While Max Verstappen takes the next one-day win, Lewis Hamilton performs worst in our three-pillar model in Belgium
Between 2018 and 2020, Lewis Hamilton was Driver of the Year three times in a row, While mathematically he still has a chance of finishing at the top of our table. In practice, however, it all boils down to a duel between Max Verstappen (236 points) and Charles Leclerc (199).
Verstappen took the lead in the annual standings for the first time at the Hungarian Grand Prix before the summer break. With his gala performance at Spa-Francorchamps, he not only secured the outstanding daily score of 1.08, but also the full 25 points for the race for the title Driver of the Year 2022.
Hamilton came away empty-handed after the collision with Fernando Alonso, which he took on his own head after the race. The Mercedes driver finished 20th and last, with a score of 5 from expert Marc Surer, a score of 5 from the editors and an average score of 4.95 from the 637 users who voted this time. “Such a mistake must not happen to him,” Surer thinks.
Verstappen, Alexander Albon and Fernando Alonso were voted onto the podium by the users this time; in the final result of all three columns, Verstappen ends up ahead of Esteban Ocon and Albon. Verstappen is the only driver to receive a score of 1 from both Surer and the editorial team. The second 1 from the editors is for Ocon.
Verstappen “actually deserves a grade of 1+”, Surer thinks – also because he “outclassed” his team-mate Sergio Perez. The former Formula 1 driver from Switzerland gave seven marks of 2, including one to Albon. He had delivered a “strong weekend” this time, which incidentally takes him past Sebastian Vettel into the top 10 in the overall standings in 2022.
How we give our marks
The idea behind our grading system is to give grades (1 = Very Good, 6 = Unsatisfactory) to the performances on a weekend and especially in the race. The idea is to exclude external influences that the drivers cannot control themselves. And so that not only the editors evaluate subjectively, as is the case with football magazines, we have created a total of three equal pillars with the readers and the expert.
The ultimate Spa-Francorchamps 2022 driver ranking:
01st Max Verstappen, score 1.1 (readers 1.2 – Surer 1 – editors 1).
02 Esteban Ocon, grade 1.8 (Readers 2.4 – Surer 2 – Editors 1)
03 Alexander Albon, grade 2,0 (readers 1,9 – Surer 2 – editors 2)
04 Fernando Alonso, grade 2,0 (readers 2,1 – Surer 2 – editors 2)
05. Sebastian Vettel, grade 2,1 (readers 2,2 – Surer 2 – editorial office 2)
06 George Russell, grade 2,2 (readers 2,5 – Surer 2 – editors 2)
07 Carlos Sainz, grade 2.2 (Readers 2.5 – Surer 2 – Editors 2)
08 Pierre Gasly, grade 2.3 (readers 2.9 – Surer 2 – editors 2)
09 Sergio Perez, grade 2.9 (readers 2.8 – Surer 3 – editors 3)
10th Charles Leclerc, grade 3.1 (readers 3.3 – Surer 3 – editors 3)
11th Lance Stroll, grade 3.2 (readers 3.5 – Surer 3 – editors 3)
12. Lando Norris, grade 3,2 (readers 3,6 – Surer 3 – editors 3)
13 Guanyu Zhou, grade 3.6 (Readers 3.7 – Surer 3 – Editors 4)
14th Yuki Tsunoda, grade 3,6 (readers 3,7 – Surer 3 – editors 4)
15. Valtteri Bottas, grade 3.6 (readers 3.8 – Surer 3 – editors 4)
16th Mick Schumacher, grade 4.0 (readers 3.9 – Surer 4 – editors 4)
17 Kevin Magnussen, grade 4.0 (readers 4.1 – Surer 4 – editors 4)
18. Daniel Ricciardo, grade 4,1 (readers 4,2 – Surer 4 – editors 4)
19. nicholas latifi, grade 4.9 (readers 4.7 – Surer 5 – editors 5)
20. Lewis Hamilton, grade 5,0 (Readers 4,9 – Surer 5 – Editors 5)
And this is how we calculate:
The rating by expert Marc Surer and the rating by our editorial team we calculate the average. This average results in our driver ranking. We only show one decimal place, but for the calculation we use all decimal places. These decimal places, some of which are not visible, are used to determine the ranking order of two riders in the event of a supposed tie in grades.
The driver grade World Cup standings 2022:
01st Max Verstappen (236)
02nd Charles Leclerc (199)
03rd George Russell (127)
04th Lewis Hamilton (126)
05th Sergio Perez (115)
06th Carlos Sainz (102)
07 Lando Norris (82)
08 Fernando Alonso (72)
09th Valtteri Bottas (60)
10th Alexander Albon (53)
11th Sebastian Vettel (52)
12th Esteban Ocon (45)
13th Kevin Magnussen (39)
14th Mick Schumacher (32)
15th Pierre Gasly (32)
16th Yuki Tsunoda (14)
17th Guanyu Zhou (14)
18th Lance Stroll (9)
19th Daniel Ricciardo (4)
20th Nicholas Latifi (1)
21st Nico Hülkenberg (0)
The driver with the most points will receive an award for the driver of the year 2022 at the end of the season.
