“I had no clue what they were going to decide with the points,” Verstappen said. Typically, 75% race distance was the mark at which full points were awarded. And in this table, between 50-75% race distance means three-quarter points. Mercedes agreed that the intent of the rules was to scale the points relative to race distance completed. Japan was Verstappen’s 12th win in 18 races, and his fifth in the last six. “Very different emotions [to last year],” he said, “but that’s because of the whole season being very different, completely different cars, a completely different way of racing, the amount of races we have won.

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