November 10, 2022
Well friends, we have reached the end of the season. This weekend will kick off the final double header of the season with the Brazilian Grand Prix. The Brazilian race is always a blast, and having a sprint format, it gives teams more opportunities for championship points. Here is everything you need to know for the 2022 Brazilian Grand Prix:
Weekend Schedule (in EST):
Practice 1: Friday 11/11, 10:30-11:30 AM
Qualifying: Friday 11/11, 2:00-3:00 PM
Practice 2: Saturday 11/12, 10:30-11:30 AM
Sprint: Saturday 11/12, 2:30-3:30 PM
Race: Sunday 11/13, 2:00 PM
The Brazilian Grand Prix takes place at the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace, better known as Interlagos. This iconic track is 4.3km long with fifteen corners and two DRS zones. Similar to Mexico, Interlagos is set at a higher altitude than most other tracks, making the race a technically difficult one for engineers. The track, like many of the other pre-WWII tracks, features many banked corners that makes it an oval shape. The bumpy track will take drivers through the Senna S as they drive down to Turn 4. From there, they will face a series of turns as they drive downhill, only to go back up as they get through the final turn of the lap. With elevation changes, many left handed turns, and a bumpy surface, Interlagos is a fan and driver favorite. The track is wide and the different features make overtaking very common. We will definitely be seeing many positions being swapped as drives aim to finish the season on a high note.
For those of you who don’t know, F1 does what they call “Sprint weekends” sporadically throughout the season. In this case, there will only be two of the traditional three practice sessions, and the starting grid for Sunday’s race will be determined by a mini race (or Sprint race) on Saturday. To get the starting positions for the Sprint, Qualifying is held on Friday instead of Saturday. The top eight finishers of the Sprint will be awarded points, with eight points for the winner and one point for P8. With one final Sprint being held at the penultimate race of the season, teams will be eager to make the most of these extra points as they try to get ahead in the Constructors Championship.
While the Tifosi sat in front of their TVs, bewildered at Ferrari’s lack of pace in the Mexican Grand Prix, Mercedes took a P2 and P4 finish. This put Mercedes just forty points behind Ferrari in the fight for second in the Constructors Championship. Ferrari better have gotten their act together in this last break, because we need all the points we can get if we want to stay ahead of the Silver Arrows. Ferrari had incredible pace at the beginning of the season, and for them to be dropped back to THIRD in the championship would just be cruel.
Haas is currently eighth in the Championship but is only one point ahead of AlphaTauri. This weekend will be very important for both teams as they try to get ahead. AlphaTauri has come a long way since the beginning of the season, from the back of the grid to fighting for points in the last couple of races. I wouldn’t put it past them to outscore Haas in Brazil.
Aston Martin, in sixth place, is also in a close fight as they sit four points ahead of Alfa Romeo. Interlagos’ elevation changes and altitude could pose a problem for Aston Martin. In Mexico, the altitude played a key role in the team’s poor performance. Alfa Romeo, on the other hand, scored one point on Valtteri Bottas’ P10 and Zhou Guanyu finished ahead of the Astons. This could make the race very interesting as we see which team will come out on top.
McLaren and Alpine are still battling for fourth. This rivalry has been going on all season and it is still so close. Daniel Ricciardo’s mad dash to P7 in the Mexican Grand Prix allowed McLaren to close the gap to Alpine to just seven points. Hopefully McLaren can keep their form and Alpine will have reliability issues again, allowing my papaya team to take fourth in the Championship!
In the Drivers Championship, Sergio Perez has put himself five points ahead of Charles Leclerc in the fight for second. If Leclerc wants to take the title of Vice Champion, he needs to make the most of the extra points the Sprint race will provide.
Logan Sargeant will be taking part in his third practice session of the season. Sergeant basically has the spot at Williams for the 2023 season, and the team is making sure he has as much practice with the car as he can possibly get. In both the US and Mexico, Sargeant has driven FP1 in the Williams car. In Brazil, he will drive Alex Albon’s car for FP2 instead. Reserve and junior drivers don’t normally get to drive on Sprint weekends because there are only two practice sessions, making time invaluable to the F1 drivers who will race on Sunday. I guess Albon will just have to adapt to the track very quickly.
Pierre Gasly has accumulated ten penalty points in the past year, and if he gets two more he will have an automatic one-race ban. With two races left in the season, he should be able to follow the rules and avoid penalties. However, these penalty points don’t expire until May of 2023. With Gasly’s move to Alpine for the 2023 season, these points will be looming over his head as he starts a new chapter of his career with the French team. Going forward, Gasly will have to eat, sleep, and breathe the F1 rulebook to avoid further trouble.
The driver market drama is normally all wrapped up by the end of the season, but this year Haas is dragging it out. They have yet to confirm their driver lineup for the 2023 season. Kevin Magnussen will definitely be staying at the team, but no one knows if his teammate will remain Mick Schumacher or if it will change. I really hope Schumacher gets to stay because he has great racecraft. There have been multiple races this year where he defended against cars that were significantly better than his, and was only successful because HE drove really well. Rumors have been going around that Aston Martin reserve driver Nico Hulkenberg will replace Schumacher. Aston Martin fueled these claims when it signed F2 Champion Felipe Drugovich as their reserve driver for 2023 and failed to mention Hulkenberg in their lineup. Hulkenberg’s chances at making an F1 comeback are increasing, and my chances at keeping Mick are decreasing.
Honorable Mentions:
Lando Norris pulled out of Thursday’s media obligations because he has come down with a case of food poisoning. Hopefully Norris can have a speedy recovery and race this weekend.
It is strange that it’s the end of the season and we have a world champion, but there are still so many different midfield battles going on. The Brazilian Grand Prix will have a lot riding on it, especially with the extra Sprint points. Let’s end the season with a bang and hope that all of my teams and drivers can get good results. Imagine if we had a weekend where Ferrari didn’t mess up, George Russell won a race (but we can’t have that this season because Mercedes would probably beat Ferrari in the Championship if this happened), Mick Schumacher scored points and got a contract extension, McLaren beat Alpine, and AlphaTauri got a double points finish. That would be amazing.
Anywho, I will be back after the race to tell you what happened.
Happy Race Weekend!
- Divya
Where I got these
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