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The 2022 F1 season is winding down with the penultimate race of the season set to take place this coming weekend in Brazil. The track has its own heritage as the race in Sau Paulo has witnessed so much history.
The race in Brazil has been the home of many title deciders in the past and even last season, it was the main stage of an epic drive by Lewis Hamilton.
The track in Sau Paulo has always been considered one of the 'driver tracks' on the calendar. One where the man behind the wheel tends to make a lot of difference. Every driver on the grid as he heads to the Brazilian Grand Prix yearns to put together an impressive weekend.
Having said that, there are a few that would be desperate to do it more than others this weekend. Who are they? Well, let's find out.
#1 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
There was a moment in the F1 championship earlier in the season where Charles Leclerc led the title race from Max Verstappen by more than 40 points. The fact that the Ferrari driver is now P3 in the championship speaks a lot about the way the championship has unraveled for Leclerc.
Heading into the race weekend, Leclerc is in a fight with Sergio Perez for P2 in the World Drivers' Championship standings. At the moment, Perez leads by five points, but with two races left, there's still all to play for.
Leclerc admits that Ferrari were perhaps not ready to win the title this season. This doesn't mean, however, that the Monégasque driver will accept losing out to Sergio Perez in the championship.
In Leclerc's eyes, P2 would be a spot that he would want to keep with him for the season. With rain on the horizon this weekend, it will be interesting to see if he is able to get that done.
#2 Mick Schumacher (Haas F1)
Mick Schumacher's future seems all but certain at the moment. According to reports, it does appear that Haas has finally decided who will be the second driver in the team and the name doing the rounds is Nico Hulkenberg from Germany.
The F1 veteran is expected to replace Mick and with the way the entire situation is unraveling, Schumacher might be out of a slot on the F1 grid. There is a very high possibility that he will not find a spot on the grid next season.
Having said that, there is still unfinished business left for the young German. There are still two races left on the calendar and it is extremely important for Mick to show that he is still worthy of being on the F1 grid.
Heading into the race weekend with his future out of his hands, Mick Schumacher will be aiming for points on a weekend where rain could play the role of a disruptor.
#3 Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
Carlos Sainz currently finds himself in the difficult position of being P6 in the drivers' championship. The driver is four points behind Lewis Hamilton and has lost out on a lot of points in the last three races.
Ferrari have been more or less the consensus second fastest car on the grid this season with only a handful of races where Mercedes have been able to beat them.
Despite that, while Charles Leclerc (who has himself had his fair share of bad luck all season) is fighting for P2 in the championship, Carlos Sainz languishing behind in P6 is not a good look. It also does not look good that Sainz, a driver who aspires to be fighting for the world championship, is losing out to both the Mercedes drivers.
Heading to the 2022 F1 Brazilian GP, Carlos Sainz is four points behind Lewis Hamilton in P5 and 19 points behind George Russell in P4. The Ferrari driver will be desperate to put together a good result and either claw back some of the gap or progress in the standings.
If the Spaniard is unable to do so, the season will rubber-stamp his status within the team as the number two driver. Charles Leclerc has been the better and faster of the two drivers this season. If Carlos Sainz cannot even be in the vicinity of his teammate in the F1 championship, it would make things much easier for Ferrari to pick one driver to support next season.
Ferrari should not suffer from the same slump that they did in Mexico and Sainz will be desperate to close down the gap on the two Mercedes drivers heading into the race weekend.
