Max Verstappen wins F1 title: Lewis Hamilton & Fernando Alonso's reaction

Max Verstappen clinched his second Drivers’ World Championship today as he waltzed to victory around the drenched Suzuka circuit.

In a reduced distance race due to a red flag following Carlos Sainz’s crash and the worsening weather conditions, we saw fewer laps, but full points were awarded with the race eventually resuming and finishing under green conditions, with Verstappen clinching the title as Charles Leclerc was demoted to third in the race for a penalty on the final corner.

Although not spectacular with the confusion, Verstappen’s world title this year was basically set in stone, it was a matter of when not if, so the confusion doesn’t take away from his win.

Red Bull have produced a monster of a car this year, the RB18 is so dominant, no one could compete with Adrian Newey’s design.

Despite only having a handful of laps, Verstappen was in another league to Leclerc, winning at a canter at over 20 seconds to add his name to the roll of honour for the second consecutive year.

He follows in the footsteps of Sebastian Vettel who also won back-to-back crowns with the team, although he’ll have to repeat the feat another two times to match the German’s record.

Lewis Hamilton had an intense battle with Verstappen last year, ending in huge controversy, with ‘human error’ cruelly snatching the title from Hamilton and gifting it to the Dutchman.

However, Mercedes have struggled this year, so we haven’t seen the pair battling it out on track, with the fight for the title much more subdued this year for neutral fans.

Despite that, after the race in the interview pen, Hamilton was quick to show his class, congratulating Verstappen for his 2022 world crown.

Alonso and Hamilton congratulating 2x world champion Max Verstappen