Verstappen: First Title emotional, the second even more beautiful

His first Formula 1 Title may have been won in controversial conditions, but the second was a straightforward affair, despite the confusion surrounding the announcement related to unclarity in the rules regarding points awarding after the race at Suzuka.

But in the end, the inevitable happened and the Verstappen was announced a Double World Champion. Reflecting on his achievement he said: "I think the first one is always a little more emotional.

"But the second one is probably even more beautiful… The season we’ve had with the wins, the great races, the team work, the 1-2s we’ve had," he added.

"We’re leading the constructors’, so we really want to focus on that as well to try to secure that. It’s been a pretty special year and it’s something you really have to remind yourself of, because these kind of years you don’t have very often," the Dutchman explained.

Following the confusion in parc ferme, is he Champion or isn't he, the Red Bull reflected on his accomplishment speaking to the 2009 F1 Champion Jenson Button on the podium.

"It's crazy. Very mixed emotions," Verstappen said, clearly still trying to absorb the facts. "Looking back, what a year we've had so far. It's been incredible.

"It's something I could never have imagined. After last year, fighting until the end, and then having such a good car again this year. I'm so thankful to everyone who has been contributing to this success," he revealed.

The 2022 F1 Champion credited Red Bull's partners Honda for the superb work they have done, after powering him for his second Drivers' Crown in a row, and is happy they got he chance to celebrate in Japan, Honda' home.

"Besides that, the work we’ve done together with Honda all the way through every year, just constantly improving rapidly," Verstappen said. "To win now twice with them is very emotional, especially here [at their home track], with everyone watching.

"It gives you a little bit more pressure, but it’s good pressure, it’s positive pressure. I’m very proud that we could do it here," he insisted.

As the race developed it was never clear whether Verstappen would secure the 2022 Drivers' Title and celebrate with Honda, but from his side, he did everything he could and the rest was left to how the full race picture developed.

The Red Bull ace was supreme in the rain, pulling up a gap to Ferrari's Charles Leclerc - struggling with tyre wear - that exceed 22 seconds at one point.

Verstappen may have needed the extra point from the fastest lap to secure the Title, a chance his team denied him as it was very risky considering the conditions.

In the end however Leclerc buckled under Sergio Perez's relentless attacks on the final lap making a shortcut and gaining an advantage after which he was given a five-second time penalty dropping him to third.

With full points awarded, Verstappen opened a big enough gap in the Drivers' standings to become Champion again.

"It's a pretty crazy feeling, of course, because I didn't expect it when I crossed the line," he said of the race. "Of course, you could see it slowly happening, but it's incredible at the end of the day that we did win it here.

"I didn't know how many points I was going to get and I wanted to go for the fastest lap, but I think the gap was just not safe enough to go for an extra stop.

"I was also very happy with the race we had, so there was no real fuss or stress about it," he maintained.

Later in Red Bull's press release, Verstappen expressed his gratitude for his team, Honda, and his teammate Sergio Perez, the latter playing a perfect support role once again in Japan with his pressure on Leclerc.

"The teamwork has been unreal, we kept on pushing, kept on believing and kept on improving the car," Verstappen said. "As a Team we've made very few mistakes, you can't be perfect but for most of the races we were close to it.

"Working together with Honda has been incredible and of course a lot of my thanks goes out to the Team here at track, back at the factory and everyone that's been contributing with the Red Bull Powertrains division.

"Everyone has been working flat out and has a huge amount of motivation. Checo has been an incredible teammate and now the full focus is on the Constructors Championship. Let's see what we can do in Austin," the 2022 F1 Champion concluded.