There was a night race at Indianapolis. A.J. Foyt Racing is rounding out its 2023 lineup. We are already talking about Indianapolis 500 one-offs for a race that is 230 days away. LMDh cars tested at Road Atlanta. Acura had an accident. Tom Blomqvist got a new seat. Rain didn't stop the Bathurst 1000, though it didn't make the weekend easier. Ten drivers entered the weekend with a chance at the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters championship. A Frenchman is joining a French team. A Dutchman is joining an Italian team. Formula One just couldn't have an easy title-decider. Here is a rundown of what got me thinking.
Hard to Swallow Truth
Another World Drivers' Championship has been claimed, this one with four races remaining in the 2022 Formula One season. The trip to the Americas and Abu Dhabi will be mostly administrative affairs, though there are still positions and millions of dollars left to fight for, as well as futures, and any success a driver can take.
Of course, Max Verstappen and Red Bull couldn't clinch this world championship in a non-convoluted method, though this situation wasn't on the team. The regulations change that was meant to clear up awarding points over shortened races after the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix fiasco caused this confusion, as only 28 of 53 laps, just over 52% of the scheduled distance was completed, but the regulation change made in response to last year's Belgium race now says fractional points totals will only be awarded if a race ends under red flag conditions. If a race finishes on the track, green or yellow, behind the safety car or not, regardless of distance completed, full points will be awarded.
With full points awarded for 52% of the work, Verstappen claiming victory and Charles Leclerc demoted to third after cutting the final chicane on the final lap while trying to hold off Sergio Pérez, Verstappen is the world championship.
The climate in the room has been distracting from what has been happening around us, and the events in Japan are not helping. This is one of the most historic seasons in Formula One history. It is just coming at the hands of the most unsavory driver and team combination the series may have ever seen.
Verstappen and Red Bull have become a polarizing duo in Formula One. Orange floods the grandstands at many venues in support of the Dutch-Austrian pairing, but the behavior of driver and team, combined with its contentious 2021 season that saw the championship claimed after questionable officiating at the detriment of Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes, has soured many.
The controversies aren't going anywhere anytime soon, especially as we await reports from the FIA about cost cap violations from certain manufactures, but until the final verdict is made, we are in the midsts of one of the greatest seasons in Formula One history, whether we like who is accomplishing it or not.
Verstappen has won 12 races, two short of holding the all-time record for most victories on his own. This victory in Japan puts Verstappen ahead of Nigel Mansell and level with Fernando Alonso for sixth all-time on 32. If Verstappen wins out, it will be the second-best winning percentage in a Formula One season, behind only Alberto Ascari's 1952 season when the Italian won six of eight races, 75%. Verstappen is the 13th driver to win consecutive world championships. He is also only 25 years old with a future of 25-race seasons in front of him for the next ten to 15 years.
The record book is about to be littered with the "Verstappen" name at the top of all the important categories, again, whether we like it or not.
Verstappen isn't going anywhere. Even if the cost cap was violated and Red Bull could receive harsh sanctions, it hasn't been entirely the car winning races this season. Ferrari has won 11 pole positions in 2022. There were plenty of chances for Ferrari to take points away from Red Bull when in the dominant position, and it faltered. Even in Japan, as long as Charles Leclerc makes it through the final chicane cleanly, we are heading to the United States with Verstappen just needing one point from the final four races to clinch the championship. The title would effectively be Verstappen's but Ferrari could have delayed the party another few weeks. Instead, Leclerc blows the corner, clearly gained an advantage, lost his second-place finish and provided another gift to Verstappen after Verstappen had capitalized on every other mistake Leclerc made this season.
The finish of the 2021 season was an unfortunate circumstance of poor officiating, but to boil that championship down to one race, one lap, disregards what happened over that entire season. Verstappen still won ten races last season. He stood on a record 18 podiums. Abu Dhabi was the final chapter of the season, but every race decided the outcome. For everything Verstappen did, there was everything Hamilton did not do.
The final lap of the season doesn't play out that way if Hamilton doesn't blow the restart at Azerbaijan and go from second to 15th, coughing up 18 points. If Hamilton and Verstappen do not get together at Monza, those are a few more points for each driver, perhaps more for Hamilton than Verstappen. If Mercedes calls Hamilton in for slick tires prior to the restart in Hungary, perhaps he wins the race instead of finishing second to Esteban Ocon after negotiating traffic and being held behind the likes of Fernando Alonso.
There will always be the Belgian Grand Prix that Verstappen won with no green flag laps completed, but let's not forget Verstappen's drive late in the Russian Grand Prix, in changing conditions that saw what should have been a sixth or seventh-place result turn into a second. Verstappen competed an incredible move around both Mercedes at the start of the Mexican Grand Prix that saw the Dutchman go from third to first and he never looked back, practically winning the race untouched.
Nothing was fixed. Nothing is invalid. Inconsistent? Unfair? Questionable? Absolutely. That wasn't the first championship decided after inconsistent, unfair and questionable decisions. It will not be the last.
This is arguable the most fractured point in Formula One history among the audience. There have always been passionate fan followings, but the current tribalism has spectators more combative than ever before. We are seeing less enjoyment over the competition and less appreciation for those competing. Everyone is looking for a reason to discredit another driver's accomplishments. This kind of behavior will not last long, not at the current level. Eventually, this much negativity will lead many to leave, likely the wrong people will stay, and this 2020s Formula One swoon will have a crash landing.
If you are going to be a Formula One fan, you must look at the entire picture and not be obsessed with a singular moment. Also, if you are going to be a Formula One fan, you should get used to whatever team and driver that consistently ends up on top pushing the legality of the rulebook. Every era has a champion living in the grey area, from the active suspension Williams to Brabham's hydropneumatic suspension and water-cooled brake to Ferrari's movable floor to the double-diffusered Brawn. In the case of Red Bull, it might not be anything technical on the car but how much cash used to develop what is on track. Every team is pushing legality. Most get away with it. This isn't a purity test.
As is the case in the contemporary world of Formula One, the drama will play out off the track and likely deep into the offseason. Any judgement on this season will leave one faction unsatisfied and another faction justified. But the results we are seeing on track, the man on the top step of the podium, will likely continue for many years to come, whether you like it or not.
Champions From the Weekend
You know about Max Verstappen, but did you know...
Sheldon van der Linde clinched the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters championship with finishes of second and third at Hockenheim.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Max Verstappen, but did you know...
Shane Van Gisbergen and Garth Tander won the 65th Bathurst 1000, Van Gisbergen's 19th victory of the season. This was Van Gisbergen's second Bathurst victory and Tander's fifth, making Tander the seventh driver with at least five Bathurst victories.
Christopher Bell won the NASCAR Cup race from Charlotte, his second victory of the season. A.J. Allmendinger won the Grand National Series race, his second consecutive victory and his fourth of the season.
The #77 Mercedes-AMG Team Craft-Bamboo Racing Mercedes-AMG of Daniel Morad, Daniel Juncadella and Raffaele Marciello won the Indianapolis 8 Hour.
George Kurtz swept the GT America races from Indianapolis. The #8 Flying Lizard Motorsports Aston Martin of Elias Sabo and Andy Lee and the #18 RS1 Porsche of Stevan McAleer and Eric Filgueiras split the GT4 America races.
Lucas Auer and Marco Wittmann split the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters races from Hockenheim.
Toprak Razgatlioglu (race one and SuperPole race) and Álvaro Bautista (race two) split the World Superbike races from Portimão. Stefano Manzi and Dominique Aegerter split World Supersport races.
Coming Up This Weekend
MotoGP returns to Phillip Island.
NASCAR is in Las Vegas.
Portimão hosts the European Le Mans Series finale.
