And We’re Off… A Quick Look At The 2022 F1 Season Thus Far

Have you caught your breath yet? No? I’ll give you a minute…

This year’s campaign is set to be the longest ever, with twenty-three Grand Prix packed into a busy schedule, and what a start to the season it’s been. Two races in, and both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia have provided no shortage of hard racing on the track (and plenty to chew on off it, but let’s save that for another piece). So as the dust settles from the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, let’s have a quick look at how each team has navigated the first two rounds of Formula One’s new era.

Ferrari: Leclerc - 1st (45 PTS) / Sainz - 2nd (33 PTS)

Ferrari’s back? The Prancing Horse has been able to put both cars on the podium in the opening two rounds, an effort that has many believing they can win their first constructors’ championship since 2008. With Charles Leclerc taking a commanding victory in Bahrain - a drive he followed up with a solid podium performance in Saudi Arabia - he currently leads the drivers’ standings and is in pole position to supplant Max Verstappen as the reigning champion. To say that all eyes will be on Leclerc vs. Verstappen this year is a gross understatement.

Mercedes: Russell - 4th (22 PTS) / Hamilton - 5th (16 PTS)

Your eyes are not failing you. Despite their struggles, Mercedes are in fact ahead of Red Bull in the constructors’ standings, albeit by one point. Bahrain proved to be a pleasant surprise, as Mercedes were the biggest benefactors of Red Bull’s late race collapse. Jeddah was a bit more of a grind for the Silver Arrows though, with Lewis Hamilton qualifying in P16 and failing to get out of Q1. So what’s the issue? Many are pointing to their power unit, as Mercedes’ customer teams have also been suffering mightily. There may still be time for Toto’s crew to turn things around, but will Ferrari and Red Bull be too far ahead by the time they do?

Red Bull: Verstappen - 3rd (25 PTS) / Perez - 7th (12 PTS)

Red Bull will want to forget about Bahrain. Men In Black-style. Look into the flashy thing and poof, it’s gone. Make no bones about it, zero points was a disastrous result in the opening round, but they appear to have sorted out their problems in time to see Sergio Perez take pole and for Max Verstappen take the win in Jeddah. Terrible luck for Perez with the VSC coming out when it did, but he’s showing that he can still fight at the front, a factor that could prove vital in Red Bull’s battle against Ferrari.

Alpine: Ocon - 6th (14 PTS) / Alonso - 13th (2 PTS)

Alpine put on quite a show for the fans in Saudi Arabia. The race had been a bit of a snoozefest until Ocon and Alonso went at it in a firm-but-fair battle for P6. It surely hurt their forward progress, but it was fun to watch until Alonso retired with overheating issues. Cheers to Otmar for letting them race, even if it was at his own team’s expense.

Haas: Magnussen - 8th (12 PTS) / Schumacher - 15th (0 PTS)

Haas have been the biggest surprise thus far, bar none. After a messy pre-season situation that saw them kick both Nikita Mazepin and Uralkali to the curb, they’ve mightily turned things around. Kevin Magnussen looks reborn, battling with the likes of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell in both races so far. As for Mick, here’s hoping he bounces back after his nasty accident in qualifying at Jeddah. That was one of the heaviest hits I’ve seen in a long time, one that had everyone holding their breath, and many calling for changes to the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. Rest up for Melbourne, Mick.

Alfa Romeo: Bottas - 9th (8 PTS) / Zhou - 14th (1 PT)

It’s been fun to see Bottas start his post-Mercedes career being racy as he’s been, and seeing Zhou Guanyu score a point on his F1 debut made for a brilliant story as well.

FUN FACT: China is now the first country to have a debut points-scorer since the world championship began in 1950.

AlphaTauri: Tsunoda - 11th (4 PTS) / Gasly - 12th (4 PTS)

The biggest takeaway for me after watching these AT’s this year is this… reliability is going to be a concern. A big concern. We already saw the Red Bull-Honda power units struggle to go the distance in Bahrain with Red Bull’s double-retirement, but Gasly also retired from that race with a PU failure. As for Tsunoda, he couldn’t even take the start in Saudi Arabia, as his car broke down before it could take the grid.

McLaren: Norris - 10th (6 PTS) / Ricciardo - 19th (0 PTS)

If Haas have been the biggest positive surprise in this young season, McLaren have proved to be the biggest negative surprise. As one of Mercedes’ customer teams, McLaren are feeling the impact of the struggling PU they’re being supplied with. Still, to be THIS off the pace is a surprise to many, as McLaren have made forward progress points-wise every year for the last four seasons, a streak that’s not looking likely to extend to a fifth at this rate.

Aston Martin: Stroll - 16th (0 PTS) / Hulkenburg - 17th (0 PTS)

It might just be me, but Aston Martin have been the most forgettable team so far, which is a shame. We kind of knew that this season might be a struggle for them since they’re another Mercedes customer team, and like the others, Aston Martin have stumbled out of the gates. Granted, it doesn’t help that Nico Hulkenburg has had to deputize for Sebastian Vettel, who has missed both races thus far due to COVID. Having Vettel back in the car will hopefully provide a small boost to the team, but with the way things are trending, it’ll take a lot more than that to turn things around for the Silverstone-based outfit.

Williams: Albon - 18th (0 PTS) / Latifi - 20th (0 PTS)

No shock to see Williams here. This will be another slog of a year for them, but it’s nice to see Alex Albon back on the grid. Both drivers failed to run a clean and tidy race at Jeddah though, as Albon tangled with Lance Stroll at turn one, and Latifi capped off a crash-filled weekend with an accident that brought a premature end to his day on Sunday.

So where to next?

In two weeks, the F1 circus travels to Melbourne for the Australian Grand Prix for the first time since 2019. The Albert Park Circuit has been significantly redeveloped since it was last used, with certain areas having been adjusted and altered to allow for an increase in overtaking opportunities and more flat-out driving. In combination with the new regulations, which have proven that these new cars can race each other quite hard and follow close in turbulent air, it could prove to be a tasty tandem. What impact will these changes actually have? We’ll find out for sure on April 10th.