After getting off to a rocky start with a few mechanical DNFs, Red Bull picked up the ball and hit it out of the park, dominating weekend after weekend. Not only did the team resolve most of its reliability issues, it also backed the development of the RB18 by clinical performances in terms of strategy, helping Max Verstappen secure his second World Championship in a row with 4 races to spare, a tally matched or bested by only 3 other drivers in history - Michael Schumacher, Nigel Mansell, & Sebastian Vettel.
Schedule For 2022 USGP | |
Friday Midnight (Saturday Morning, October 22): | |
FP1 | 12:25 AM - 1:30 AM |
FP2 | 3:25 AM - 4:30 AM |
Saturday Midnight (Sunday Morning, October 23): | |
FP3 | 12:25 AM - 1:30 AM |
Qualifying | 3:25 AM - 4:30 AM |
Sunday Midnight (Monday Morning, October 24): | |
Race | 12:25 AM - 2:30 AM |
Also Read: Max Verstappen Crowned 2022 Formula 1 World Champion After A Dominating Drive At Suzuka
Max Verstappen won the 2022 Driver's title with 4 races to spare.
Red Bull currently has a 165-point-lead over its nearest rival - Scuderia Ferrari - and it needs a lead of only 147 points heading out of Austin to be crowned champions. Which means that Ferrari has to outscore Red Bull by at least 19 points to keep the title fight alive - albeit only mathematically. Now this leads to a whole bunch of combinations by which Red Bull can be champions, like if Red Bull wins the race, they will be champions. But interestingly, even if Ferrari drivers finish the race in the top two spots and also get the point for fastest lap, Red Bull can have its cars finish P3 & P4 and still be crowned champions at the end of the weekend. This will be Red Bull's first Constructor's Championship since 2013, ending Mercedes' run of 8 championships in a row.
Also Read: Red Bull Found Guilty Of Breaching F1’s Cost Cap In 2021 Season
Red Bull won its last F1 World Constructor's Championship in 2013, with Sebastian Vettel & Mark Webber behind the wheel.
While the Driver's Championship has been secured by Verstappen, the battle for P2 is still as close as ever. With Sergio Perez's P2 finish in Japan a couple of weeks ago, he inched ahead of Charles Leclerc in the battle for P2, and is currently just 1 point ahead of Leclerc. On the other hand, George Russel has fallen a small number of points behind the pair, with 2 below average races for ‘Mr. Consistency’. He is closely followed by Carlos Sainz in P4, who is just 5 points behind. All four drivers are very much in the running for P2, and while Lewis Hamilton is down in P6, a few great races can bring him into the mix too. However, with just 4 races to go before the curtain drops on the 2022 season, all eyes are on Leclerc and Perez.
2022 Formula 1 World Driver's Championship Standings - After Round 18 - Japanese GP | |||
Pos | Driver | Team | Points |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 366 |
| 2 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 253 |
| 3 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 252 |
| 4 | George Russell | Mercedes | 207 |
| 5 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 202 |
| 6 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 180 |
| 7 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 101 |
| 8 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 78 |
| 9 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine | 65 |
| 10 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | 46 |
| 11 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin | 32 |
| 12 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | 29 |
| 13 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | 23 |
| 14 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 22 |
| 15 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 13 |
| 16 | Mick Schumacher | Haas | 12 |
| 17 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | 11 |
| 18 | Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo | 6 |
| 19 | Alexander Albon | Williams | 4 |
| 20 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | 2 |
| 21 | Nyck De Vries | Williams | 2 |
| 22 | Nico Hulkenberg | Aston Martin | 0 |
Also Read: Toto Wolff Warns Mercedes Ready To Breach Cost Cap If Red Bull Isn’t Strictly Penalised
There's just 1 point separating Perez in P2, & Leclerc in P3.
Further down the order, the constructor's championship standings are also very volatile, as apart from the top 3 & Williams down in P10, all the other teams are battling for positions. There's just 13 points separating Alpine & McLaren at P4, and just 7 points separating Alfa Romeo & Aston Martin in the battle for P6. On the other hand, there's nothing separating Haas & AlphaTauri in the battle for P8, as both of them have scored 34 points each. The last handful of races can prove very important for all of these teams, as the finishing order will decide the prize money, which will affect the budget of the teams for next season.
2022 Formula 1 World Constructor's Championship Standings - After Round 18 - Japanese GP | ||
Pos | Team | Points |
| 1 | Red Bull Racing RBPT | 619 |
| 2 | Scuderia Ferrari | 454 |
| 3 | Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team | 387 |
| 4 | Alpine Renault | 143 |
| 5 | McLaren Mercedes | 130 |
| 6 | Alfa Romeo Ferrari | 52 |
| 7 | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | 45 |
| 8 | Haas Ferrari | 34 |
| 9 | AlphaTauri RBPT | 34 |
| 10 | Williams Mercedes | 8 |
Also Read: Ricciardo Says "I Won’t Be On The Grid In 2023", As Alpine, AlphaTauri Seats Filled
Haas F1 team has announced a title sponsorship deal with MoneyGram, set to kick off in 2023.
Also Read: Haas Signs MoneyGram As Title Sponsor For 2023 & Beyond
There are a few other interesting stories ahead of the USGP too. Logan Sargeant - an American Formula 2 driver - is set to make his Formula 1 debut as he will be driving for Williams in FP1, in front of his home crowd. The driver has impressed many with his performance in Formula 2, which has put him in P3 in the driver's standings with one race weekend to go in his debut season in the feeder series. He is very much in the earshot of a Formula 1 seat too, with there being a vacancy in the American-owned Williams F1 team for next year. On the other hand, the other American-owned F1 team - Haas - has announced that it has signed a multi-year title sponsorship deal with MoneyGram, which will kick off from 2023.
