As the sun sets on a memorable year, it is time to take a look at five top drivers of 2022 F1 season.
In a season which saw 21 out of 22 drivers who participated in at least one race pick up points finishes, there is plenty to celebrate amongst this year’s grid from a first Chinese points finisher in Bahrain to an emergency replacement scoring points on debut at Monza.
There are therefore various cases for many drivers to be ranked within the top-five driver rankings of 2022, so here is my top five drivers of a thrilling season.
Alex Albon (Williams)
After spending 2021 on the sidelines at Red Bull plus competing in DTM and harshly caught up in the fallout of Max Verstappen’s collision with Lewis Hamilton at Silverstone, Albon certainly rebounded in 2022 following his move to Williams as he delivered four of their six constructor points.
Albon also had to contend with an uncompetitive car yet somehow managed to get his Williams car out of Q1 on eight occasions in total, although he exited Q2 on seven of those occasions and qualified ninth in Belgium underlining that he still has the raw speed under his belt.
Add in Albon’s excellent head-to-heads record against teammate – Nicholas Latifi in which he prevailed 19-2 in Qualifying and 15-4 on racedays, it is hard to ignore his performances overall given that he had a year out yet he has delivered consistently in an uncompetitive car.
Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo)
After enduring a difficult 2021 season at Mercedes in which he failed to match Hamilton and partially cost the Brit a potential eighth title, Bottas has definitely embraced his fresh adventures at Alfa Romeo with a tenth-placed finish.
Admittedly, Bottas saw a mid-season slump with just three points from the final 13 races but his early-season form showed that he still is a solid driver under the right car setup, as demonstrated by a strong drive in Miami as he beat both Mercedes drivers in Qualifying with a strong fifth place.
Even during the Miami Grand Prix itself, Bottas still impressively matched both Mercedes but a small error eventually allowed both Mercedes drivers through, in an otherwise strong drive from the Finnish driver that weekend which probably ranks as his best of the whole season.
Bottas though deserves credit for how he has turned his fortunes around after last year as his fifth placed finish at Imola helped Alfa Romeo secure sixth overall in the constructors’ championship, which is a marked improvement for the Italian team.
George Russell (Mercedes)
After overperforming in an uncompetitive Williams for the last three seasons, Russell has certainly proved that he is no back-of-grid pony after enjoying a strong first season for Mercedes in which he displayed an excellent race day edge over seven-time champion, Hamilton.
Despite Hamilton possessing the Qualifying edge with a 13-9 swing in the veteran’s favour, Russell took the team’s only pole position of the season with a stunning lap in Hungary only for his race strategy to cost him a maiden win on that weekend.
Mercedes though were generally less competitive than in previous seasons but whilst Hamilton largely ran early-season experimentations to help the team work out how to improve, Russell undoubtedly stepped up with consistent top-five finishes in 14 of the opening 15 races.
That form in particular for a young driver in his first season at a top team like Mercedes is incredibly impressive with just three non top-five finishes overall, especially when compared to a fiercely experienced teammate like Hamilton who he boldly fought off for his maiden win in Brazil.
Nevertheless, this season has been Russell’s best yet with a fourth-placed championship finish and if he can deliver such consistency in a weak car, he is going to be a huge problem once he is in an ultra-competitive car.
Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
2022 has certainly been a mixed year for Leclerc because whilst reliability and errors ruined his title challenge, he has bettered his rivals on one-lap pace which is a huge positive that he can take into 2023.
The best place to start concerning Leclerc’s season is his one-lap pace because with nine pole positions, he has been unbelievably quick in a resurgent Ferrari with nine pole positions – including four in a row; Miami, Spain, Monaco and Azerbaijan – despite failing to win any of those four specific races.
Race days though have been a totally different game with just two of his nine pole positions converted into wins, whilst his Austrian win was earned on a rare excellent strategy call in a season where Ferrari blunders and unreliability have generally cost him.
Leclerc though didn’t always help his cause with costly mistakes in Imola and France which were both of his own doing, yet highlights that he still has progress to make after previously making small costly errors in previous seasons if he is to truly fight for the title.
Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
After two retirements and one win from the opening three rounds amidst on-going fan controversy over the manner of his maiden title triumph just months earlier, Verstappen showed why he is now a worthy two-time champion.
In a dominant campaign with 15 wins, Verstappen simply was unstoppable when on form with some stunning drives, especially with a five-race winning streak mid-season which proved crucial in sealing his second title in Japan with four rounds to spare.
Imola in particular was a dominant weekend of Verstappen’s season as he dominated Qualifying, Sprint Race and Grand Prix itself, which sparked his season into life because if he hadn’t gone well there then you have to wonder if he would of been a title contender this season at all.
Hungary and Belgium meanwhile saw Verstappen somehow execute his race strategies to absolute perfection from 10th and 14th on grid respectively, underlining just how excellent this 25 year-old has been this season in raw speed especially during races.
His performance on home soil in Zandvoort though was the icing on the cake because he didn’t top any of the three Practice sessions, yet somehow pulled it out of the bag in Qualifying and the race to clinch his second consecutive Dutch GP victory in his strongest year yet.
One final stat which underlines Verstappen’s blistering race pace is the fact that he converted six of his seven pole positions into victories, only failing to do so in Austria after a bad strategy call from Red Bull.
If there is a moment that taints Verstappen’s season then it has to be his refusal to obey team orders in Brazil, which sort of echoes Sebastian Vettel’s defiance when on top of his game at Red Bull and shows that there is room for improvement in Verstappen’s maturity as a team player.
Verstappen however has ultimately shone above his fellow rivals across all 22 rounds and undoubtedly can be described as the top driver of the season.
Honourable Mentions
- Gunayu Zhou (Alfa Romeo) – Adapted well to F1 with a single point on debut in Bahrain and showed strong progress across season.
- Nyck De Vries (Williams) – Participated in four FP1 sessions but managed to deliver on his emergency competitive debut with a Q2 appearance and ninth-placed finish for Williams in Monza in place of Albon.
- Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) – Performed solidly despite failing to match Leclerc all season but managed three pole positions and a brilliant maiden F1 win at British Grand Prix.
- Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) – Bravely took the hit with series of early-season experiments but bounced back strongly in concluding races in his first F1 season without a win or pole position.
- Kevin Magnussen (Haas) – Enjoyed a solid return season after his unexpected recall just weeks before the new campaign, with a shock Sao Paulo Sprint pole position being a huge highlight.
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