
18	Kevin Magnussen	20	Haas	1:31.352	not available-	not available-
19	Lance Stroll	18	Aston Martin	1:31.419	not available-	not available-
20	Nicholas Latifi	6	Williams	1:31.511	not available-	not available-

I would say staying out of trouble is the priority for Max - if I've done my maths right he could finish 3rd behind the Ferraris tomorrow and then only need 5th or better in Austin, presuming wins + fastest laps for Leclerc.
Having said that I wouldn't be surprised at all to see him win it tomorrow!

A good qualifying for Ocon (5th) and Alonso (7th). Hopefully no reliability issues for Alpine tomorrow.

 

[Bandit]

Max Verstappen has won the F1 World Championship 2022.

He is now a two time World Champion.

Max had been absolutely brilliant this year and has deserved the title. His driving had really improved since last year.

Hoping for a better season next year, it's been boring since Ferrari bottled it. Going to need a quick Mercedes team to make it interesting.

I haven't watched today yet but the FIA really do seem to make the rules up as they go along. I don't think they're biased in any way just totally incompetent. The race directors have been awful this year as well, especially in terms of not allowing some races to begin due to a bit of rain, and not enabling DRS until way too long into the race after the weather cleared up. Hoping for better next year but I doubt it.

 

[Dylan]

Interesting race but nice to have the Japanese GP back but that shit at the start with Gasly is like nobody learned from that awful day in 2014. Good that Max won the world championship but again there was unnecessary confusion over the world title.

 

[Tom]

It was only a matter of time. Verstappen, by far, has been the best driver over the past few seasons.

Leclerc doesn't have what it takes over a season regardless of the team's mistakes. Talented over a lap but probably needs a superior car to cancel his own errors under pressure.