Verstappen makes it two as Red Bull return to the top

The new regulations initially gave Formula 1 the fight it wanted. Charles Leclerc won two of the opening three races, Ferrari looked quick, and Red Bull suffered early reliability problems.

It did not last. Ferrari lost points through failures, strategy calls, and driver errors, while Max Verstappen and Red Bull became stronger as the season went on. By Japan, Verstappen had his second World Championship; Red Bull soon followed with its first Constructors’ title since 2013.

Race Calendar

The 2022 calendar featured 22 races across 20 countries, maintaining one of the longest seasons in Formula 1 history.

The season saw the return of several circuits after pandemic disruptions, alongside the introduction of a brand-new venue in Miami.

Drivers and Constructors

The 2022 grid featured 10 teams and 22 drivers, including multiple reserve driver appearances throughout the season. The introduction of new technical regulations reshaped the competitive order, but the grid itself remained a mix of experienced champions and emerging talent.

2022 Season Analysis

Five different drivers stood on the top step of the podium in 2022, but the season was largely dominated by Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing, particularly in the second half of the year.

Verstappen won 15 races, often without starting from pole. Red Bull usually had both the race pace and the cleaner Sunday execution.

Ferrari showed strong early-season form, with Leclerc winning two of the first three races and Sainz securing his maiden victory at Silverstone. However, inconsistency and strategic errors prevented them from sustaining a title challenge.

Pérez won in Monaco and Singapore, while Russell took his first victory in São Paulo—the only race Red Bull lost in the second half of the season.

Points, Podiums, Sprints and DNFs

The podium count shows how quickly the balance of the season shifted.

Verstappen finished on the podium 17 times. Leclerc and Pérez followed with 11 each, Sainz and Hamilton had nine, and Russell added eight in his first year with Mercedes.

For the midfield teams, podium opportunities were rare. Lando Norris claimed McLaren’s only top-three finish of the year at Imola after Leclerc spun late in the race.

Consistency in the points told a similar story.

Verstappen and Russell each recorded 20 points finishes, the highest total on the grid. Pérez, Leclerc, and Hamilton were just behind on 19, while Norris stood out with 17 in a McLaren that was rarely quick enough to fight at the front.

Behind the top teams, Alpine emerged as the strongest midfield package. Ocon reached the top ten 16 times and Alonso 14, enough to secure fourth in the Constructors’ Championship.

There were also a few notable milestones:

• Mick Schumacher scored the first points of his Formula 1 career at Silverstone.
• Nyck de Vries finished ninth on his debut at Monza.
• Zhou Guanyu scored on debut in Bahrain and added two more points finishes during the season.

Sprint weekends returned in 2022 at Imola, the Red Bull Ring, and Interlagos.

The format stayed largely the same, but points were now awarded to the top eight finishers instead of only the top three. That made Sprint races more relevant to the championship, especially for the front-runners.

Verstappen scored 21 Sprint points across the three events. Sainz and Leclerc followed with 18 and 17, while Pérez and Russell also reached double figures. With points now available down to eighth, midfield drivers had far more reason to care about Saturday’s result.

Fastest laps added another small layer to the picture of outright pace.

Verstappen recorded the most fastest laps with five. Russell followed with four, while Leclerc and Pérez took three each. Further down, Norris, Sainz, and Hamilton each managed two, and Zhou appeared on the list once.

Red Bull, Ferrari, and Mercedes accounted for nearly every fastest lap.

Reliability had a major influence on the 2022 season.

Sainz, Bottas, Alonso, and Tsunoda each retired six times. Albon, Latifi, Zhou, and Magnussen were close behind with five.

At the other end of the scale, Russell retired only once all season. That difference in reliability and race survival helps explain why he stayed so close to the front of the championship despite Mercedes rarely having the fastest car.

At Silverstone, Zhou Guanyu’s car flipped over the tyre barrier on the opening lap. He escaped without serious injury.

Point Progression

A season-long view of the Drivers’ Championship makes the turning point easy to spot.

Leclerc led the standings through the early rounds as Ferrari looked like the faster package. That changed by round six, when Verstappen moved ahead and never gave the lead back. From that point on, Red Bull’s combination of pace, reliability, and race execution steadily widened the gap.

Ferrari’s title challenge faded through a mix of strategic errors, reliability problems, and driver mistakes. By the final races, the more relevant battle was for second place, where Leclerc narrowly held off Pérez.

Further back, Russell enjoyed an excellent first season at Mercedes and finished ahead of Hamilton in the standings, while Sainz secured fifth place overall.

The Constructors’ Championship followed a similar pattern.

Red Bull Racing gradually broke clear of the field and secured its first Constructors’ title since 2013. Behind them, Ferrari did enough to stay ahead of Mercedes, despite the latter improving significantly over the second half of the year.

The closest fight was for fourth. Alpine ultimately beat McLaren, with the consistency of both Ocon and Alonso proving enough to overcome Norris’s standout individual season.

Conclusions and Final Standings

The 2022 season began with the promise of a genuine title fight, but it ended as a demonstration of Red Bull’s superiority.

Verstappen secured his second consecutive World Championship with a record 15 wins from 22 races, while Red Bull sealed its first Constructors’ crown of the hybrid era. Leclerc finished second, just ahead of Pérez, after Ferrari’s strong start gave way to too many missed opportunities.

For Mercedes, the year was disappointing by its own standards, but the team recovered well enough to take third and claim a breakthrough win with Russell in São Paulo. Behind the top three teams, Alpine won the battle for fourth, McLaren leaned heavily on Norris, and every team on the grid scored at least once.

Note: Results were checked against the official Formula 1 classifications. The charts were generated from the Jolpica F1 API, the maintained successor to Ergast.