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Max Verstappen clinched his second world title at the 2022 F1 Japanese GP. Having said that, the race weekend at Suzuka featured quite a few others as well who had impressive performances as well. Even though the race lasted only 20 odd laps, there was certainly enough sample space to evaluate how every driver performed over the weekend.
In this feature for the 2022 F1 Japanese GP, let's take a look at how every driver fared throughout the weekend.
2022 F1 Japanese GP: Rating the drivers!
Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton (Started: 6th, Finished: 5th)
Rating: 6
There was a time in F1 when Lewis Hamilton was the driver you looked at when it rained. During the Turbo era, Mercedes was mighty in all conditions and Hamilton made the most of it.
At the 2022 F1 Japanese GP, that was not the case. Hamilton spent the entire race trying to pass a considerably slower Alpine but could not, that too in variable conditions. Mercedes might not have had the best grunt in a straight line but these are the kind of overtakes that you should be able to execute.
George Russell (Started: 8th, Finished: 8th)
Rating: 5
That's now two rather average weekends in a row for Russell. Getting out-qualified by both Alpines is not a good look. Neither is finishing the race behind them. The young Mercedes driver will be eyeing a strong comeback in Austin.
Red Bull
Max Verstappen (Started: 1st, Finished: 1st)
Rating: 10
The baton has now well and truly passed from Lewis Hamilton to Max Verstappen. Winning by 27 seconds in a 28-lap race is ridiculous! Whether it rains or it stays dry, Verstappen is starting to set himself apart from the rest of the grid.
Sergio Perez (Started: 4th, Finished: 2nd)
Rating: 8
A good follow-up result for Perez after the win in Singapore. That P2 will feel sweeter for him as he overtakes Charles Leclerc in the championship standings.
Ferrari
Charles Leclerc (Started: 2nd, Finished: 3rd)
Rating: 9
You can't fault Leclerc for trying in the 2022 F1 Japanese GP. The Ferrari driver did his best but his car had extreme tire wear (as we had predicted). A P3 was the best he could achieve in that car.
Carlos Sainz (Started: 3rd, Finished: DNF)
Rating: 4
Unfortunately, the 2022 F1 Japanese GP did not last long for Carlos Sainz as he crashed out on the very first lap. Aquaplaning has been an issue in F1 for far too long and this time around it caught him out.
McLaren
Lando Norris (Started: 10th, Finished: 10th)
Rating: 5
It wasn't a good showing from Lando Norris in any way. It's hard to say if it was the car or the driver but Norris never really showed at the F1 Japanese GP and would be happy to take home a single point albeit by finishing behind a Williams.
Daniel Ricciardo (Started: 11th, Finished: 11th)
Rating: 5
Ricciardo struggled with the same things as Norris, as neither driver had the speed to fight in the midfield. The Australian being in his last few races before his sabbatical, it seems that he was enjoying himself more this weekend.
Alpine
Fernando Alonso (Started: 7th, Finished: 7th)
Rating: 7.5
Fernando Alonso had a strong pace and was comfortably the quicker Alpine driver all weekend. It all changed on the last lap of qualifying where his teammate put together a stellar lap and jumped the Mercedes drivers while Alonso could not. A P7 is a very good result for an Alpine but it does pale in comparison when your teammate is P4.
Esteban Ocon (Started: 5th, Finished: 4th)
Rating: 9.5
Everyone, including us at Sportskeeda, has been guilty of overlooking the talent that is Esteban Ocon and the kind of performances that he's putting together in an Alpine. That P4 result earned by defending against a seven-time world champion for more than 20 laps should be your Driver of the Day.
The 2022 F1 Japanese GP was a true showcase of the kind of driver Ocon is. He's not as talented as your elites like Fernando Alonso but he will keep working away until he beats you. For Alpine, the French driver was the star of the weekend and should be for others as well.
AlphaTauri
Pierre Gasly (Started: Pitlane, Finished: 17th)
Rating: 5
The 2022 F1 Japanese GP was a weekend to forget for Gasly. It began with a pitlane start followed by the incident with the tractor on the track. To top it all off, he received a penalty for speeding under the red flag. Off-track, however, he did confirm that he would be driving for Alpine next season.
Yuki Tsunoda (Started: 13th, Finished: 13th)
Rating: 7.5
Tsunoda tried his best in a car that did not suit the track at all. He was running in the points but would go backwards as the faster cars came through. The result might not have reflected that but it was a decent drive from the Japanese driver.
Aston Martin
Sebastian Vettel (Started: 9th, Finished: 6th)
Rating: 9.5
Sebastian Vettel getting emotional while delivering a speech to the Japanese fans would have made every genuine F1 fan tear up this weekend. The German's last race is arriving far too early and it's clear as day that there's so much more left in the reserve. A splendid weekend overall for the veteran as he dragged his Aston Martin to P6 at the 2022 F1 Japanese GP.
Lance Stroll (Started: 19th, Finished: 12th)
Rating: 7
A P12 finish after starting the race in P19 does sound impressive and it certainly was from Lance Stroll at the 2022 F1 Japanese GP. It did, however, pale in comparison to the heroics his teammate pulled off in the same car.
Alfa Romeo
Valtteri Bottas (Started: 12th, Finished: 15th)
Rating: 6
Another anonymous race from Bottas, who is starting to slowly suffer from an underperforming package. The Finnish driver is there or thereabouts in terms of pace but a lackluster package means there's not much that he can do with the car.
Guanyu Zhou (Started: 14th, Finished: 17th)
Rating: 5.5
Guanyu Zhou has certainly closed the gap to Bottas this season but that's about it. The kind of spotlight Zhou had on himself with a competitive Alfa Romeo either in the season is gone now as he tries to solve the puzzle of the underperforming package.
Haas F1
Kevin Magnussen (Started: 18th, Finished: 14th)
Rating: 5
Getting eliminated in Q1 was certainly not nice for Magnussen on Saturday. The Haas driver did climb to 14th in the race but a points finish was out of reach during the 2022 F1 Japanese GP.
Mick Schumacher (Started: 15th, Finished: 18th)
Rating: 6
If Haas had not taken the inexplicable gamble of the safety car for Mick Schumacher, a points finish was certainly on the cards. The 2022 F1 Japanese GP was another instance of the young driver showing that he can get you results but things not going his way. As his future stands in the balance, Schumacher needed a result at the Suzuka race but could not get one.
Williams
Alex Albon (Started: 16th, Finished: DNF)
Rating: 5
Alex Albon's race lasted a lap as a reliability issue forced him to retire from the race. Looking at what his teammate could do in the 2022 F1 Japanese GP, Albon might be a tad upset at his early retirement.
Nicholas Latifi (Started: 20th, Finished: 9th)
Rating: 9
Credit where credit is due, this was a mega drive by Nicholas Latifi to score a points finish at the 2022 F1 Japanese GP. The Williams driver gambled on an early switch to inters and that paid off brilliantly. What was even better was Latifi keeping calm and holding on to a points finish and not falling back in the race.
