After one of the most exciting seasons in Formula 1 history last year, the 2022 season was, by comparison, very average. There were a few exciting races, but they weren’t generally on the same level as the average 2021 race, while there was no title fight this year either as Max Verstappen dominated the season in very impressive fashion, despite the fact his car was the best on the grid, but not by a huge amount. With fifteen race wins, Verstappen beat the record for the most wins in a season, and although he had a brilliant season, much of this was down to Ferrari dropping the ball on many occasions, either due to strategic mistakes, unreliability, or mistakes from the drivers. This should not take away from Verstappen’s achievement, with one of the finest season performances in Formula 1 history.
For me, his amazing 2022 season allowed Max Verstappen to join a list of now twelve drivers who I consider to be the absolute elite of Formula 1 history. The others are Ascari, Fangio, Moss, Clark, Stewart, Lauda, Prost, Senna, Schumacher, Alonso and Hamilton.
One major positive of the season was the new aero rules which caused a return to ground effect, although initially they caused major porpoising on some cars, most notably the Mercedes. The aim of these new rules was to reduce turbulence and make it easier to follow the car in front closely, and in this regard they were very much successful, with cars no longer having to drop back to avoid overheating and battles able to last far longer. Whether this is sufficient to drop DRS, we will sadly never find out as that is clearly not on Liberty Media’s agenda any time soon.
And one negative of these aero rules is that I believe they have made overtaking a little too easy, but that is not a criticism of the cars, but rather of DRS. In Spa, Verstappen was able to drive from the back to the front in a quarter of the race, while Kevin Magnussen had no chance of defending his lead in the Brazil sprint because faster cars could just breeze past with DRS. While DRS has been very much necessary with the old cars, I think it is time to at least reduce it now that there is less turbulence, with the aim of eliminating it entirely in the next few years, because it should be easy to get close to another car in Formula 1, but it should be difficult to actually make a pass, and the driver ahead should be able to defend.
One problem with the 2021 season is that it was a little too controversial, with many questionable stewarding decisions, and from this aspect, 2022 was much-improved. It helped that there wasn’t a title fight to add pressure to the race directors, but Eduardo Freitas and particularly Niels Wittich seemed to be a significant improvement on Michael Masi, tightening up on track limits, reducing the needless red flags and safety cars, and, most importantly, sticking to the rules. Perhaps Formula 1 needed a less controversial season, but there were still far too many incidences of toxic behaviour from fans, online and at the races, a consequence of many things.
However, the FIA still showed some incompetence during the season. One rule that annoys me is the races always ending after three hours, denying us the end of both the Monaco and Japanese Grands Prix in 2022. It was originally meant to be four hours, and I don’t see why there was a need to reduce it. Secondly, Red Bull exceeding the budget cap showed a glaringly obvious flaw in the rules as there were a series of potential punishments available for the FIA to hand out. It would have been far better to pick an undisputable punishment in advance, so they would not be accused of bias for going with it when a team broke the rules, and every team knew exactly what would happen if they did. As a result, I think Red Bull got off rather lightly.
The budget cap breach was another disappointing aspect of last season which only came to light in 2022. It may have only been a minor breach, but it still equates to cheating in my opinion, and perhaps the team could see a way that they could improve their chances by spending a little more than they were allowed at the end. As a result, I now consider Max Verstappen’s 2021 championship victory equivalent to that of Michael Schumacher in 1994 for Benetton, and think that a fair punishment would be something that gave Red Bull no chance of winning again in 2023. But there can be no doubt that he deserved the title this year, it was an exceptional season performance from both Verstappen and Red Bull.
But in terms of the on-track action, Max Verstappen and Red Bull deserve serious credit for dominating the season in the manner they did, despite not taking as many pole positions as Charles Leclerc and Ferrari. Verstappen only really made three mistakes all season: going off in Spain and Singapore and the incident with Hamilton in Brazil. He was exceptionally fast, particularly in the wet where he was streets ahead of anyone else, while he showed himself to have good racecraft, and tyre management skills. Spa and Suzuka were the two standout drives. Sergio Perez was a good second driver for the team, particularly considering the struggles of his predecessors, but perhaps should have beaten Leclerc to second overall.
Meanwhile, Red Bull sorted their early season unreliability and usually had the best race car, while they were never strategically outsmarted by Ferrari or Mercedes. Ferrari dropped the ball on many fronts in 2022. Charles Leclerc lost a ridiculous amount of points this year from a combination of strategic mistakes, most notably in Monaco and Silverstone; unreliability as the engine let go while he was leading in Spain and in Baku; and also due to his own mistakes, with the championship effectively ending when he crashed out in Paul Ricard. However, Leclerc did hold off Perez for second in the championship with an outstanding drive in Abu Dhabi to beat the faster Red Bull. Carlos Sainz started the season poorly but was a solid, dependable number two by the end.
Mercedes initially struggled badly with an unusual design, a car with very small sidepods, which they eventually seemed to get on top of. All that resulted in a record fifteen wins for Verstappen. I suspect next year, Red Bull and Mercedes will be far more evenly-matched, and we could get a rematch between the reigning champion and current best driver, and the most successful in history, Lewis Hamilton, who had a poor season by his high standards in 2022, failing to win a race for the first time in his career. George Russell also had a great first season with Mercedes, outpacing Hamilton in the first half of the season when Mercedes were experimenting with different setups on Hamilton’s car, and taking his maiden win in Brazil.
If Hamilton and Verstappen are indeed involved in another title battle in 2023, they could end up in many more incidents. Verstappen is clearly an extremely aggressive driver, while Hamilton has realised that he needs to be similarly aggressive to beat his rival. As a result, neither are likely to back out if they go side-by-side into a corner, as we saw in Brazil, and that could set the foundations for next season.
With Ferrari making the step forward back to the frontrunners, a clear divide between the top teams and the midfield was once again in place, and so the F1.5 championship returned. This was primarily fought between McLaren and Alpine, although Daniel Ricciardo’s struggles meant that Alpine claimed fourth in the constructors’ title. Fernando Alonso had a very strong season, but terrible luck caused him to finish behind teammate Esteban Ocon in the championship, while Lando Norris beat both of them to claim seventh with another outstanding season.
After a poor season in 2021, Ricciardo’s form dropped even lower in 2022 and he lost his drive at McLaren for 2023. It was a sad way for the career of someone once considered a future champion, and one of the best on the grid, to end. He had outperformed Vettel in 2014, and was also perhaps the standout driver in 2016. His two best drives were his wins in 2018, taking victory in China after a late fightback on new tyres that included an amazing pass on Bottas, and a second win in Monaco despite being down on power, similar to Stirling Moss’ win in 1961.
It also caused an interesting off-season war between Alpine and McLaren as Alpine attempted to sign Oscar Piastri as a replacement for Alonso, even announcing it as confirmed before Piastri revealed he was not going to race for Alpine and later replaced Ricciardo at McLaren. It was a bizarre turn of events, the likes of which I have never seen in F1, and it did not reflect well on Alpine.
Initially, Alfa Romeo looked to also be involved in the battle for ‘best of the rest’, with Valtteri Bottas having an excellent start to the season and taking a huge number of points, while rookie teammate Zhou Guanyu struggled. But from around mid-season, the team slumped, while Bottas’ form also dropped considerably and he was often outpaced by Zhou over the second half of the season. The final points table does not reflect the relative performance of the drivers, with Bottas far stronger when the car was good but Zhou gaining the upper hand when it wasn’t.
Aston Martin had contrasting fortunes, starting the season terribly but gradually improving to the point that they were frequently in the top ten at the end of the season. Sebastian Vettel retired from Formula 1, to be replaced by Alonso from 2023, but had his best season since 2019 with some solid points finishes and strong drives at the end of the season, while Lance Stroll continued to be better than many give him credit for, but still below average.
It is the second consecutive season that a world champion of Formula 1 has retired, with Vettel an even bigger name than Kimi Raikkonen the year before him. Vettel won four titles, with Red Bull between 2010 and 2013, and holds the amazing record of winning nine consecutive races at the end of the 2013 season. His dominant 2011 was also outstanding, breaking the record for the most pole positions and laps led in a season, while for me his best drive was his maiden victory for Toro Rosso in Monza 2008. Another highlight of Vettel’s career was being the only driver to name every world champion last year, showing his genuine enthusiasm for the history of the sport. He will be much missed.
Haas also looked like they would have an outstanding season when Kevin Magnussen, drafted in to replace Nikita Mazepin, finished fifth in Bahrain, beating the team’s total points score of the last two seasons combined. However, the team’s form dropped and they slipped back towards the tail end of the grid, the exception being Magnussen’s incredible pole position in Brazil. Mick Schumacher was involved in many incidents early in the season but eventually scored his first points, and during the second half of the season often outpaced his teammate. I think he has been harshly sacked in favour of Nico Hulkenberg for 2023. But Haas will be very pleased with their season considering where they were last year. I can’t help but wonder how highly Schumacher would be rated now if Mazepin had remained his teammate.
Alpha Tauri, on the other hand, had a dismal season relative to 2021, where they were often top of the midfield, and Pierre Gasly also failed to match his performance from last year, often outpaced by Yuki Tsunoda who improved considerably but still got involved in too many incidents. The team have signed Nyck de Vries to replace an Alpine-bound Gasly from next season.
Williams also slipped backwards in the pecking order to finish last in the constructors’ title, but this was mainly due to others improving and they actually were a similar distance to the outright pace. Alexander Albon proved a decent replacement for George Russell, putting in some excellent drives, particularly in Albert Park, while Nicholas Latifi had a woeful season and was always cast adrift at the back of the pack. Nyck de Vries’ excellent debut in Monza, which resulted in two points, was the nail in the coffin for Latifi, replaced by Logan Sargeant from next year.
Story of the season (note: DOTW, or Driver of the Weekend, is purely my own opinion and not any kind of official decision).
The main story of the off-season was George Russell getting a much anticipated promotion to Mercedes in place of Valtteri Bottas, as Mercedes decided they needed to sign an eventual replacement for Hamilton. Russell’s place at Williams was taken by former Red Bull driver Alex Albon, while Bottas moved to Alfa Romeo to replace a retiring Kimi Raikkonen, whose teammate Antonio Giovinazzi was dropped in favour of rookie Zhou Guanyu. One final driver change would be enacted on the eve of the season as Nikita Mazepin lost his Haas drive as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and was replaced by Kevin Magnussen.
Bahrain
The first Grand Prix of the season took place in Sakhir, and it was immediately apparent that suspicions about a shakeup in the pecking order from pre-season testing were confirmed. The Ferrari-engined cars were all considerably more competitive, and Charles Leclerc claimed pole for Ferrari, while Bottas and Magnussen both made Q3. Mercedes slipped back to being the third-best car, and the early season looked to be a battle between Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen.
The two had had some great battles in the past in 2019, and this continued in 2022 as Verstappen twice passed Leclerc with a dive into turn one, only to be repassed by the Ferrari on the following straight, Leclerc’s second chop in front of Verstappen particularly impressive. A late safety car appeared to give Verstappen another chance but poor reliability denied Red Bull, with both Verstappen and Perez retiring at the end of the race. Charles Leclerc therefore took victory, and was the DOTW, with Carlos Sainz completing a Ferrari 1-2 and Lewis Hamilton completing the podium for Mercedes ahead of Russell. Kevin Magnussen took a remarkable fifth for Haas, while Zhou Guanyu was tenth on his debut. Super-sub Nico Hulkenberg outqualified Stroll.
Saudi Arabia
The second race in Jeddah should never have happened, with a missile strike near the circuit causing safety concerns that were ignored in favour of money. The track also remains questionable, with Schumacher suffering a heavy accident in qualifying, but did escape injury. However, the race did turn out to be very entertaining. Sergio Perez claimed his first pole position, but lost a potential victory to a badly timed virtual safety car, and Charles Leclerc took the lead. He had an intense battle with Verstappen, described as a game of chicken with the DRS line, which Verstappen eventually won due to the superior straightline speed of the Red Bull. Carlos Sainz completed the podium while Ocon topped the midfield and Hamilton had an awful weekend, eliminated in Q1 and only recovering to tenth.
Australia
Charles Leclerc was back on pole in Albert Park, and took a relatively dominant victory, while Max Verstappen was struck by reliability once again and lost second place to Sergio Perez, while George Russell beat Hamilton for third thanks to a well-timed safety car. Lando Norris topped the midfield ahead of Ricciardo with a rare strong drive, while Alex Albon went the entire race on one set of tyres, pitting on the final lap to finish tenth and earn a point for Williams. Carlos Sainz had a shocker, qualifying ninth and spinning out early, while Fernando Alonso lost a potential front row on the grid to a failure-induced crash.
Imola
There were a record five red flags in Imola qualifying, and Verstappen took pole ahead of Leclerc, with Norris and Magnussen on the second row. In the sprint, Leclerc initially passed Verstappen for the lead but was repassed towards the end of the race, while Perez and Sainz came next, the format shuffling the grid back into pace order. Mercedes struggled badly. In the race, Verstappen dominated, while Perez got ahead of Leclerc and the Ferrari driver crashed pushing too hard to repass him, demoting him to sixth. Lando Norris inherited third, the only midfield driver to take a podium all season, while George Russell put Hamilton in the shade with a fine drive to fourth, Hamilton stuck in a DRS train and down in 13th, and Bottas was fifth for Alfa Romeo. Carlos Sainz was taken out by Ricciardo at turn one.
Miami
Ferrari once again locked out the front row, but Verstappen quickly fought his way to the front and won from Leclerc, Sainz and Perez, the race relatively uneventful at the front. Bottas was driving exceptionally well, on course for fifth, until a mistake cost him positions to Russell and Hamilton. Albon scored points again, but Schumacher threw away his first points by hitting Vettel, and Norris was taken out by Gasly re-joining the track.
Spain
After spinning on his first run, Leclerc took pole with a stellar lap at the end of Q3 which secured pole, and he was totally in control of the race when his engine blew. Verstappen and Sainz both went off with mistakes early on, and the Red Bulls attempted to pass George Russell for second, becoming first when Leclerc retired, the Mercedes having a rare competitive showing. Russell defended very well against Verstappen, who was allowed past Perez, but was having issues with his DRS, but eventually slipped to third with Verstappen winning again. Lewis Hamilton got a puncture after contact with Magnussen on lap one but showed great pace thereafter to take fifth, and Bottas was sixth, top of the midfield again.
Monaco
Charles Leclerc looked likely to put his Monaco ghost to rest with a strong pole position, although we were sadly once again denied the annual highlight of the final Q3 pole lap at Monaco by an accident-induced red flag, this time for Sergio Perez who hit the wall and was hit by Sainz. The start was delayed by rain, but once the race got started, the cars were on wet tyres, and Gasly was fighting through from the back on intermediates. Better-timed moves to slicks got Perez into first, ahead of Sainz, Verstappen and a furious Leclerc, and that was how it remained until the chequered flag, Perez a Monaco GP winner. Lando Norris was top of the midfield in sixth, while Alonso beat Hamilton to seventh after slowing down considerably in the final laps, impossible to overtake. Mick Schumacher had another heavy crash that brought out the red flag and shortened the race distance.
Azerbaijan
Charles Leclerc was on pole once again in Ferrari, while Perez outqualified Verstappen to join him on the front row. Perez passed Leclerc at turn one to lead the race but Leclerc undercut both Red Bulls with a stop under the VSC and a thrilling race was brewing, with him looking likely to chase down the Red Bulls at the end, but this was ended with another engine failure for Leclerc, joining Sainz who had retired already, and thereafter it was the dullest race of the season, Verstappen taking an easy win from Perez, while Russell beat Hamilton to third, the Mercedes struggling badly with porpoising. Gasly was fifth, by far Alpha Tauri’s best race of the season, and Vettel sixth.
Canada
The engine failure continued to hurt Leclerc as he started from the back in Canada due to penalties, and Max Verstappen dominated qualifying with an exceptional performance in wet conditions, while Fernando Alonso joined him on the front row, breaking the record for the longest gap between front row starts. Unfortunately, he couldn’t hold his position in the race and Sainz slipped through to second early on. A late safety car caused an exciting conclusion with Sainz chasing Verstappen on newer tyres but unable to catch him, and Verstappen won yet again from Sainz, with Hamilton joining on the podium ahead of Russell, a recovering Leclerc, and Esteban Ocon, while both Alfa Romeos scored points and Alonso was ninth after a penalty.
Britain
In another wet qualifying session, Carlos Sainz claimed pole after slightly messy sessions from both Verstappen and Leclerc. Verstappen passed Sainz at turn one, but behind a scary accident involving Russell and Zhou Guanyu caused the Alfa Romeo driver to dig into the gravel, upside down, and flip over the barrier into a fence, thankfully unhurt. There was a red flag, as a result, and on the second start, Sainz held the lead from Verstappen, while the top four went four wide into the loop. Leclerc hit Perez, damaging both their front wings, but while the Red Bull had to pit, Leclerc continued.
Verstappen made his way into the lead, but then sustained damage caused by debris when the Alpha Tauris collided, and had to pit, which didn’t fix the car. Sainz now led from Leclerc, but Hamilton in third was competitive for the first time in 2022 and gradually closed down the Ferraris. Leclerc moved ahead during the stops, but Hamilton was again closing him and Sainz down when a safety car was called. Leclerc stayed out on old hard tyres, while Sainz, Hamilton and Perez pitted. Sainz quickly passed Leclerc, while Hamilton pulled a great double overtake on him and Perez. Leclerc then repassed Hamilton with the move of the season, around the outside at Copse, on old hard tyres. Carlos Sainz took a maiden Grand Prix victory ahead of Perez, Hamilton and Leclerc, while Alonso beat Norris to fifth and Verstappen held off Mick Schumacher for seventh, the Haas driver finally taking his first points in Formula 1.
Austria
Max Verstappen returned to his happiest hunting ground from 2021 with another pole position and sprint race win ahead of the Ferraris. Both Mercedes crashed in qualifying, and Hamilton got stuck behind the Haas drivers for many laps in the sprint. In the actual Grand Prix, the Ferraris were better on tyre life than the Red Bull and Leclerc thrice overtook Verstappen for the lead, one of his moves a particularly impressive dive down the inside. He won despite problems with the throttle at the end of the race, while Verstappen was second and Hamilton third. Russell took fourth after spinning Perez out on lap one, while Sainz retired with engine failure. Esteban Ocon was fifth, while Schumacher did very well to finish sixth.
France
From pole position, Leclerc was leading Verstappen, who had just pitted, when he made the biggest blunder of 2022 and crashed out, effectively ending the championship battle. Verstappen then took a relatively easy victory from Hamilton with better pace in the Mercedes, while Russell mugged Perez for third on the restart, and Sainz was unlucky to finish fifth due to an extra stop, after a great drive from the back, and an outstanding pass on Perez. Alonso topped the midfield again.
Hungary
Ferrari looked strong going into qualifying, particularly after Perez missed Q3 and Verstappen had issues on his lap, but George Russell snatched pole position despite no fastest sector times, followed by Sainz and Leclerc, while Hamilton had a DRS problem. Russell led the early stages, until Leclerc overtook him with a nice chop into turn one. But Verstappen undercut them both and then passed Leclerc twice after a spin, Ferrari having put him on hard tyres which proved unsuitable, and then stopped him again to secure sixth. Lewis Hamilton was extremely quick in the closing stages, charging through to second, but Verstappen won once again despite starting tenth. Russell was third, and Norris was seventh.
Belgium
It was set up to be an amazing race with Verstappen and Leclerc starting at the back of the grid, but Verstappen just blew the rest away with an incredible performance, streets ahead of anyone else. Sainz had taken pole from Perez, but Verstappen was past both and into the lead after a quarter of the race, then won dominantly in what was the best drive of the entire season. Perez got ahead of Sainz for second, while Russell was fourth and Leclerc lost fifth to Alonso due to a late stop for fastest lap, and a subsequent pitlane speeding penalty. This was despite an incident between Alonso and Hamilton on lap one, eliminating the Mercedes driver.
Netherlands
There were three teams in the hunt once again, but Verstappen took another pole position ahead of Leclerc and Sainz. Mercedes were far more competitive in the race and went with a one-stop strategy, as opposed to the two stops of Red Bull and Ferrari, and looked on course for a one-two with Hamilton leading when the virtual safety car was called due to Yuki Tsunoda stopping on track, and Verstappen was allowed back into the lead. I remain suspicious of this incident, in that Alpha Tauri would have told Tsunoda to drive back to the pits for a second time rather than just stop, or wouldn’t have sent him back out with the problem, if the situation at the front had been reversed. But this is impossible to prove. A second safety car as Bottas stopped moved Hamilton back into the lead, but on old tyres as opposed to those behind on new tyres, and when Mercedes brought in Russell it left Hamilton a sitting duck to be passed by Verstappen, Russell and Leclerc, finishing as the top three with a furious Hamilton fourth. Alonso was sixth, and Stroll scored a point for tenth with an impressive drive.
Italy
With Leclerc and Russell the only members of the top six not to have engine penalties in Monza, Leclerc took a fine pole in front of the Tifosi, but Verstappen started seventh and was simply quicker, making his way to the front and winning once again. Leclerc was second and Russell third, ahead of Sainz, Hamilton and Perez from the back. Norris was seventh, while a late safety car for Ricciardo’s stricken McLaren ended the race, and Nyck de Vries took an extraordinary ninth place for Williams on his debut, thoroughly outclassing Nicholas Latifi and earning him a place at Alpha Tauri for 2023.
Singapore
Max Verstappen was on for another brilliant pole position in the wet, around a second faster than anyone else, when he abandoned his lap to go for it under the optimum conditions, and then had to pit for fuel, ending up eight. Leclerc took pole from Perez and Hamilton, but Perez then overtook Leclerc at turn one to lead in the wet, and the two pulled away from Sainz in third time and time again after numerous safety cars. The last of these signalled the move to slicks, which McLaren and Aston Martin timed perfectly to move into the points.
Hamilton and Verstappen both made errors, the Mercedes hitting the wall and the Red Bull going down the escape road trying to pass Norris. Perez now led once again but Leclerc gave it everything, on slick tyres on a damp track, and the car was sliding around in a manner rarely seen in modern day F1. It couldn’t last and he burned out his tyres, Perez winning despite a penalty for leaving too large a gap behind the safety car. Ricciardo was fifth and Stroll sixth, while Russell finished outside the points after driving on slicks for many laps too soon.
Japan
Verstappen beat Leclerc and Sainz to pole, but there was yet another wet start and Sainz crashed on lap one, causing a long red flag while the conditions were deemed unsafe due to heavy spray, bringing back memories of Spa 2021. There was also a dangerous incident on the first start with a tractor on the track as Gasly drove too quickly past it. The race eventually restarted and Vettel and Latifi immediately stopped for inters, moving them into the points. Verstappen then led and pulled away at a significant rate to take another outstanding win, while Leclerc made a mistake on the final corner which earned him a penalty and allowed Perez through, thus clinching the title for Verstappen after it was confirmed that full points would be awarded, correctly, but against the expectations of many. Ocon was an impressive fourth, while Vettel held off a charging Alonso, who made a second stop, and Latifi finished ninth.
USA
Sainz took pole in COTA but was hit by Russell at turn one and retired, allowing Verstappen through into the lead which he kept despite safety cars for a heavy crash between Stroll, who moved late on the straight, and Alonso, who went into the wall at significant speed, while his front wheels were off the ground. Verstappen then had a slow pitstop and Hamilton took the lead from Leclerc, who had earlier made an outstanding overtake on Perez. Verstappen passed Leclerc, and then Hamilton for the lead after two brilliant close battles, that were entirely fair. Further back, a slow stop lost Vettel sixth but he charged back to eighth with a final lap move on Magnussen around the outside, and Alonso finished seventh behind Norris despite the crash. In my opinion, this was the best race of the entire season.
Mexico
On a track expected to suit Mercedes, Verstappen claimed pole from Russell, Hamilton and Perez, while Bottas showed outstanding pace in qualifying. Verstappen held the lead at the start while Hamilton and Perez passed Russell, and the Ferraris were woefully off the pace. Red Bull’s strategy was softs then mediums, and Mercedes was mediums then hards, and as Red Bull used the better strategy they were not challenged at the front and Verstappen won a dull race from Hamilton, Perez and Russell. Ricciardo enlivened the end of the Grand Prix with a super charge to seventh, although he did take out Tsunoda on the way.
Brazil
There was another wet qualifying session in Brazil, but the track was just dry enough for slicks in Q3. Leclerc went out on intermediates, which cost him badly when George Russell crashed and the first lap-times were the ones that counted. Extraordinarily, Kevin Magnussen was the one who benefitted from this to take a remarkable pole position, ahead of Verstappen, Russell and Norris. But he had no chance in the sprint, dropping back to eighth has Verstappen initially led but struggled for pace and was demoted to fourth by Russell, Sainz and Hamilton in an outstanding battle, much due to the brilliant Interlagos track. Russell therefore won the sprint and was on pole for the race.
After a safety car as Ricciardo took out Magnussen on lap one, Verstappen attacked Hamilton for second and they collided, Verstappen penalised but both at fault as they refused to back out, attempting to exert their dominance over one another to get the psychological upper hand for next year. Russell then led from Perez and controlled the race, even when Hamilton forced his way back into second and was right on his tail in a late battle for the lead. Russell took his maiden victory, from Hamilton, Sainz, Leclerc and Alonso, while Verstappen created a stir for refusing to let Perez through for sixth place.
Abu Dhabi
Verstappen took pole ahead of Perez and Leclerc, equal second in the championship, and they remained in that those positions in the first stint as Mercedes struggled for pace, following a minor incident between Hamilton and Sainz. Verstappen and Leclerc one-stopped while Perez made two, and super pace and tyre management earned Leclerc second in the race and the championship behind Verstappen who claimed a record fifteenth win in Formula 1. Hamilton retired with a mechanical failure for the first time since Austria 2018, while Norris was sixth, Stroll eighth, and both Ricciardo and Vettel scored points in perhaps their final races in Formula 1.
It was an outstanding season by Verstappen, dominating the championship with few mistakes and cementing his place in history as an all-time great.
Final championship standings:
Qualifying championship:
More of these sorts of championships will be added to this article in the future.
Driver rankings and awards also coming soon in their own article.
The F1 Frog Blog 