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The 2022 Formula 1 season has belonged to Max Verstappen, but after a season full of near-misses, George Russell has finally broken through.
Russell gave Mercedes its first win of the 2022 campaign at Sunday's São Paulo Grand Prix, turning in a dominant performance while teammate Lewis Hamilton finished behind him in second place.
Two weeks after setting the F1 single-season record for wins (14), Verstappen had a frustrating afternoon that was highlighted by a five-second penalty for causing contact with Hamilton early in the race.
The penalty caused him to take a nosedive down the field before he was able to recover for a sixth-place finish.
Two weeks after setting the F1 single-season record for wins (14), Verstappen had a frustrating afternoon that was highlighted by a five-second penalty for causing contact with Hamilton early in the race.
The penalty caused him to take a nosedive down the field before he was able to recover for a sixth-place finish.
Tensions also appear to be bubbling over between Verstappen and teammate Sergio Perez. Verstappen was criticized for his refusal to allow Perez to move ahead of him in Sunday's waning moments, a move that would have given Perez critical points as he attempts to lock up second place in the standings.
"It shows who he really is," Perez said on the radio to his team.
A fuming Perez later said Verstappen's two championships are "thanks to me."
While Verstappen would undoubtedly prefer a stronger result—and some better inter-team relations—there's nothing that can take away from his brilliant 2022 campaign. This is one of the finest seasons in the history of racing, in any discipline, across any decade.
Russell's victory will give Mercedes at least some reason to have a positive outlook heading into 2023. This season has been a consistent source of frustration for the Mercedes team, with Hamilton not performing up to his typical championship expectations due in large part to the failures of the cars given to him by the team.
Russell has emerged as a bright spot in the future for Mercedes, and giving him his first career F1 victory will go a long way toward building that team's morale moving forward.
Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy's joint venture, which is set to launch the TGL golf league, added a ton of notable names to its investor ranks.
TMRW Sports announced Wednesday that Formula 1's Lewis Hamilton, Buffalo Bills star Josh Allen, the Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry and Andre Iguodala, Phoenix Mercury star Diana Taurasi, tennis legend Serena Williams and Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani among others have invested in the project.
CEO Mike McCarley issued a statement:
Over the past year we’ve assembled a team of investors who will help deliver on the TMRW Sports’ mission to positively impact how sports are experienced in the future. ... From the very beginning our plan has been to partner with the best-in-class in every way imaginable and Tiger, Rory, and I value the support of this unrivaled team of investors, advisors, and ambassadors who believe in our vision to harness technology to create progressive approaches to sports. Their combined broad reach and cultural relevance will expand potential opportunities and fanbases for TMRW projects.
TMRW Sports announced the formation of TGL in August. The "tech-infused golf league" will collaborate with the PGA Tour and feature a team-based format with the events taking place on Monday nights in prime time.
Many consider the concept to be a direct response to the rise of LIV Golf and concerns expressed by Phil Mickelson, who thought the PGA Tour wasn't catering to its top stars enough.
TGL is expected to begin in January 2024.
Max Verstappen made history Sunday by holding off Lewis Hamilton to win the Mexico Grand Prix in Mexico City.
With the victory, Verstappen now has 14 wins in the 2022 season, setting a new all-time record for most in a single year. He entered the race tied with Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel atop the record books.
The race was mostly dominated by Verstappen. Hamilton briefly took the lead after the Dutchman pitted on Lap 26, but when he brought his Mercedes to pit road 10 laps later, Verstappen overtook him once again and never looked back.
The key difference for Verstappen was that he switched to medium tires, while Hamilton switched to hard tires. Hamilton could be heard on his radio multiple times complaining about his tires, while Verstappen was in cruise control and had a lead of over 10 seconds for nearly the entire second half of the race.
Verstappen's Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez placed third, while Mercedes' George Russell settled for fourth. Ferrari's Carlos Sainz rounded out the top five.
Sunday's victory continues a dominant run for Verstappen, who is now on a three-race winning streak. The 25-year-old was victorious at the Japan Grand Prix on Oct. 9 and again at the United States Grand Prix last weekend.
Verstappen will have the opportunity to extend his single-season record when he returns for the Brazil Grand Prix in Sao Paulo on Nov. 11-13.
Max Verstappen held off Lewis Hamilton on Sunday in the United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, to continue his attack on the Formula One record book.
The 25-year-old earned his 13th win of the 2022 season to tie Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel's mark for most victories in a single year.
Hamilton did what he could to hold off the on-rushing Verstappen, but he was powerless to halt a brilliant pass from the Dutchman on the 50th lap.
Verstappen's lead shrunk to less than a second at one point, but he successfully shut the door on Hamilton for the remainder of the race.
The Red Bull team had plenty to celebrate as they secured the constructors' championship.
Carlos Sainz claimed the pole in Saturday's qualifying. As he sought his second victory of the season, he acknowledged he was "realistic" and added it was "going to be tough" to hold off Verstappen, who was second in the starting order.
Little did Sainz know how difficult his day would be.
The 28-year-old didn't even complete one full lap before he made contact with George Russell, the result of which was serious enough to knock Sainz out of the United States Grand Prix.
Race officials issued a five-second penalty to Russell.
That paved the way for Verstappen to claim the lead, and the 2022 F1 champion was unsurprisingly dominant from the top spot. Although he complained of some issues with his car, it was largely smooth sailing until a pit stop on Lap 36.
Verstappen's Red Bull team was slow to get him new tires, and he had fallen behind Hamilton and Leclerc by the time he was off pit road and back on the track. Vettel, benefited from Verstappen's misfortune as well and looked a good bet to earn a podium finish.
Verstappen overtook Leclerc, though, and Vettel had a terrible pit stop of his own that sent him slipping down the leaderboard. In no time, the race became a head-to-head battle between Verstappen and Hamilton.
The former continued to chip away at the latter's lead to the point where the turnaround felt inevitable. As great as Hamilton is, Verstappen has been nearly untouchable in 2022.
Three stops remain in the current Formula One season. The series will head to Mexico City for the Mexico City Grand Prix on Oct. 30, with Verstappen one checkered flag away from history.
Michael Schumacher's single-season wins record is officially in jeopardy.
Max Verstappen continued his dominant 2022 Formula One campaign Sunday, breezing to a victory in the Belgian Grand Prix for his ninth win of the season.
The 24-year-old is only four wins behind Schumacher's record set in the 2004 campaign, a mark that many thought would never be broken. Verstappen has eight races remaining in the 2022 campaign, which gives him a little bit of an advantage over Schumacher, who won his 13 races in 17 tries.
Verstappen would have to win every race for the remainder of the 2022 season to eclipse Schumacher's all-time winning percentage mark.
Regardless of where he lands on the all-time list once the season is over, we're looking at a mortal lock for a repeat champion and one of the best stretches in racing history. Verstappen has won three straight races on two different occasions this season; he's the first driver since Kimi Räikkönen to win two straight in Belgium.
Sergio Perez, Carlos Sainz Jr., George Russell and Charles Leclerc originally rounded out the top five Sunday. However, Leclerc was given a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane in an effort to earn the fastest lap of the race. The penalty pushed Fernando Alonso into fifth place. Meanwhile, Perez has now overtaken Leclerc for second in the points standings.
Leclerc is the only driver in F1 with multiple wins this season, but Ferrari has not been able to consistently give him top-flight cars. He has as many retirements as wins (three) and has finished off the podium in eight of his last nine races.
Perez has only one win this season but has finished second on six different occasions. This was his first podium since Great Britain after a shaky few weeks of action.
After five straight podium finishes, Lewis Hamilton's 2022 season turned back into a nightmare as he lasted only one lap before bowing out. Hamilton is currently on pace for the worst season of his F1 career. He's gone a career-worst 15 straight races without a win dating back to last season and sits a distant sixth in the points standings.
The seven-time F1 champion has never finished worse than fifth in points and was top-two each of the previous eight seasons. Sunday was only Hamilton's third retirement in the past six seasons.
After losing his chance at an eighth championship at the final race of 2021, it appears the torch in F1 has officially been passed over from Hamilton to Verstappen.
