Max Verstappen is now what Mika Häkkinen was before him: two-time Formula 1 world champion. The 54-year-old Finn praises the Dutchman over the clover: “It was a fantastic performance.”
The Finn Mika Häkkinen became Formula 1 champion in 1998 and 1999, both times at Suzuka. Now Max Verstappen is also a two-time world champion after winning the Japanese Grand Prix, and Mika Häkkinen is full of praise.
The 20-time GP winner Häkkinen says: “That was a fantastic performance by Max. When you’re chasing the world title, you dream of racing like Verstappen is showing this year.”
The 161-time GP participant Häkkinen continued: “Max said he would need a perfect weekend to secure his title in Japan. And that’s exactly what he did. But it was about fractions of a second, the lead over Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc in qualifying was only a hundredth of a second!”
We just did the math: Converted to the 5.807 kilometer long track, that corresponds to a lead of 65 centimeters!
Mika continues: «Max didn’t get off ideally at the start, but what he then showed was top class. Charles stabbed to the inside and it almost looked like the Ferrari was already leading the car, but Verstappen stayed adamant on the outside lane and had the confidence to keep his foot on the gas. With this momentum he was able to overtake his opponent.”
“It was a typical karting manoeuvre, and Max used all his experience and talent to pull it off. It was absolutely terrific.”
“After that, Verstappen had everything under control, Max was in a league of his own. In a shortened Grand Prix, he ended up taking almost half a second from Leclerc, which is brilliant.”
“The twelfth win of the season is the best proof of how Max Verstappen is shaping the 2022 GP season. That’s what I call dominance!”
Japan-GP, Suzuka
01. Max Verstappen (NL), Red Bull Racing, 3:01:44,004 h
02. Sergio Perez (MEX), Red Bull Racing, +27.066sec
03. Charles Leclerc (MC), Ferrari, +31,763
04. Esteban Ocon (F), Alpine, +39,685
05. Lewis Hamilton (GB), Mercedes, +40,326
06. Sebastian Vettel (D), Aston Martin, +46,358
07. Fernando Alonso (L), Alpine, +46,369
08. George Russell (GB), Mercedes, +47,661
09. Nicholas Latifi (CDN), Williams, +70,143
10. Lando Norris (GB), McLaren, +70.782
11. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS), McLaren, +72,877
12. Lance Stroll (CDN), Aston Martin, +73,904
13. Yuki Tsunoda (J), AlphaTauri, +75,599
14. Kevin Magnussen (DK), Haas, +86.016
15. Valtteri Bottas (FIN), Alfa Romeo, +86,496
16. Guanyu Zhou (RC), Alfa Romeo, +87,043
17. Mick Schumacher (D), Haas, +92,523
18. Pierre Gasly (F), AlphaTauri, +108,091
Out
Alex Albon (T), Williams, Hydraulikdefekt
Carlos Sainz (E), Ferrari, accident
Championship status (after 18 of 22 races)
driver
01. Verstappen 366 points
02. Pérez 253
03. Leclerc 252
04. Russell 207
05. Sainz 202
06. Hamilton 180
07. Norris 101
08. Ocon 78
09. Alonso 65
10. Bottas 46
11. Vettel 32
12. Ricciardo 29
13. Gasly 23
14. Magnussen 22
15. Stroll 13
16. Schumacher 12
17. Tsunoda 11
18. Zhou 6
19. Albon 4
20. Latif 2
21. DeVries 2
22. Nico Hülkenberg (D) 0
Constructors’ Cup
01. Red Bull Racing 619 Punkte
02. Ferrari 454
03. Mercedes 387
04. Alpine 143
05. McLaren 130
06. Alfa Romeo 52
07. Aston Martin 45
08. Haas 34
09. AlphaTauri 34
10. Williams 8