What else we can look forward to in F1 2022 after Verstappen's title

The drivers' world title has been decided in Max Verstappen's favour, but with four more Grands Prix on the calendar, there is still plenty to look forward to in the coming period. GPblog lists the key points for you.

The remaining places in the championship

First place in the championship is for Verstappen, but behind him there are still plenty of drivers who want to finish as high as possible and could well move up a place too. The most exciting battle is right behind Verstappen for second place between Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc. The difference is now one point in the Mexican's favour, but the two have been swapping positions frequently all season. Who will be this year's runner-up?

For their part, George Russell and Carlos Sainz are fighting for P4 in the championship. Russell has a five-point lead, but Sainz has the better car overall with Ferrari. Lewis Hamilton also still has a chance at this place of honour, although he is 27 points behind his teammate.

The only place that will still be watched with interest is Lando Norris' 'best of the rest' spot. With 101 points, the Briton is in pretty good shape despite McLaren's meagre performance this year, but Esteban Ocon (78) and Fernando Alonso (65) are still lurking for their chance. Norris, however, has a sizeable margin over the two Alpine drivers.

Constructors' championship in F1

The most exciting, however, is in the battle for the constructors. Red Bull Racing can secure the world title in America, but behind it, it is not just about prestige, but mainly a lot of money. Every higher position in this ranking brings more money to a team and so they do everything they can to finish as high as possible.

Mercedes failed to capitalise on Sainz's crash in Japan, meaning the gap to the Italians is now 67 points. There are still 191 points to share prior to the US GP, so it is still not a done deal. That is especially true of the battle between Alpine and McLaren. Alpine has a 13-point lead, but McLaren will want to do everything in its power not to finish lower than the previous year for the second year in a row.

In the battle for P6, Alfa Romeo seemed safe for a long time, but the team scored one point for the last time in Italy and before that its last points date back to Canada. The Swiss team has stalled in development. Aston Martin looks set to take advantage of this, as the team of Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel has been in good form lately. The gap is now just seven points.

Haas and AlphaTauri are both on 34 points and given their form, it would not be crazy if AlphaTauri still takes the eighth spot from the Americans. Guenther Steiner's team has not made much progress with the car after a great start and this is reflected in its performance. Williams seems all but certain to finish last. The Grove-based team are 26 points behind these two teams and has only scored eight points in this season.

Sprint race weekend in Brazil

The Brazilian Grand Prix is another weekend to look forward to. This is already normally the case as the Interlagos circuit always makes for interesting racing, but as in 2021, there is another sprint race at this circuit in 2022. As a result, for the last time, there are more points to be distributed during the weekend and that could make just the difference in the aforementioned battles.

Will Hamilton get a win in 2022?

The seven-time World Champion has won at least one race in every season is has been in Formula 1. With just four races remaining in 2022, that record looks likely to slip away. There are just four chances left for Hamilton, and those come on tracks that don't necessarily favour the Mercedes car. Perhaps his best chance comes next time out in the United States Grand Prix. Some would say Abu Dhabi, but it's expected that Red Bull will be strong on the straights their, which they have been all season whereas Mercedes are down on power. 

F1 Silly Season

The last thing to look forward to happens mostly off the track, but on-track performance usually does determine the outcome off it. Almost all seats for 2023 have already been given away, but Haas and Williams still have seats available. At Haas, Mick Schumacher is still unsure of his place and at Williams, Nicholas Latifi has already been told to leave.

At Haas, the magnifying glass has been on Mick for a while and he has been dealing with it erratically. It is therefore questionable whether Haas wants to stick with him, while with Nico Hulkenberg there is an experienced man available as a replacement. Hulkenberg is said to be currently the favourite for the seat and has already held talks, but Steiner already revealed that he is still quietly taking his time. The names of Antonio Giovinazzi and Daniel Ricciardo were also mentioned earlier, but do not appear to be seriously in the running for this seat.

At Williams, first it was going to be Oscar Piastri from Alpine, then Nyck de Vries seemed the ideal man alongside Alexander Albon, but now it seems to be Logan Sargeant after all. The American is part of the Williams Academy, but still needs to make sure he finishes in the top five of the F2 championship. With even the number 11 still trailing him with one race weekend to go, anything is possible in that respect.

So Williams will have to wait anyway until after Abu Dhabi, when the last F2 race has also been run, and in the meantime must also come up with a plan B. It will also have seen good drivers score points this year and that is something Williams has been missing for years. Often it is one driver who scores points and gambling on a rookie is risky at that point.

In that respect, there are plenty of other interesting names with more experience for Williams as well. Schumacher, for instance, could make the switch from Haas, it does not seem illogical that Nico Hulkenberg is also in the picture here and Ferrari will be very happy if it can stable Antonio Giovinazzi somewhere. If Williams is working on plan B anyway, it might have so much thinking time that it will consider making this plan A.