F1 2022 Season Review

2022 saw some of the biggest regulation changes in the history of F1, reworking the way the cars generated downforce in hopes of closer racing. An upheaval at the top end was expected however things stayed much the same, as Max Verstappen dominated the year taking a second consecutive world title. A feisty competitor in Mercedes was replaced by a newly resurgent Ferrari, who whilst quick, failed to capitalise struggling with the same operational issue which has plagued the Maranello based team for the past decade.

RATINGS:

Red Bull: 9/10

Best Race: Belgian Grand Prix, Many expected the 2022 Red Bull to be a step down from previous iterations given the drain in resources the title fight in 2021 would have had on the team. However, it was clear from the outset the RB18 would be a car capable of challenging for the title. Whilst the early rounds were marred by reliability issues Red Bull went from strength to strength as the season progressed, growing stronger as main rivals Ferrari faltered. The second half of the season was where Red Bull really established their dominance, with Verstappen at the wheel looking unstoppable at times as they wrapped up the drivers and constructors’ championships with ease. There were a few blemishes upon their season however, with a cost cap saga late in the year leading Red Bull to receiving a fine and a 10% reduction in wind tunnel time, which will be sure to damage their chances in future years. Regardless, a clean sweep of titles for the first time since 2013 will be a cause for celebration at Red Bull, starting what could be a dominant era for the Austrian team.

Verstappen: 10/10 Best Race: Belgian Grand Prix, It was a historic 2022 campaign for Max, notching up a record number of points and wins showing just how dominant he was. By his lofty standards he started the year off slowly, with reliability issues and a car not quite suiting his driving style meaning he couldn’t extract the maximum from Red Bulls package. However, his confidence grew as the season drew on, coming into a class of his own in the second half of the year looking inevitable at times. The Belgian Grand Prix for example, winning the race by a country mile despite starting the race in 14th. His domination will live long in the minds of fans and pundits alike as he cements himself as one of F1’s greats.

Perez: 5/10 Best Race: Monaco Grand Prix, After an indifferent debut year at Red Bull, Sergio looked to provide more of a challenge to Verstappen in 2022. He managed this in the early phases of the season, with numerous weekends like Jeddah and Monaco where he appeared the faster of the two drivers. However, this form waned as the season progressed, owing in part to a shift in development more towards the aggressive, oversteery driving style of Verstappen. He did well to not let this midseason slump ruin his morale, ending the year closer to Max pace wise as he narrowly missed out on 2nd in the drivers’ championship.

Ferrari: 6/10

Best Race: Bahrain Grand Prix, After a fast start to the 2022 campaign Ferrari would soon be brought back down to earth, as once again the team from Maranello let another title chance slip through their grasp. By round three Leclerc had a comfortable 40-point lead, however reliability issues, strategic mistakes and high-profile driver errors such as Charles crashing out from the lead in France meant they couldn’t sustain their title bid. Following the midseason technical directive Ferrari appeared to lose the pace advantage they had, even falling behind Mercedes in the pecking order ending any titles hopes they’d had. Whilst it was a nightmare season for the team, they can take pride in the leap in development they were able to take from last season and hope to replicate that next season.

Leclerc: 8/10 Best Race: Australian Grand Prix, Following years of driving poor Ferrari machinery, it looked like Charles finally had a car to match his talent for 2022. A strong start to the season suggested he could mount a title challenge, however poor reliability and mistakes from both him and the team put an end to those hopes fairly swiftly. Charles outclassed his teammate Sainz for the majority of the year, as he was able to get the grips with the aggressive design of the F1-75 a lot better than his Spanish colleague. Despite a slump in the second half of the year he was still able to cling on to second in the driver’s championship, he’ll hope to go one better in 2023 ending the Scuderia’s run of 15 years without a title.

Sainz: 4/10 Best Race: British Grand Prix, Carlos spent much of 2022 looking second best at Ferrari, struggling to deal with a difficult but quick car as well as teammate Charles. This was abundantly clear at the start of the year, with numerous unforced errors such as in Australia or Spain costing him and the team valuable points. This came as somewhat of a shock to fans, following an impressive debut year in red where he was able to beat Leclerc in the standings. Despite an overall poor season, he was able to claim a maiden victory at Silverstone, as well as three pole positions across the year. He steadied the ship towards the end of the season getting much closer performance wise to his teammate, he’ll want to carry that momentum into 2023 and provide more of a challenge to his Monegasque partner.

Mercedes: 4/10

Best Race: Brazilian Grand Prix, Mercedes were almost unrecognisable from the winning machine we saw for much of the hybrid era, as the German team started the year languishing firmly in the midfield. Their ‘no sidepod’ car design was initially thought to be innovative, with many anticipating more Mercedes dominance into the new era, however this car concept proved to be flawed. Struggling more so than other teams with porpoising, Mercedes benefitted from the technical directive introduced after Hungary, as they appeared to finally get on top of the difficult W13. They ended the season strongly, arguably being Red Bull’s closest challenger at the end of the year even taking a 1-2 at the Brazilian Grand Prix. Mercedes did well to recover from a tough start and will hope to continue along their development path into next season, in the hopes of returning to the summit of F1 once again.

Hamilton: 6/10 Best Race: Hungarian Grand Prix, It wasn’t the ‘bounce back’ season Lewis would’ve wanted following the heartbreak of losing the championship last year in Abu Dhabi. He struggled early in the year, unable to get to grips with a tricky W13, often looking second best to new teammate Russell. He wouldn’t stay down for long however, growing in confidence and speed as the season drew on and re-establishing himself as the clear number 1 at the silver arrows. This year would mark the first in his career without a victory, despite their being numerous chances at claiming top spot, however misfortune and poor strategy would scarper those opportunities. Whilst it was a good year for Lewis it must be noted that he was inconsistent at times, making mistakes and getting involved in more incidents than we’re used to, which ultimately cost him in the driver’s championship losing out on 4th place to his teammate Russell.

Russell: 8/10 Best Race: Brazilian Grand Prix, Matching up against Lewis Hamilton is by no means an easy task, however he faced Lewis head on making a good start to life at Brackley. Despite a poor car in the early rounds he didn’t let that dampen his spirits, fighting tooth and nail to bring home the maximum amount of points possible each weekend. This showed in his results, as he didn’t finish outside the top 5 until the 9th round of the season. This consistency rewarded him later in the year as Lewis started to pick up momentum, as George was able to hold him and Sainz off to claim 4th in the standings. George’s maiden win would finally come at the penultimate round of the season, producing a composed drive dominating much of the race, proving to all that he is more than capable at challenging for the championship next season.

Alpine: 7/10

Best Race: Japanese Grand Prix, After a strong end to the 2021 season Alpine carried that momentum into the new era, producing a car which stood firmly at the front of the midfield. Whilst the French team aren’t where they want to be they took a big step towards challenging the top teams, with select weekends such as Brazil where they appeared the closest to the front since 2013 when they operated under the guise of Lotus. Despite their promising performance they were plagued with reliability issues, costing them numerous high-profile results and points scoring opportunities. Things also grow a tad sour in the Alpine camp towards the end of the year, with the Piastri contract saga and Alonso’s discontent with the team. But with a fresh driver pairing of Gasly and Ocon this will give Alpine a clean slate to build upon the promising foundations they’ve made for themselves.

Alonso: 8/10 Best Race: Brazilian Grand Prix, As has been so often the case throughout Fernando’s career misfortune plagued what otherwise was an outstanding season. When looking at the championship one may assume Ocon was the quicker of the two drivers, however that would be far from the truth. On many occasions Fernando was the clear faster car, but he received the majority of the reliability issues hampering his points total. This led to the souring of relations between Alpine and Alonso, however he heads for pastures new in 2023 where he’ll look to spearhead Aston Martin towards the front of the field.

Ocon: 7/10 Best Race: Japanese Grand Prix, Esteban enjoyed a strong campaign beating a teammate in the standings for the first time in his career, an impressive achievement given the strength of his opponent. Whilst overall he may’ve been the slower of the two drivers that gap was marginal, with numerous weekends where Ocon was the quicker of the pair. Consistency was crucial to Esteban’s success, finishing 16 of the 22 events inside the top ten. Ocon will need to carry this level of performance into next year if he wants to maintain top dog status, when he is paired up with his highly rated compatriot, Pierre Gasly.

McLaren: 3/10

Best Race: Australian Grand Prix, McLaren appeared a team on the up towards the end of the 2021 season, with many predicting a return to the summit of the sport in 2022. However, it was a nightmare start to the new era for the team, as much of their progress had been undone giving drivers Ricciardo and Norris average machinery to work with. Their pace appeared to improve slightly as the season progressed however they were still a huge step below where they were operating last year. There blushes were spared in part by Lando Norris, who frequently outdrove the car allowing the team to claim 5th in the constructor’s standings. It’s back to square one for McLaren who will look to begin the process of building back towards the top end of the grid.

Norris: 9/10, Best Race: Emilia Romanga Grand Prix, After signing a blockbuster new deal keeping him with the Woking based outfit until 2025, this season would come as an alarming shock for Lando as the team took a firm step back into the midfield. Despite the team’s poor performance he shone on many occasions across the year, outdriving the car to claim consistent points finishes. His good form was rewarded as he finished the year best of the rest in the standings, managing to extract far more from his MCL36 than veteran teammate Ricciardo. With his stock high he'll look to lead McLaren back to where they belong, with incumbent rookie teammate Piastri hopefully able to give Lando more of a run for his money.

Ricciardo: 3/10, Best Race: Mexican Grand Prix, Following a disastrous debut year at McLaren, Daniel hoped a new set of regulations would offer him a fresh start in 2022. However, if anything Ricciardo’s struggles got worse, as Daniel reached new lows across the year looking further away from his teammate than at any period throughout his tenure at McLaren. A messy contract saga around the mid-point of the year didn’t help his morale, as he discovered he would be replaced by rookie Piastri after committing to McLaren for 2023. He finds himself without a race seat for next year, taking up reserve driver duties at his old team Red Bull, where he’ll hope to propel himself back onto the grid.

Alfa Romeo:7/10

Best Race: Canadian Grand Prix, The recent seasons have been tough for Alfa Romeo, with the team nothing more than a backmarker who could scrape together the occasional points finish. However, this year was a huge step forward for the team, who were once again able to run comfortably in the top ten. At times the pace they showed was midfield leading, with performances in Bahrain, Spain and Mexico standing out. Despite a good year their performance did drop off drastically as the year progressed, as they scored just five points after the Canadian Grand Prix compared to 50 in the opening 9 rounds. The team will look to rekindle their early season form next year, as they look to create the foundations for a successful operation when they join forces with Audi in 2026.

Bottas: 5/10, Best Race: Spanish Grand Prix, This season marked a new beginning for Valterri as he left Mercedes after an underwhelming 5-year stint with the team, stepping out of Lewis Hamilton’s shadow as he looked to lead the Alfa Romeo team. He made a terrific start to the year, outqualifying the man who replaced him, George Russell, at the first race in Bahrain. Bottas was able to ride this high early in the year making use of a strong package to claim 46 points in the opening 9 rounds. He would claim just 3 points beyond that, as both he and Alfa Romeo slumped towards the end of the year, with rookie teammate Zhou looking faster than Valterri on a number of occasions. The Finn will look to re-find his early season groove in 2023 if he wants to be the man to lead Sauber into their new era under Audi.

Zhou: 4/10, Best Race: Canadian Grand Prix, The only rookie on the grid this year Guanyu had a tough season, finishing a disappointing 18th with just 6 points to show for. His start to the year was tricky, as he was unable to maximise the pace of his Alfa Romeo in the same way his teammate Bottas could. By the time he’d gotten to grips with the car and began matching Bottas for pace the car was much less competitive with a tenth-place finish in Monza the best he could manage in the second half of the year. Whilst he did improve as the season progressed, he struggled to make the most of points scoring opportunities when they arrived, Mexico and Brazil come to mind where the car was clearly capable of points yet Zhou was unable to capitalise whereas teammate Bottas could. Next season will be a telling year for the young Chinese driver as to whether he truly deserves a place among the world’s best drivers.

Aston Martin: 4/10

Best Race: US Grand Prix, Aston Martin continued along their downward spiral this year as they lost their status as a strong midfield runner, slipping towards the back end of the grid. The start to the year was incredibly alarming for the team looking nothing more than a backmarker, However following a revision to their design around the Spanish Grand Prix the team began to pick up momentum, moving further up the totem pole as the season advanced. The ambition of the Aston Martin project has yet to be matched by on track performances, which the team will hope to turn around as they look to the experienced Fernando Alonso to lead their charge in the coming years.

Vettel 6/10, Best Race: Japanese Grand Prix, Vettel grew frustrated with the cars lack of pace this season, often voicing his frustration over the radio following elimination from the early rounds of qualifying. Whilst he struggled for one lap speed he had no such issues on race day providing numerous impressive drives through the field, none more so than at the US Grand Prix recovering from a slow pitstop to finish 8th making some audacious overtakes along the way. Whilst he certainly isn’t the driver he once was, this season offered us glimpses of the Vettel magic we saw from years past, as F1 says goodbye to one of its most adored and talented drivers.

Stroll: 5/10, Best Race: Singapore Grand Prix, Lance is a driver much of the F1 world loves to hate, perhaps owing in part to his perceived reputation as a pay driver. However, I think this season was one of Lance’s strongest proving that he deserves a seat at the Formula One table. Whilst his points tally may not represent a strong year, it must be remembered this year's Aston Martin was far from the team’s finest work. His efforts in qualifying were highly impressive often getting the better of teammate Vettel, a vast improvement for Lance considering his one lap pace was never his strong point. He was also unlucky on numerous occasions, for instance in Miami when he had to start from the pitlane instead of P10, or in the USA where an almost certain P6 finish was lost after colliding with Alonso. It must be remembered that Lance is still a young, developing driver and if he can continue to improve then new teammate Alonso may have a harder time matching up against him then one might anticipate.

Haas: 6/10

Best Race: Austrian Grand Prix, It was clear last season that Haas had put all their eggs in the 2022 basket, forgoing any sort of development in 2021 to get the jump on the new regulations. When the first race of the year rolled around in Bahrain it looked to have worked, with Haas propelling themselves back to the top of the midfield pecking order, with Kevin Magnussen claiming an impressive 5th place finish on his return to F1. However, this would be their best result of the year, as their performance got weaker as the season went on, such was the trend among the Ferrari-powered teams. Their season was also hampered by inconsistency from their drivers, with both Magnussen and Schumacher involved in needless incidents throughout the year costing the team valuable points, as they could only scrape an 8th place finish in the constructors’ standings.

Magnussen: 6/10, Best Race: Bahrain Grand Prix, Kevin returned to F1 following a 1-year absence, drafted in a week before the start of the season as a replacement for the axed Nikita Mazepin. Any doubts over whether he would be rusty upon his return were quashed at the first race, as he scored a miraculous 5th place finish. That would act as the peak of his season, as points finishes were squandered through misfortune, incidents or just sheer lack of pace. Despite the disappointing points haul, he showed impressive pace across the year as he was comfortably quicker than his highly rated teammate Mick Schumacher. This speed was most evident at Interlagos, where in mixed conditions he was able to qualify his Haas on pole, taking his and the teams maiden pole position. Kevin will be matched up with old foe Nico Hulkenburg next year, meaning he’ll have to replicate this year’s performance to retain his status as the number 1 at Haas.

Schumacher: 4/10, Best Race: Austrian Grand Prix, Following a highly revered debut campaign in which he did well to deal with a tricky Haas car, this year proved much more challenging for young Mick, struggling to rise to the level required of a midfield driver. He regularly found himself off the pace of teammate Magnussen, as well as having numerous high-profile crashes, not ideal for a cash strapped team such as Haas. It must be said that Mick did have some good weekends, like the Austrian grand prix where he beat teammate Magnussen to claim 6th. However this was not enough to encourage Haas to retain him for 2023, as Mick will look to rebuild next year potentially with a reserve role at Mercedes in the hopes of getting back on the grid for 2024.

Alpha Tauri: 5/10

Best Race: Azerbaijan Grand Prix, High flying Alpha Tauri were brought back down to earth following one of the best campaigns in their history last year, as the team firmly slumped to the rear end of the field. The car was one of the more consistent ones pace wise throughout the year, never the slowest but also never looking like challenging at the sharp end of the field. There was very little of note to write about their season, with drivers Gasly and Tsunoda scraping fringe points finishes on occasion to guide the team to 9th in the constructor’s championship.

Pierre Gasly: 5/10, Best Race: Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Pierre was one of 2021’s stand out performers, regularly taking his Alpha Tauri to the top end of the field competing with the likes of McLaren and Ferrari. However, 2022 was a disappointing year for the Frenchman as he failed to replicate those stand out performances with difficult Alpha Tauri machinery. Despite an underwhelming year he was able to secure a move to Alpine, completing an all-French line-up of Ocon and Gasly. He will look to showcase his talent once again in an Alpine car which should be more fitting for his talent.

Yuki Tsunoda: 5/10, Best Race: Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Yuki was highly criticised following a dismal debut campaign, where he was both slow and error prone. This season saw the Japanese driver take a huge step forward, providing a tough match for teammate Gasly on most weekends. Whilst he still showed his inconsistent nature, he was arguably this year's most improved driver and if he can continue to develop along that trajectory he could prove to a be a star of the future.

Williams: 4/10

Best Race: Italian Grand Prix, The new era promised to be a turn around in fortunes for one of F1’s most historic teams, following a recent period of hardship for Williams. Unfortunately, this campaign saw many of the same issues we’d seen in previous years, a slow car suffering from a lack of downforce. Whilst they were the fields slowest car they did have the capability to fight in the midfield on occasion, particularly in qualifying with Albon especially doing well to make into Q2 every now and again. With the help of new owners Dorilton Capital, Williams will look to continue their progress back towards the midfield.

Alex Albon: 7/10, Best Race: Australian Grand Prix, Alex was bereft of confidence after being thoroughly trounced by teammate Max Verstappen in 2020, however after a year on the side-lines Albon looks good as new in the wake of an impressive return to F1. For much of the year his machinery was uncompetitive, but that didn’t stop Alex from impressing as he was regularly able to challenge the much faster midfield cars. His standout performance came at the Australian Grand Prix, as he was able to pull off a daring one stop, stretching his hard tyres almost a full race distance before pitting on the penultimate lap to claim a solitary point for the team. Alex will want to continue rebuilding his reputation next year, as he is partnered with promising young rookie Logan Sargeant who will provide more of a representative challenge for Albon.

Nicholas Latifi: 2/10, Best Race: Japanese Grand Prix, After a somewhat impressive end to the 2021 campaign, it was back to square one for Nicholas as he appeared as far off the pace as he’s been throughout his career so far, combine this with numerous embarrassing errors across the season leaves very little positives to take from the year. It was somewhat inevitable therefore that he would be replaced for 2023, even with the amount of money he brings to a cash strapped Williams team. Whilst there were occasions throughout Nicholas’ time in F1 he appeared competitive, those moments were few and far between, as the Canadian looks to a new chapter of his racing career away from F1.