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

Max Verstappen was crowned the 2022 F1 World Drivers' Champion today at the Japanese Grand Prix, where he stood on the top step of the podium for the first time in his career. The Dutchman absolutely dominated the race despite the extremely tricky conditions. He managed to create a 27-second gap to the rest of the pack within a short period of 40 minutes once the race resumed.

The first few laps of the GP were complete chaos, given the wet weather conditions that made driving and visibility extremely tricky. Carlos Sainz crashed out at the very beginning of the race after aquaplaning and losing the rear of his car, while Alex Albon was forced to retire after losing power.

The race was soon red-flagged as the conditions worsened and remained that way for quite some time before being restarted with 40 minutes to go. This time around, Sergio Perez fought a lot harder and found himself closer to Charles Leclerc once the F1 Japanese GP resumed.

The Mexican gave it his everything to pass the Ferrari but was simply unable to do so and had to settle for third. His fortunes turned, however, when Leclerc was handed a five-second penalty for cutting the chicane and gaining an advantage. With this, Perez gave Red Bull yet another 1-2 result and has regained his second-place position in the drivers' standings with a two-point advantage over Leclerc.

An impressive P6 finish pushed Sebastian Vettel up to eleventh in the standings, ahead of Daniel Ricciardo. The latter just missed out on points in Suzuka with a P11 finish behind his teammate Lando Norris.

Plenty of controversies arose when an the safety car was deployed to recover Carlos Sainz's Ferrari at the start of the race. A recovery tractor was present on the track while the rest of the cars were driving around. This left drivers vulnerable to accidents and collisions under the extreme lack of visibility that was created by all the spray.

Pierre Gasly, in particular, was put in quite a dangerous situation, but thankfully made it out safely. Fans were left livid by the incident, especially since late French driver Jules Bianchi suffered severe injuries after colliding with a recovery vehicle at the 2014 F1 Japanese Grand Prix under similar circumstances and eventually lost his life. All the drivers today fortunately made their way back to the pits safely.

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Here are the 2022 F1 Driver Standings after the Japanese GP

Pos	Driver	Nationality	Car	PTS
1	Max Verstappen	NED	Red Bull Racing RBPT	366
2	Sergio Perez	MEX	Red Bull Racing RBPT	253
3	Charles Leclerc	MON	Ferrari	252
4	George Russell	GBR	Mercedes	207
5	Carlos Sainz	ESP	Ferrari	202
6	Lewis Hamilton	GBR	Mercedes	180
7	Lando Norris	GBR	McLaren Mercedes	101
8	Esteban Ocon	FRA	Alpine Renault	78
9	Fernando Alonso	ESP	Alpine Renault	65
10	Valtteri Bottas	FIN	Alfa Romeo Ferrari	46
11	Sebastian Vettel	GER	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	32
12	Daniel Ricciardo	AUS	McLaren Mercedes	29
13	Pierre Gasly	FRA	AlphaTauri RBPT	23
14	Kevin Magnussen	DEN	Haas Ferrari	22
15	Lance Stroll	CAN	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	13
16	Mick Schumacher	GER	Haas Ferrari	12
17	Yuki Tsunoda	JPN	AlphaTauri RBPT	11
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