Sky Sports F1 pundit Karun Chandhok shares his rankings and insights on the top five drivers so far this season; There are nine races left in 2022, starting with Belgian GP this weekend, live on Sky Sports F1 on Sunday at 2pm
Last updated: 08/23/22 5:59 am
From the young man who proved 2021 wasn’t alone to the man who seemingly has “no weaknesses” in the car, Sky Sports F1 Karun Chandhok has given his verdict on the five best drivers so far this season.
Check out Karun’s list and his explanations below ahead of the return of the sport this weekend, with the Belgian Grand Prix live on Sky Sports F1.
Practice begins Friday, with Sunday’s race at 2 p.m.
5. Lando Norris, McLaren
“The Best of the Rest” has continued to build on his breakout season in 2021.
Despite a complete change in regulations, Lando has emerged as the clear team leader at McLaren, with an 11-2 qualifying record and an average gap of 0.338 seconds to Daniel Ricciardo.
He has scored exactly four times as many points as his teammate, all of which may have fueled this contentious battle to sign Oscar Piastri as a replacement for 2023.
The orange cars started the season on the back foot, with all sorts of braking problems, but after getting over that bump in the first two rounds, Lando has finished in the top six four times.
With Mercedes improving their pace, he is more often than not the main contender to be seventh and ahead of the Alpines in their battle for midfield honours. A strong start that proved last season wasn’t just one.
4. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
It’s been a surprisingly quiet start to the season for Lewis. Obviously he wasn’t at all happy with the car in the opening few races and he struggled more than George Russell, but once we got to Barcelona and the team started to unlock some speed, Lewis has picked things up as well.
The qualifying score may be tied, but Lewis has beaten George in the last five races in a row.
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Ahead of this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, we look back at some of the most memorable moments from previous races at Spa.
As I’ve said in previous columns, I feel like Lewis Hamilton after 2018 is different to previous years, where he fully understands that points and prizes come from racing and therefore putting the car in the window is essential . he likes it for the longer stops, even if it compromises his full qualifying speed.
He may be 12 points behind George in the points table at the moment, but those dreadful weekends in Saudi Arabia and Imola seem a long time ago. This battle between the teams will be fun to watch!
3. George Russell, Mercedes
The young Brit has made a great start to his time at Mercedes, going 6-6 with Lewis so far with an average of just 0.069 between them in qualifying.
As a young guy on a team against the statistically best qualifier of all time, that’s impressive. The pole position lap in Budapest was probably the best we’ve seen of the season so far.
George’s approach to calmly working through W13’s temperamental problems while being brave enough to gamble on the set-up has won praise from the team.
There is absolutely no doubt that if Mercedes have a car that is ready to start regularly fighting for wins, then Russell is ready to deliver them. However, his biggest challenge is still the man on the other side of the pit garage.
2. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
If you factor in the 32 points Leclerc lost from driver error (Imola and France), strategic mistakes (Monaco, Silverstone and Budapest) which probably cost another 36 points, plus reliability failures (Baku and Spain) which cost 40 points, then the Ferrari man would be 28 points ahead of Max instead of 80 behind him.
But unfortunately for him and the team, the world championship is not decided on hypotheticals, so they have a mountain to climb as they hope for some bad luck for their opponents in order to get back into contention.
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As Formula 1 prepares to return after the summer break, we take a look back at how Max Verstappen built an 80-point lead over title rival Charles Leclerc.
Leclerc has once again shown incredible speed in qualifying, leading team-mate Carlos Sainz 8-2 so far in sessions with no penalties or problems. His Saturday performances in Spain and Monaco in particular were simply sensational.
On many occasions, Red Bull has looked the fastest car on Sundays, but at races like Austria, the tables were turned and Leclerc delivered a masterclass in race management to win. He needs more of those on the run to Abu Dhabi.
1. Max Verstappen, Red Bull
The Dutchman entered this season with Hamilton’s huge legion of fans calling him an undeserving world champion, but he has kept his head down, avoided distractions and built a campaign around consistency and supreme speed.
Eight wins from the first 13 races has been excellent in itself, but the way in which Max has delivered some of those wins by calmly choosing his moments to overtake and seize opportunities is a clear indication of a driver who added the experience of the battle for the title. the already extraordinary amount of God-given talent.
Now there seems to be no weakness, which is ominous for the opposition, not only this year, but also in the future.