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

2022 F1 world champion Max Verstappen took a record-breaking 15th race win this weekend at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, finishing off the season in great style.

Red Bull, after securing the constructors' title at the US GP last month, were hoping to take their first-ever 1-2 finish in the championship. Unfortunately for the team, Sergio Perez, who entered the race on equal points as Charles Leclerc, finished the race behind the latter in third. This meant that Leclerc, who was a serious contender for the title at the start of the season, finished second in the championship, making it his best result in F1 so far.

In a post-race media interaction, the Ferrari driver admitted that he truly hopes to fight for the title in 2023, whilst acknowledging that the team has already made plenty of progress over the last few years. He said:

"I was 110 per cent from the first lap to the last. We had the perfect race. I knew the only way for us to beat Checo was with a different strategy and playing with time management, which we did really well. We made the one-stop work so I am really happy. I really hope next year we can make a step forward and fight for the championship but considering where we were it is a step forward. We still need to work on race pace as we tend to struggle on Sunday but we will push during the winter break."

For the majority of the season, George Russell and Carlos Sainz have fought for fourth in the championship, with the Briton securing the spot towards the end of the year. Sainz briefly lost sixth to Lewis Hamilton but managed to finish the season ahead of the seven-time world champion in fifth after the latter was forced to retire from the Abu Dhabi GP following damage received on his car. This became the first season of Hamilton's F1 career, where the Mercedes driver failed to win a single race.

Lando Norris finished in sixth and comfortably remained seventh in the drivers' championship, while his teammate Daniel Ricciardo had yet another underwhelming race and stands 11th in the standings. This was the Aussie's final race with McLaren. He is rumored to be joining Red Bull once again in 2023, but this time as a reserve driver.

The F1 Abu Dhabi GP marked the final race for four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel, who will be retiring from the sport. The German finished his ultimate F1 race in 10th, bringing home a lone point for Aston Martin and finishing 12th in the season.

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Here are the 2022 F1 Driver Standings after the Abu Dhabi GP

Pos	Driver	Nationality	Car	PTS
1	Max Verstappen	NED	Red Bull Racing RBPT	454
2	Charles Leclerc	MON	Ferrari	308
3	Sergio Perez	MEX	Red Bull Racing RBPT	305
4	George Russell	GBR	Mercedes	275
5	Carlos Sainz	ESP	Ferrari	246
6	Lewis Hamilton	GBR	Mercedes	240
7	Lando Norris	GBR	McLaren Mercedes	122
8	Esteban Ocon	FRA	Alpine Renault	92
9	Fernando Alonso	ESP	Alpine Renault	81
10	Valtteri Bottas	FIN	Alfa Romeo Ferrari	49
11	Daniel Ricciardo	AUS	McLaren Mercedes	37
12	Sebastian Vettel	GER	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	37
13	Kevin Magnussen	DEN	Haas Ferrari	25
14	Pierre Gasly	FRA	AlphaTauri RBPT	23
15	Lance Stroll	CAN	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	18
16	Mick Schumacher	GER	Haas Ferrari	12
17	Yuki Tsunoda	JPN	AlphaTauri RBPT	12
18	Zhou Guanyu	CHN	Alfa Romeo Ferrari	6
19	Alexander Albon	THA	Williams Mercedes	4
20	Nicholas Latifi	CAN	Williams Mercedes	2
21	Nyck De Vries	NED	Williams Mercedes	2
22	Nico Hulkenberg	GER	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	0