Max Verstappen Cleverly Exploited a Loophole in F1 Rules to Win His Title

What an emotional rollercoaster ride the Japanese Grand Prix was! This year, the Suzuka Circuit was filled with drama from the very first lap. Even after the race concluded, everyone was left feeling pretty anticlimactic, considering the lack of clarity around the results. So what exactly happened?

Even after finishing the race dominantly, Max Verstappen was confused regarding his standing as the world champion for the 2022 season. The race at the Suzuka Circuit was an extremely wet one. After the completion of barely two laps, the race was red-flagged due to unsafe conditions.

The long halt and restarting of the race made many believe that the race would be eligible for half points only. Under the new regulatory changes that took place after the Belgian Grand Prix in 2021, the cars followed the safety car for only two laps, and the points were then accounted for accordingly. If that were to be applied here, Max would’ve ended up securing points that would have left him one point shy of the Championship.

However, the F1 rule Article 5.b states: “Should the race be suspended, the length of the suspension will be added to this period up to a maximum total race time of three (3) hours.” Under this rule, an extra lap is only applicable for races with a two-hour time limit and not for races that hit the three-hour time limit. The Japanese Grand Prix fell under the latter.

Even though the race ended early, the FIA came forward to clear the confusion. As per the rule above, they interpreted it in a rather different manner. They said that since the race had been restarted and eventually hit the three-hour time limit window, it counted for full points.

And as reported earlier, Charles Leclerc was granted a 5-second penalty for going off track during the race; this shifted him to P3, which left Max, who secured full points, as the world champion.

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Max Verstappen, the young Dutch Lion, is already being compared with a lot of legends from the field. However, the young lad still has a long way to go. How does he really measure up to the F1 legends?

Max Verstappen is shoulder-to-shoulder with F1 legends at the age of 25 already

Max Verstappen has showcased impeccable performance in the last two seasons. He is the second youngest driver to become a double world champion. The young Dutchman is on his way to making history. With the number of wins that he holds today, he already stands shoulder-to-shoulder with some mega names from the F1 community.

Here‘s How Max fairs against the legendary names of F1 from when they were the same age as him.

“Verstappen vs Michael Schumacher
30 more wins, 18 more poles, 57 more podiums, two more titles
Verstappen vs Fernando Alonso
18 more wins, four more poles, 41 more podiums, one more title
Verstappen vs Lewis Hamilton 
21 more wins, one more pole, 47 more podiums, one more title
Verstappen vs Sebastian Vettel 
10 more wins, 15 fewer poles, 35 more podiums, same number of titles”

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Only 25, Max already has remarkable achievements in his short career. With so many racing years ahead of the Dutch Lion, would he surpass these heavyweights in time? Do you think Max Verstappen is a new legend in the making?