2022 Japanese Grand Prix

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  2022 Japanese Grand Prix
Race details[1]
Race 18 of 22 in the 2022 Formula One season
Layout of the Suzuka International Racing Course
Layout of the Suzuka International Racing Course
Date 9 October 2022
Official name Formula 1 Honda Japanese Grand Prix 2022
Location Suzuka International Racing Course
Suzuka, Mie Prefecture, Japan
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 5.807 km (3.608 mi)
Distance 28 laps, 162.296 km (100.846 mi)
Scheduled Distance 53 laps, 307.471 km (191.054 mi)
Weather Rain
Attendance 200,000[2]
Pole position
Driver
Red Bull Racing-RBPT
Time 1:29.304
Fastest lap
Driver China Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo-Ferrari
Time 1:44.411 on lap 20
Podium
First
Red Bull Racing-RBPT
Second
Red Bull Racing-RBPT
Third
Ferrari
Lap leaders

The 2022 Japanese Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Honda Japanese Grand Prix 2022) was a Formula One motor race held on 9 October 2022 at the Suzuka International Racing Course in Suzuka, Japan. Max Verstappen secured his second World Championship title after finishing first, in front of Sergio Pérez and Charles Leclerc. Despite only 28 of the scheduled 53 laps being completed, full points were awarded due to a loophole in the regulations regarding how points should be allocated, with the rules stating that reduced points should only be awarded in shortened races that end under red flag conditions. As this race ended under green flag conditions, this system was not applied. The wording of the sporting regulations was subsequently amended for 2023, so races that do not reach the 75 percent distance are awarded shortened race points regardless of whether a race finishes under red or green flag conditions.

Background

The event was held across the weekend of the 7–9 October. It was the eighteenth round of the 2022 Formula One World Championship and the first time the event had been held since 2019, with the 2020 and 2021 races cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Valtteri Bottas entered as the defending race winner.

Championship standings before the race

Going into the weekend, Max Verstappen led the Drivers' Championship by 104 points from Charles Leclerc, second, and teammate Sergio Pérez, third, by 106. Red Bull Racing team led the Constructors' Championship, leading Ferrari by 137 points and Mercedes by 203 points.[3] For the second race running, Verstappen had an opportunity to secure his second World Drivers' Championship in a row. He needed to outscore Leclerc by eight points and Pérez by six. Verstappen could have won the title as follows:[4]

Driver
Netherlands Max Verstappen Monaco Charles Leclerc Mexico Sergio Pérez
Pos. 1st with fastest lap Position irrelevant Position irrelevant
1st 3rd or lower Position irrelevant
2nd with fastest lap 5th or lower 4th or lower
2nd 5th or lower without fastest lap 4th or lower without fastest lap
3rd with fastest lap 6th or lower 5th or lower
3rd 7th or lower 6th or lower
4th with fastest lap 8th or lower 7th or lower
4th 8th or lower without fastest lap 7th or lower without fastest lap
5th with fastest lap 9th or lower 8th or lower
5th 9th without fastest lap or lower 8th or lower without fastest lap
6th with fastest lap 10th or lower 9th or lower
6th Out of the points 9th or lower without fastest lap

Entrants

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See also: 2022 Formula One World Championship § Entries

The drivers and teams were the same as the season entry list with no additional stand-in drivers for the race.[5]

Tyre choices

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Further information: Formula One tyres

Tyre supplier Pirelli brought the C1, C2, and C3 tyre compounds (designated hard, medium, and soft, respectively) for teams to use at the event.[6]

Penalties

Williams' Nicholas Latifi carried a five-place grid penalty for causing a collision with Zhou Guanyu at the previous round, the Singapore Grand Prix.[7]

Qualifying

After qualifying, Max Verstappen was given a reprimand by stewards for an incident in Q3 involving loss of control of the car requiring Lando Norris to manoeuvre around Verstappen at speed coming out of 130R. There was no grid penalty issued.[8]

Qualifying classification

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Qualifying times Final
grid
Q1 Q2 Q3
1 1 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing-RBPT 1:30.224 1:30.346 1:29.304 1
2 16 Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:30.402 1:30.486 1:29.314 2
3 55 Spain Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari 1:30.336 1:30.444 1:29.361 3
4 11 Mexico Sergio Pérez Red Bull Racing-RBPT 1:30.622 1:29.925 1:29.709 4
5 31 France Esteban Ocon Alpine-Renault 1:30.696 1:30.357 1:30.165 5
6 44 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:30.906 1:30.443 1:30.261 6
7 14 Spain Fernando Alonso Alpine-Renault 1:30.603 1:30.343 1:30.322 7
8 63 United Kingdom George Russell Mercedes 1:30.865 1:30.465 1:30.389 8
9 5 Germany Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes 1:31.256 1:30.656 1:30.554 9
10 4 United Kingdom Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes 1:30.881 1:30.473 1:31.003 10
11 3 Australia Daniel Ricciardo McLaren-Mercedes 1:30.880 1:30.659 N/A 11
12 77 Finland Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 1:31.226 1:30.709 N/A 12
13 22 Japan Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri-RBPT 1:31.130 1:30.808 N/A 13
14 24 China Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 1:30.894 1:30.953 N/A 14
15 47 Germany Mick Schumacher Haas-Ferrari 1:31.152 1:31.439 N/A 15
16 23 Thailand Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes 1:31.311 N/A N/A 16
17 10 France Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri-RBPT 1:31.322 N/A N/A PL1
18 20 Denmark Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari 1:31.352 N/A N/A 17
19 18 Canada Lance Stroll Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes 1:31.419 N/A N/A 18
20 6 Canada Nicholas Latifi Williams-Mercedes 1:31.511 N/A N/A 192
107% time: 1:36.539
Source:[9][10]

Notes

  • ^1 – Pierre Gasly qualified 17th, but he was required to start the race from the pit lane due to modifications to a rear wing assembly, front wing ballast and the setup of the suspension.[10]
  • ^2 – Nicholas Latifi received a five-place grid penalty for causing a collision with Zhou Guanyu at the previous round.[7] He gained a position as Gasly was required to start the race from the pit lane.[10]

Race

Race report

Before the race started, voice actress, singer and narrator Nana Mizuki sang the Japanese national anthem.[11] The race started at 14:00 local time on 9 October 2022 under torrential rain (which was the reason for so many incidents in the race) and was red-flagged on lap 2 after Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz Jr. lost control into the hairpin of the opening lap and aquaplaned into the barriers. A recovery vehicle was immediately dispatched, with several drivers passing the tractor at speed under double-yellow flags on the second lap.[12] Alex Albon also retired due a collision with Kevin Magnussen which caused damage to his radiator.[13]

The race resumed at 16:15 local time behind the safety car. Only twenty-eight laps were completed before the race was curtailed due to it passing the three-hour time limit, with Verstappen taking his twelfth victory of the season. Leclerc, who finished second on track, was given a five-second penalty for cutting the final chicane whist defending from Pérez in third, which demoted him to third behind Pérez. The win meant that Verstappen took the Championship title, leading Pérez by 113 points, with 112 points still available.

Post-race

As less than 75% of the scheduled race distance had been completed, the majority of the paddock were under the impression that Verstappen would not be awarded full points, Verstappen instead earning 19 points and Leclerc 12, which would have left Verstappen one point short of claiming the championship. Verstappen himself expressed surprise in the cooldown room that full points had been awarded, making him champion.[14]

The confusion regarding the number of points awarded was as a result of a rule change introduced for the 2022 season. Although historically races curtailed on such a scale as this Grand Prix would see half-points awarded, the wording of the new regulation only applied "If a race is suspended and cannot be resumed"; as the race was resumed and completed short, the FIA awarded full points under a strict reading of the regulations, effectively bypassing the gradual scale points system that had been introduced for 2022, following dissatisfaction with how points were allocated at the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix. Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner expressed his view that the rule would be revised for the 2023 season to closer match the teams' intentions when the rule was written.[15] In FIA World Endurance Championship competition, for example, the rules state full points are awarded once 75% of the race time was completed, which by the letter of the rule in F1 at the time meant 53 laps or the full race time of three hours. In theory, the race completed the full three hour time limit. Prior to the 2023 championship the F1 Commission agreed to alter the wording of the regulations to ensure all races where less than 75% of the race distance is completed now use the sliding scale system to determine the points being given, regardless of whether they finish under red or green flag conditions. This wording change satisfies the original intention of the gradual scale points system when it was introduced in 2022.[16]

The deployment and position of the recovery vehicle on the track was criticised after AlphaTauri driver Pierre Gasly narrowly missed the vehicle due to poor visibility, angrily remonstrated that "[he] could have killed [himself]" if he had lost control and hit the vehicle, even at reduced speed.[17] Gasly also attacked the deployment as "disrespectful" to the memory and family of his childhood friend Jules Bianchi, who suffered fatal injuries at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix when he crashed into a recovery vehicle after aquaplaning off the circuit. Bianchi's godson Charles Leclerc also said that the sport should learn from Bianchi's death and not have similar issues in the future, and Bianchi's father wrote on Instagram that the race officials had "no respect" for either the life of the drivers or Bianchi's memory. The FIA confirmed there would be an investigation into the deployment of recovery vehicles.[18]

Race classification

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Laps1 Time/Retired Grid Points
1 1 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing-RBPT 28 3:01:44.004 1 25
2 11 Mexico Sergio Pérez Red Bull Racing-RBPT 28 +27.066 4 18
3 16 Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari 28 +31.7632 2 15
4 31 France Esteban Ocon Alpine-Renault 28 +39.685 5 12
5 44 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 28 +40.326 6 10
6 5 Germany Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes 28 +46.358 9 8
7 14 Spain Fernando Alonso Alpine-Renault 28 +46.369 7 6
8 63 United Kingdom George Russell Mercedes 28 +47.661 8 4
9 6 Canada Nicholas Latifi Williams-Mercedes 28 +1:10.143 19 2
10 4 United Kingdom Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes 28 +1:10.782 10 1
11 3 Australia Daniel Ricciardo McLaren-Mercedes 28 +1:12.877 11
12 18 Canada Lance Stroll Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes 28 +1:13.904 18
13 22 Japan Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri-RBPT 28 +1:15.599 13
14 20 Denmark Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari 28 +1:26.016 17
15 77 Finland Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 28 +1:26.496 12
16 24 China Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 28 +1:27.043 14
17 47 Germany Mick Schumacher Haas-Ferrari 28 +1:32.523 15
18 10 France Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri-RBPT 28 +1:48.0913 PL
Ret 55 Spain Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari 0 Accident 3
Ret 23 Thailand Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes 0 Collision damage 16
Fastest lap: China Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo-Ferrari) – 1:44.411 (lap 20)
Source:[10][19][20][not in citation given]

Notes

  • ^1 – The race distance was initially scheduled to be completed for 53 laps before being shortened due to a red flag.[19][not in citation given]
  • ^2 – Charles Leclerc finished second, but he received a five-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.[19]
  • ^3 – Pierre Gasly finished 17th, but he received a drive-through penalty (converted to a 20-second time penalty post-race) for speeding under red flag conditions.[19][not in citation given]

FIA investigation

On 21 October 2022, the FIA published its review into the Grand Prix with the FIA's report recognising that the deployment of the recovery vehicle could have been handled better.

The FIA is due to implement a warning system of recovery vehicles on track. The FIA stated that the VSC system would be improved so that the drivers speed limit could vary depending on where the car is in relation to the site of any on-track incident. In addition the FIA said it would look into further improvements to the full wet weather tyres and to circuit's drainage capabilities. The FIA stated the intention to review how points were awarded at the next World Motorsport Council meeting.

The FIA abandoned the idea of rotating race directors, leaving Niels Wittich as the sole serving race director for the final four rounds of the championship. The rotation policy was not met with favourable reviews from drivers, as well as being in response to criticism of Eduardo Freitas' performance as race director at this event.[21]

Championship standings after the race

  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
  • Bold text indicates competitors who still had a theoretical chance of becoming World Champion.

See also

References

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External links

Previous race:
2022 Singapore Grand Prix		 FIA Formula One World Championship
2022 season		 Next race:
2022 United States Grand Prix
Previous race:
2019 Japanese Grand Prix		 Japanese Grand Prix Next race:
2023 Japanese Grand Prix
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