Only a bit over half of the planned race distance was completed in the 2022 Japanese Grand Prix, but the race generated twice the controversy.
Max Verstappen sealed his second World Drivers title with a win befitting his dominance during the 2022 Formula One season. However, the victory was not the biggest talking point in the aftermath of the race.
Because of Japan’s typhoon season, heavy rain fell on race day. The deluge raises questions (again) about the scheduling of the Japanese Grand Prix. While the guarantee of dry weather never exists, there are certain times of the year when the local weather forecast is more suitable for racing conditions.
A more sensible solution would be to run the Japanese Grand Prix in March or April when Japan experiences warm and dry weather conditions. It would make sense to schedule the Japanese GP in concert with the Australian and Chinese grand prix.
Rain has long been a factor in the Japanese GP. Consider what happened in 1976 when James Hunt sealed his only World Title as Nikki Lauda pulled out of the race because he deemed the conditions unrace-worthy. Lauda had crashed at the Nurburgring earlier in the season and suffered life-threatening injuries. Then, in 2014, Jules Bianchi died after he crashed during heavy rain.
The concern for drivers’ safety is paramount in Japan’s race, and those concerns were expressed last Sunday again. The race started under a usual standing start procedure. This meant all drivers began the race on intermediate tyres. But early on, in the very first lap, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz aquaplaned into the barriers and out of the race. The safety car was immediately called, but then inexplicably, a recovery vehicle was permitted onto the circuit to recover the stricken Ferarri–despite all 18 remaining cars still being out on the racetrack.
With driver visibility close to zero, onboard footage of Pierre Gasly showed how the recovery vehicle could not be seen until the car passed the incident. The situation could have led to a repeat of the 2014 tragedy.
The race was quickly red-flagged and stopped until the rain eased and conditions were more favourable to racing. During the break in the action and the seriousness of the situation was realised, questions were asked regarding how and why a recovery vehicle was permitted onto the circuit in dangerous conditions. The FIA has announced a full investigation will be conducted, and I hope that lessons learned from this weekend will translate into sustainable safety precautions.
What happened on Sunday detracted from Max Verstappen’s race win and his dominance of Formula One 2022. Unlike last season, he was not in the middle of controversy when an FIA official made a decision that handed the crown to Verstappen in an act that tarnished Formula One. But this year, there is neither controversy nor doubt about the legitimacy of Verstappen’s title win.
Verstappen has won 12 out of the 18 races this season and remains on course to break the record number of race victories in a single season. He needs one win in the season’s final four races to tie the season record–and two to break the record–held by Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel.
The hope for the 2023 season is that Ferrari and Mercedes mount a proper challenge to Red Bull so that we don’t see numerous years of one driver and team dominating the sport, as we did during the Michael Schumacher and Ferrari dominance from 2000- 2004.
