2022 Brazil GP Sprint Race Preview and Tips – JP
2022 Brazil GP Sprint Race Preview
James Punt has already posted an ante-post preview. Check it out here. Now, it is time for his 2022 Brazil GP Qualifying Update, see who he is backing below.
2022 Brazil GP Sprint Race
To start with, the weather forecast. It has been fine today but there are clouds around and a 50% chance of thunderstorms in the later part of today’s sprint.
Yesterday’s qualifying session produced the shock pole position for Haas’ Kevin Magnussen for today’s race. Sadly it is only for the sprint as we are on him to score points in the main event tomorrow. It helps to start on pole today, but the team say that finishing top 8 today would be a good result. It was a well-executed lap from Magnussen and from the team.
Floundering Ferrari
Unlike how Ferrari executed their Q3 runs. By putting Leclerc out on inters before the rain arrived, they killed his chances, but he was also the second car out on to the track, behind Kmag. That allowed Magnussen to scoot off on a largely dry track while everyone else was getting held up by the slower Ferrari of Leclerc. Everyone lost time thanks to Ferrari’s strategists being on the crack pipe again. Surely, heads will now roll?
It worked out nicely for Magnussen, but almost everyone else was compromised and we have a lot of cars out of position as a result. Verstappen starts from second after he made a mistake and locked up, otherwise he would have been on pole. The Red Bull is very fast on the straights and that should be ideal for racing, if not ideal for qualifying, but in a sprint race weekend, on an overtaking track, you need to set up for the race.
Russell Crash Costly
George Russell was the cherry on Haas’ cake. His lock up and subsequent donut in the gravel caused a red flag and the drivers had to then just sit in the pit watching the rain come down and their chances going down the drain. It did of course mean that Russell’s third place was locked in thanks to his mistake. The Merc was fast in the slow second sector, but slow on the straights and it’s hard to see how that will be much good in a race.
Lando Norris picked up fourth place but unless he gets similar conditions, he will find it hard to keep the many faster cars behind him at bay. Carlos Sainz did run on the slicks in Q3 but had to line up behind his teammate on the inters and while he quickly got passed, even that slight delay meant the track was slower by the time he was in the final sector and Magnussen had crossed the line and set his time. The Ferrari looks to be running more rear wing than the Red Bull and like Mercedes, they will find that a handicap in the race, unless it rains again.
Strange Weekend For Alpine
The two Alpines have had a strange weekend so far. They did no running on the soft tyres in FP1 but were still reasonably quick. In FP2 this afternoon, it was Ocon who was fastest and Alonso fourth, so they do have a quick car and will be looking to get ahead of Norris at the very least this evening.
Hamilton starts from eighth and like Verstappen, he seems to be a bit slower than his teammate this weekend. He might struggle to make a lot of progress this evening with faster cars ahead and behind him.
Our outright selection for tomorrow’s race, Sergio Perez got no luck yesterday. He had just set the fastest sector 1 time in Q3 when the red flag was thrown for Russell’s off and he was left to start in ninth.
Perez has been quick in all sessions and it is a kick in the teeth that he lost out in the qualifying lottery. He was second in FP2 this afternoon and he looks to be getting more out of the Red Bull than Verstappen is. Hopefully he can make up plenty of places and get closer to the front row for tomorrow.
It was fun qualifying but the idiots at Ferrari caused the grid to be even more mixed up than it should have been. This evening’s race will hopefully sort out a more representative grid for tomorrow’s grand prix.
Max Is Fav
Verstappen is the 1.44 favourite to win the sprint race and he should make it three sprint races from three in 2022. Interestingly, Magnussen scored top 8 finishes in the two previous ones this year, Perez has had to make up ground from bad starting positions and must do so again and Mercedes haven’t had much joy in them at all.
I quite like the chances of the two Alpines being able to at least hold their places, and perhaps improve on them. The car seems to have good top speed and should be quite racey. Ocon remains an underrated driver and it’s a bit surprising that he is 2.75 to finish in the top 6. When he has started normal races inside the top 6, he has finished in the top 6 three times from five. Alonso starts P7 and at the odds, it is worth a small bet on a double top 6 finish for the Alpines.
2022 Brazil GP Sprint Race Tip: 1 point Esteban Ocon to finish in the top 6 @ 2.75 with Ladbrokes
2022 Brazil GP Sprint Race Tip: 0.5 point double top 6 finish for Alpine @ 8.00 with Ladbrokes
Perez has looked on it all weekend and it is a pain that he got screwed in the qualifying chaos yesterday, but he’s been first and second otherwise. He looks reasonable value to beat Lewis Hamilton this evening with his better top speed likely to pay off.
