F1 2022: What do the Driver Standings look like after the Belgian GP?

Max Verstappen dominated the 2022 F1 Belgian Grand Prix this weekend to secure his ninth race win of the season and extend his lead in the championship standings. The Dutchman now holds a whopping 93-point advantage over his team-mate Sergio Perez and 98 points over Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.

Despite starting the race in P14, Verstappen made it to the front of the grid to take the lead in the race from pole-sitter Carlos Sainz within the first 12 laps. The Spaniard simply did not have the pace to match the Red Bulls this afternoon and only managed to secure a P3 finish behind Verstappen and Perez.

Perez's gap to his teammate over the course of the race was a clear indication of just how fast the reigning F1 world champion was this weekend, who made it through the pack with complete ease.

Charles Leclerc, who was hoping to turn his fortunes at the start of the second half of the season, had yet another underwhelming day at Spa and finished the race in fifth after starting the race just a single position behind Verstappen. He was, however, given a five-second penalty for crossing the pit lane speed limit and ended up with a P6 result. With this, the Monegasque has lost his second-place position in the drivers' standings to Sergio Perez, with only 15 points separating him from his teammate Carlos Sainz, who is closing in.

George Russell had quite an interesting race today and had the potential to take yet another podium in Belgium. After a rough start to the season, Mercedes were hoping to kick off the second half of the year with a bang and finally secure the win that they have been chasing all season.

Lewis Hamilton, however, had a nightmare of a race, having retired at the start following contact with Fernando Alonso's Alpine. The Spaniard still managed to make it to the top five and moved up to ninth in the championship standings. This places him ahead of Valtteri Bottas, who was forced to retire from the race after colliding with Nicholas Latifi on the opening laps of the race. With an eighth-place finish, Sebastian Vettel has moved up to 12th in the F1 drivers' standings, ahead of Daniel Ricciardo, who had yet another disappointing outing in Spa.

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Here are the 2022 F1 Driver Standings after the Belgian GP

Pos	Driver	Nationality	Car	PTS
1	Max Verstappen	NED	Red Bull Racing RBPT	284
2	Sergio Perez	MEX	Red Bull Racing RBPT	191
3	Charles Leclerc	MON	Ferrari	186
4	Carlos Sainz	ESP	Ferrari	171
5	George Russell	GBR	Mercedes	170
6	Lewis Hamilton	GBR	Mercedes	146
7	Lando Norris	GBR	McLaren Mercedes	76
8	Esteban Ocon	FRA	Alpine Renault	64
9	Fernando Alonso	ESP	Alpine Renault	51
10	Valtteri Bottas	FIN	Alfa Romeo Ferrari	46
11	Kevin Magnussen	DEN	Haas Ferrari	22
12	Sebastian Vettel	GER	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	20
13	Daniel Ricciardo	AUS	McLaren Mercedes	19
14	Pierre Gasly	FRA	AlphaTauri RBPT	18
15	Mick Schumacher	GER	Haas Ferrari	12
16	Yuki Tsunoda	JPN	AlphaTauri RBPT	11
17	Zhou Guanyu	CHN	Alfa Romeo Ferrari	5
18	Alexander Albon	THA	Williams Mercedes	4
19	Lance Stroll	CAN	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	4
20	Nicholas Latifi	CAN	Williams Mercedes	0
21	Nico Hulkenberg	GER	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	0