F1: Max Verstappen wins the world championship at the Japanese Grand Prix

Max Verstappen has taken the world championship at the Japanese Grand Prix after a lengthy delay due to rain, with Sergio Perez taking second following a time penalty for Charles Leclerc.

The Dutchman has an unassailable lead with four races to go, with his first place combined with Leclerc finishing third enough for him to earn a second world title.

Leclerc did cross the line in second place but after losing control of his Ferrari in the final chicane on the final lap, under pressure from Sergio Perez, his cutting of the corner saw him handed a time penalty and he was demoted to third, meaning Max now cannot be caught in the title race.

The race did get underway on time but was quickly brought to a halt, with just one racing lap achieved alongside a fair bit of chaos.

Carlos Sainz aquaplaned and span into the barriers on the lead up to Spoon curve and was spat back onto the track very close to the field rushing through, it was hugely fortunate he wasn’t hit.

The advertising hoarding he crashed into was collected by Pierre Gasly, though, and he needed to pit for a new nose.

The Safety Car was called shortly before a red flag, and in that period Gasly was trying to close back up to the pack after leaving the pits with the pretty concerning sight of a recovery vehicle being on the circuit as he went past at high speed.

That will surely be investigated, with drivers taking to social media in the red flag period to express their feelings.

When things did get going after a long pause, we were on the clock with around 50 minutes of racing available. Verstappen didn’t look back either, opening up a gap of nearly 30 seconds in the remaining time, though it had looked as though his title wait would go to the US.

However,