The rain wouldn't go away quick enough in Japan, but it didn't rain on Max Verstappen's parade. The defending series champion drove away to a 27-plus second victory and his second Formula 1 title at a very wet Japanese Grand Prix. Verstappen's Red Bull Racing teammate Sergio Perez finished second after Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was handed a five-second penalty at the race's end, dropping him to third.
That was the silver lining for Red Bull Racing and Honda in the rain clouds that closed in on Suzuka International Racing Course, as the rain stoppage they caused early at the event left little time left to run the Japanese Grand Prix, and it appeared that Verstappen's quest would continue to another race weekend.
The fact that they got in any laps at all is nothing but a bit of a miracle.
"I'm glad we got to race," Verstappen said at the finish. "The fans deserved it."
It was wet, but it all started well for Verstappen. Leclerc's Ferrari had pulled ahead slightly at the start, but Verstappen managed to gather his Red Bull Racing car and nosed ahead before the first turn, and then quickly opened a gap.
Behind them everything was quickly going awry. Leclerc's teammate, Carlos Sainz Jr., hydroplaned in the wet conditions and spun off the track, hitting the barrier. Some how the Spaniard managed to keep the car from bouncing back onto the track as cars, with little visibility because of the rooster tails the cars were generating, zoomed past his stricken Ferrari.
The safety car was out and in another lap the red flag was waved, too, pulling the cars into the pits, where the drivers complained loudly to race control over a recovery tractor being out on the track to claim Sainz's car during the yellow flag period, bringing up memories of the 2014 accident at Suzuka in similar — if not worse — conditions that resulted in the death of Marussia driver Jules Bianchi.
By the time the cars went back to racing there was only 45 minutes left to get it in. The track was drying out as the clouds of water vapor — created by the cars' rooster tails — displaced the water lap after lap. While Verstappen didn't pull down the fastest lap, he didn't need to. His car simply seemed to be working better than Leclerc's, and by the finish he had opened up a 27-plus second lead in what turned into a rather easy day for the Dutch driver.
"I'm just happy we got to race," Verstappen said at the finish. "The car was flying. … Being here without a race would've been terrible. The championship? Of course I'm disappointed but we move on to the next race."
Then he was told of the penalty to Leclerc, and a slightly stunned if not confused Verstappen allowed himself a smile. He was still questioning it all when the drivers went to the podium for the trophies to be awarded, talking to Perez to find out what happened.
"I'm very proud to do it here," Verstappen said. "The first one is always more emotional. ... But it's been a pretty special year."
The series moves on to Oct. 23 at the Circuit of the Americas for the United States Grand Prix.
x-Five-second penalty for rough driving demotes Leclerc to third behind Perez
Hamilton is trying his best but the takeaway here is that the Alpine just seems to have more straight-line speed than the Mercedes.
Could it be that Ocon is running less downforce? Or does the Alpine mill produce that much more power than the Mercedes?
With 10 minutes to go Verstappen's lead at the front is up to 16-plus seconds on Leclerc, with Perez closing on the Ferrari driver and Ocon trying to stay ahead of Hamilton, who is closing on the Alpine driver.
With less than 30 minutes left, it appears there will not be enough laps run for full points to be paid out, meaning Verstappen will not be clinching a title on Sunday at Japan.
Leclerc has just pulled down the fastest lap of the race, so Verstappen has some work cut out for him now.
The rain may just be what Ferrari needed to throw a wrench into the Red Bull championship train, at least for this weekend.
Alonso and Ricciardo finally pit, and Verstappen is once again at the front. Leclerc gets past Schumacher to take over second but is 5-seconds adrift of Verstappen.
It's Alonso, Daniel Ricciardo, Mick Schumacher, Verstappen, Zhou Guanyu, Leclerc, Perez, Ocon, Hamilton and Vettel.
Williams radio Latifi that they are hoping the safety car will come out, but it is not raining as hard as it was.
Verstappen and Leclerc are both pitting for internediates.
Red Bull gets Verstappen out quicker.
Perez has pitted.
Alonso stays out and leads this race with 35 minutes to go.
Lando Norris and Valtteri Bottas both pit for intermediate tires.
Norris's teammate, Vettel, is struggling on the intermediates, but the McLaren team is rolling the dice.
It is indeed green-green-green. Verstappen leads the way and there is quite a gap back to Leclerc as the Ferrari driver tires to clear Verstappen's rooster tail.
Vettel and Latifi both pit to put on intermediate tires immediately.
The top five are Verstappen, Leclerc, Perez, Ocon and Hamilton.
Lights are off on the safety car and it will head to the pits. This race is going green-green-green very soon, even though drivers in the pack are complaining about visibility.
It will be a rolling start for the field, a'la IndyCar.
The cars are gingerly heading back out onto the track behind the safety car.
There are still many "rivers" of water going across the track, but drivers seem anxious to go racing.
"The track looks pretty good," Lewis Hamilton radioed his Mercedes pit crew.
