Why it wasn’t just rain showers turning Max Verstappen’s title party into a damp squib

The awarding of Max Verstappen’s 2022 F1 world championship title was the very definition of unceremonious.

Whereas at last year’s title decider there was controversy as to who should be ennobled, this time it was clear Max was the deserving winner – but was he actually the champ? It was the most deflated ending to a title battle the sport has ever witnessed.

To recap: the Japanese Grand Prix was wet and, after two laps, the red flags were flown following Carlos Sainz’ shunt into the barriers. There was a wait of more than two hours before the rolling restart. With light fading, the race time was restricted to just 40 minutes, giving a distance of 28 laps instead of the intended 53.

Verstappen crossed the start line first followed by Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez and that’s where they finished, except the Ferrari went too deep into the last turn and cut the corner, returning to the track in front of Perez and blocking the Mexican’s attempt to overtake.

The FIA’s communications kerfuffle started when they did not inform viewers this race would award full points, rather than half points which have been awarded at dramatically curtailed races in the past, such as last year’s biblically wet Belgian GP.

At the beginning of this year, a new sliding scale of points was introduced to the rulebook depending what percentage of the race distance had been completed. However, that only comes into effect when a GP is abandoned. Because Sunday’s race at Suzuka reached the chequered flag, full points were given.

The FIA knew its own rules, but the teams and broadcasters were fuzzy on them. The race director should have issued a notice at the restart that, assuming the race reached its 40-minute limit, the winner would claim 25 points.