Two races remain in the 2022 Formula 1 season, as the teams and drivers this week head to Sau Paulo in Brazil, for the 50th Brazilian Grand Prix. Then, a week later the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi. It’s been a long season that has been dominated by Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing, culminating in Verstappen’s 2nd Driver’s Championship, Red Bull’s 5th Constructor’s Championship, and Max Verstappen breaking the single season wins record, previously held by Michael Schumacher (2004) and Sebastian Vettel (2013), by winning his 14th race of the year in Mexico two weeks ago. There’s been some cracking races over the years in Brazil, so let’s hope for something here as the season slowly comes to a close.
2022 Formula 1 Betting Tips
Mexican Grand Prix Review
It appears Ferrari has pulled the pin on season 2022, as they dropped to third quickest car in Mexico last time out. Verstappen took Pole Position, followed by the Mercedes duo of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton. Ferrari were 5th (Sainz) and 7th (Leclerc).
Verstappen and Hamilton got away well, however George Russell had a poor first few corners, pushing him back to 4th and promoting Perez to 3rd. From here, the top 1/3 of the field didn’t have a great deal of action. Fortunately for viewers, the midfield battle proved exciting, with several overtakes and a bit of argy bargy.
Verstappen and Perez pitted earlier than the Mercedes’, given they were on soft tyres and the Mercedes duo were on mediums, but it didn’t matter, with Verstappen ending up a solid 6 seconds clear of Hamilton after Hamilton stopped.
One last piece of action occurred, after Ricciardo made a crazy move on Tsunoda, colliding with the Japanese driver, and handing Ricciardo a 10-second penalty. What followed was some of Ricciardo’s best driving for years, as he overtook several cars on his way to a 7th place finish.
In the end, Verstappen won again, this time by over 15 seconds, from Hamilton and Perez.
Brazilian Grand Prix Preview
Once again, the massive favourite for the Brazilian Grand Prix is Max Verstappen. There’s no arguing this, Verstappen has absolutely dominated this season, winning 14 of the 20 races held so far, and over the past few races has been incredibly dominant. Red Bull as a team have won the past 9 races on the trot, and will be looking to make it 10 in a row here in Brazil.
Whilst I do believe Verstappen has a tremendous chance of winning, I’m here to make the case for another driver to win in Brazil this weekend. Enter Sir Lewis Hamilton-Larbalestier.
Hamilton has won at the Brazilian circuit on 3 previous occasions, and whilst this doesn’t sound like much, considering he has won the Hungarian and British Grand Prix on 8 occasions each, he is still the second most successful driver at this circuit.
Last year, Hamilton took all sorts of penalties, and it didn’t matter. He started 20th in the sprint race, finishing 5th, before taking more penalties to start the race 10th. By the start of lap 18, Hamilton was in 2nd and chasing down Verstappen. After an amazing battle that last over 10 laps, Hamilton eventually got Verstappen on lap 59, before winning by over 10 seconds. He was on a different level last year, and I believe he and Mercedes will be competitive again this weekend.
Another statistic worth looking at is that Lewis Hamilton has never gone through a season without winning a race. Don’t think he doesn’t know about that. This is his second last chance to win a race in season 2022, and what better place to do it than Brazil, where he was just awarded an honorary Brazilian citizenship. Oh, the narrative.
There’s a hint of thunderstorms, and if they come, look out for both Lance Stroll and Lando Norris to overperform their cars.
Other Bets:
Carlos Sainz > Charles Leclerc (H2H) - $2.95 @ Unibet (1u)
Lance Stroll (Top 10) - $3.25 @ Bet365 (1u)
Lando Norris (Top 6) - $1.91 @ Ladbrokes (1u)
Lewis Hamilton (Race Winner)
$8 (2 Units)
