An emotional end to the F1 season took place on Sunday. How did the results shake up the F1 Power Rankings for the final week?
This weekend Max Verstappen closed out his dominance of the 2022 season, winning the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix with little resistance. But Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez could not catch Charles Leclerc for second in the WDC. Ferrari ended the season positively, placing second and third in the race and beating Mercedes for second in the Constructors’ Championship. Only time will tell if there could potentially be a 3-way battle for the best team next season. But let’s get onto the final F1 Power Rankings.
How the F1 Power Rankings are decided
- We started the series off with every driver’s points entering ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix. In the first edition, a quarter of their Drivers’ Championship points were calibrated along with the weekly activity.
- This week we calculated each driver’s weekend performance based on the following:
- Qualifying results compared to their starting position in the standings.
- Places gained or lost during the race.
- Any change of position in the Championship standings.
- The points scored in the current Grand Prix
- With any ties determined by the race results
The Rankings
This week we will continue the trend of talking about the major changes in the F1 Power Rankings. After Lewis Hamilton finished the season with his first DNF, he and his teammate of George Russell secured themselves into 4th and 5th place. Mick Schumacher finished the season in last place in our rankings, and will, unfortunately, be without a seat for next season.
Wrapping up the 2022 F1 season! 👋 After a P5 and a DNF for George and Lewis at the #AbuDhabiGP, @MercedesAMGF1 concludes the season in P3 in the Constructors’ Championship.
Bring on 2023, team! 🤜🤛#WeLivePerformance #WorldsFastestFamily #MercedesAMGF1 pic.twitter.com/Z0AHgPPiCM
— Mercedes-AMG Motorsport (@amgmotorsport) November 21, 2022
1. Max Verstappen
2. Charles Leclerc
3. Sergio Perez
4. George Russell
5. Lewis Hamilton
6. Carlos Sainz
7. Esteban Ocon
8. Lando Norris (+1)
Lando Norris carried McLaren to a 5th-place finish this season. After struggles for his teammate Daniel Ricciardo, Norris almost single-handedly helped McLaren beat out Alpine this season for “Best of the Rest”. While McLaren showed improvements this season, will they be able to compete with the top teams next season?
9. Fernando Alonso (-1)
This has been a season to forget for Fernando Alonso. He finished the season with another retirement and was understandably disappointed with how the team performed this year. While Alpine ended up “Best of the Rest” it is interesting to think about what could’ve been had Alonso has a more reliable car this season.
10. Lance Stroll (+1)
11. Daniel Ricciardo (+4)
Daniel has struggled this season no doubt about it. Though he did show some improvement toward the end he is without a seat for next season. Will the aging vet of the sport be able to stage a comeback in 2024? It depends on what next year holds for him and how the driver’s market shakes out.
12. Sebastian Vettel (-2)
Sebastian Vettel was able to score points in his last Grand Prix in F1 this past Sunday. The 4-time World Champion was competing to the very end commenting on strategy throughout the race. Unfortunately for him the team placed him on what was ultimately the wrong strategy and he fell back from his good qualifying spot. The Aston Martin had a hot and cold season, which hurt Vettel’s ability to have a more dynamic send-off.
13. Alex Albon
14. Yuki Tsunoda (+5)
Yuki Tsunoda was this weekends big winner moving up five places from last week’s F1 Power Rankings. While it was overall a season to forget for Tsunoda, he will be a driver to watch for next season. Can AlphaTauri bounce back as he moves into a different role with newcomer Nyck De Vries?
15. Zhou Guanyu (+1)
16. Valtteri Bottas (-4)
Valtteri Bottas finished on a down note. Starting this race from 18th place and only moved up to 15th, thanks to a few DNFs. In many races, he was able to get up into the points, but in others, he struggled to get into the top 15. That was mostly due to issues with the Alfa Romeo, but in the end, his fifth-place finish earlier in the season was the tie-breaker to help the team finish ahead of Aston Martin in the Constructors’ Championship.
17. Pierre Gasly
18. Kevin Magnussen (-4)
Kevin Magnussen had some exciting moments in his return to Haas this season. A strong debut and the team’s first pole in Brazil. Overall, the team struggled with a car that wasn’t able to stick with the midfield and Mick Schumacher failed to press on in his second year. Though with new sponsors joining Haas next season and a new teammate in Nico Hulkenberg, there are positive signs heading into next season.
