October 09, 2022 19:36 PM
Verstappen takes pole position at Japanese Grand Prix
[Netease Sports News on the 9th]The 2022 F1 Championship will usher in the 18th race of the season at Suzuka Circuit in Japan. As a result, the race was disturbed by rain, and accidents continued after the start. It was stopped by the red flag just after three laps. The rain was heavy, and after being suspended for two hours, the main race in Japan did not restart until 15:15 Beijing time. In the end, 28 laps were completed, more than 50%, so the top 10 can get points, Verstappen won the championship and defended it ahead of schedule. Leclerc would have crossed the finish second, but was penalized 5 seconds, the result is Perez runner-up. Zhou Guanyu finished 16th and got the fastest lap at this station.
In the qualifying of the Japanese Grand Prix, Verstappen beat Leclerc by 0.010 seconds to win the pole position, Sainz ranked third, Perez, Ocon, Hamilton, Alonso, Russell, Vettel and Norris ranked 4th to 10th, and Chinese driver Zhou Guanyu ranked 14th.
Start: Verstappen holds pole position and Sainz retires
The driver experienced a rainy battle in the race. After the start, Verstappen, who started from pole position, was a little slow. Leclerc did a better job and suppressed Verstappen, but Verstappen accelerated by entering the corner and changing the line. Pass Leclerc to hold the first position. Due to the very low visibility at the scene, the first lap of the race was full of surprises. Ferrari driver Sainz slid off the track on the wall at turn 10, and Albon’s car also stopped on the track. The two drivers were on the first lap. Had to retire.
Zhou Guanyu also lost control. Fortunately, he only lost a few positions after slipping. After readjustment, Zhou Guanyu entered the game again. Just after three laps of the Japanese Grand Prix, the race team showed the red flag and recalled all the cars to the pit lane. This is also the fourth red flag in the history of the Japanese Grand Prix.
The safety car drives the race to restart, and many drivers pit to change tires
The competition originally announced that at 13:50 Beijing time, the main race in Japan will resume with a rolling start, but then the competition will postpone the restart of the competition. After a long wait, the competition finally announced that the competition will restart at 15:15 Beijing time.
The race was finally restarted under the leadership of the safety car, and the drivers drove out of the pit lane. When the safety car left, Verstappen, who was the leader, chose to press the car, followed by Leclerc. Perez, Ocon and Hamilton ranked third. To 5th, Zhou Guanyu ranked 15th. The game resumes with 40 minutes remaining.
Verstappen accelerated with all his strength, the official contest also kicked off, and the visibility at the scene was still not good. Some drivers chose to pit to change their tires. Bottas pitted with semi-wet tires, and his ranking dropped to 18th after leaving the station. Zhou Guanyu chose to use full-wet tires to continue galloping on the track, ranking 13th. When the race was over with 35 minutes and 40 seconds remaining, the two Red Bull drivers pitted together to change tires. Alonso, Ricciardo, and Mick Schumacher ranked in the top three, and Zhou Guanyu was sixth.
Several cars pitted and put on semi-rain tires. When the race was over with 31 minutes and 40 seconds remaining, Zhou Guanyu also chose to pit and put on new tires. Verstappen’s ranking rose to first, Leclerc ranked second with 4.2 seconds behind, Perez and Mick Schumacher ranked third and fourth, and Zhou Guanyu dropped to 18th after changing tires.
O’Connell Hamilton fiercely fights Zhou Guanyu to refresh the fastest lap
There are 28 minutes left in the race, Verstappen is still leading, the gap between Leclerc and Verstappen is 4.8 seconds, Perez ranked third, Zhou Guanyu ranked 17th, and Hamilton also pitted to change tires, In this way, all riders complete the pit stop to change tires.
Verstappen continued to expand his advantage. With 24 minutes left in the race, he was 8.3 seconds ahead of Leclerc. Verstappen ran faster and faster, and his advantage over Leclerc expanded to more than 11 seconds. Leclerc asked the team if Choose how many positions you will lose in a pit stop, and the answer given by the team is five.
Verstappen, Leclerc and Perez, these three drivers opened the gap, Ocon in fourth and Hamilton in fifth were in fierce competition. The two drivers kept fighting. Hamilton tried to overtake many times. Ocon Also successfully defended. With less than 15 minutes to go, Zhou Guanyu pitted again to change tires and dropped to 18th, the last of all drivers on the track.
There are 14 minutes left in the race. Hamilton and O’Connell collided round-to-round. O’Connell closed the door in time and defended Hamilton again. O’Connell and Hamilton were also the most intense duel in the race, but there were still 10 minutes to end in the race. At that time, O’Connell and Hamilton were still ranked 4th and 5th, the gap between the two was less than 0.5 seconds. It is worth mentioning that Zhou Guanyu refreshed the fastest lap on the field, running 1 minute 44 seconds 411.
Verstappen won the championship without any suspense, Zhou Guanyu won the 16th place
Verstappen’s advantage was growing, nearly 18 seconds ahead of Leclerc, while Perez closed the gap with Leclerc by less than a second. There are 5 minutes left in the main race in Japan. Verstappen, Leclerc and Perez are still in the top three. These three drivers basically locked the podium position.
The gap between Perez and Leclerc was not big, so Perez kept threatening Leclerc behind him, and the two fought for second place. In the final lap of the race, Perez almost passed, but Leclerc managed to hold on to it, but the dramatic thing was that Leclerc slipped off the track by mistake at the last corner, cut the corner, and then drove back to the track. , I don’t know if it will be investigated by the tournament officials.
Japan raced for 28 laps. In the end, Verstappen won the championship without any suspense and won the 12th race of the season. Leclerc crossed the line in second place, Perez finished third, but Leclerc finished third. Penalized for 5 seconds, Perez rose to second place. The 4th to 8th places are Ocon, Hamilton, Vettel, Alonso and Russell. Zhou Guanyu won the 16th place and gained the fastest lap at this station.