Max Verstappen has sealed the drivers’ championship with four races remaining in the 2022 season.
Now the team is all set to take on the Constructors’ Cup this weekend. But the group The sport was embroiled in controversy a week ago after failing to meet its financial obligations in 2021.
Formula 1 will prove to be the main talking point as it heads to the American circuit for the second race in the USA this year.
Red Bull is set to clinch the title.
As is often said, the drivers’ title brings the glory, but it’s the constructors’ championship that determines how much money the teams win. So it is very respectable.
Mercedes’ streak of eight titles ends this year. Ferrari hold a slim mathematical chance of victory, but in reality Red Bull are in the running for the crown. Unless Ferrari beats them by 19 points this weekend, Red Bull will take the title in Austin.
But that’s after the FIA cast doubt on Red Bull’s approach to their title chances. A week ago, the sport’s governing body released the results of the teams’ 2021 financial audit late, and announced that Red Bull was the only team to exceed the $145 million spending limit. He, along with Aston Martin, was also found to have failed to fully comply with its financial regulations.
It remains to be seen whether Red Bull won last year or what their success this year means. Few seriously expected the FIA to take ownership away from a driver or team again. But a small penalty may be too weak to deter others from breaking similar laws in the future.
Mercedes’ hopes of victory are dwindling.
After Mercedes’ deficits against Red Bull and Ferrari proved real early in the season, the eight-time constructors’ world champions are expected to finally find their rivals and be in contention for the race. He wins as the season progresses and so do the titles themselves. Eventually, with each passing weekend, this didn’t go away.
But there are still four Grand Prix races left in the 2022 season. That left Mercedes with just four chances to avoid their first winless season in the V6 Turbo era.
“We didn’t score the points we should have,” said driver George Russell, who headed to the United States after two rounds in Singapore and Japan. But two typically hot rounds in Austin and Mexico City may suit them better, with tire heating one of their biggest weaknesses so far.
If Lewis Hamilton fails to take the checkered flag first in Abu Dhabi, he could end his streak of 15 consecutive seasons with at least one win. While Hamilton himself says he doesn’t care about the record, it’s also true that even just one win would be a morale booster for the team in the off-season and a chance for a fresh start in 2023.
Perez vs Leclerc for second place?
In six months, Charles Leclerc’s chances of winning the world championship are fading fast. Last weekend, Leclerc’s hopes finally came to naught after the Japanese Grand Prix when he left the track and found himself at the final chicane, handing second place to Sergio Perez and the title to Verstappen.
A second defeat means Leclerc drops out of the drivers’ championship after the second Red Bull driver. Heading into Austin, Perez sits one point ahead of Leclerc, effectively creating a four-race battle between the pair over the final four rounds.
The battle for second place in the championship is far from spectacular, with neither driver able to apologize for winning the honor of being the first driver to be handily beaten by Verstappen in the final standings. However, with Leclerc having won more races than Perez and Carlos Sainz Jnr – the only drivers to win this season – Leclerc will take some pride in not being forever behind Perez in the history books. The Ferrari driver had to enjoy more than three victories.
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Friday features
In the year With next year’s F1 calendar featuring three races in the United States for the first time since the 1980s, demand for an American driver in Formula 1 is higher than ever before. And Formula 1 and its teams want to have a driver on the grid from the fast-growing market – only the FIA has guaranteed a seat for IndyCar driver Colton Hertha in 2023.
But this weekend, the US Grand Prix will at least feature a home-grown driver for the first time since Alexander Rossi in 2015. Williams junior driver Logan Sergeant – currently third in the Formula 2 championship with one round to go – will enter Nicolas Latifi’s FW44 in first practice. In doing so, the 21-year-old will become the fourth American driver to take part in a Grand Prix weekend in 30 years, following Michael Andretti, Scott Speed and Rossi.
Driver Sergeant isn’t the only one set to make a cameo appearance on Friday. His Formula 2 rival Theo Purcher gets his first outing in Valtteri Bottas’ Alfa Romeo at the Grand Prix weekend, while last year’s IndyCar champion Alex Palu will race in Daniel Ricciardo’s McLaren. With no rain in the long forecast ahead of this weekend, this will be the perfect opportunity for Sagin, Palu and Porcheir to prove themselves in front of the eyes of the F1 pit wall.
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It flows forward
The American district was built on unused land, which includes a large amount of clay in the soil. Since the circuit opened 10 years ago, the track has received many complaints from competitors from a wide range of motorsports for being too bumpy, with the racing surface becoming uneven in key areas, including some high-speed corners.
In the year In 2015, Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa both retired their Williams cars due to suspension failures, which the team later blamed on excessive bumps at the circuit. The circuit was forced to act when MotoGP riders’ complaints about the track reached its final stage in 2021. Ultimately, champion Fabio Quattararo likened COTA to a motocross track and threatened to not race at the venue in 2022 if the riders’ concerns were not addressed.
During the season, the district took action and carried out extensive resurfacing work on the track. A fast, two-slope right-hander and left-hander crane with 10 turns at the apex of the circuit have concrete slabs installed to reinforce the asphalt above them. From the back end of turn 12, the left side of the stadium straight up to the multi-ended turns 16, 17 and 18 is completely fixed.
F1 teams aren’t expecting a smooth surface this weekend, but hopefully bumps will be less of a problem than last year.
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Registered public?
Formula 1 has never been more popular in the United States of America than it is now. Not only among Hollywood celebrities and famous athletes in the North American sports world, but also with American motorsports fans and casual followers. The impact of Drive to Survive continues to be felt, with the sport gaining new fans in the world’s richest nation over the past five years, with more than seven decades of world championship competition.
Nowhere was that more evident than at CotA last year, when American fans flocked to the circuit in their hundreds of thousands. After a year of racing in North America due to the pandemic, US fans were more than ready to enjoy the domestic race and the weekend drew more than 400,000 spectators – Formula 1 says it is the biggest crowd for a three-day grand prix weekend, ahead of the four-day Australian Grand Prix.
This year, this number is expected to be even higher. A whole new dimension has been created for the event on the inside of the track regarding the opening sector Esse, the popularity and profile of Formula 1 has only grown in the last 12 months in the 2021 season, the new series. The Drive to Survive and the first Miami Grand Prix in May.
The Drivers’ Championship may be over, but that puts a damper on what is sure to be the biggest event on the Austin circuit yet.
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2022 United States Grand Prix
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