With the 2023 F1 season just a couple of months away, it’s time to look at where every driver is based on their season. No matter what, the list will be controversial but some drivers' positioning will be easy to agree on and others you will be able to argue for. There were in fact 22 different drivers’ in 2022 but we will make a list purely on the full-time drivers. So let’s dive into the list.
1: Max Verstappen
What isn’t there to say about the Dutchman, 15 race wins after a tricky start to the season that involved 2 DNFs in the first 3 races and after the Australian Grand Prix found himself 46 points off early pace-setter Charles Leclerc. As much as people will say that he had the fastest car, you also need to have a super fast driver behind the wheel, and this year Verstappen has been the complete package (other than when he met Lewis Hamilton on track again). There was a different side to Verstappen that was never shown last year which was less desperation in all areas, usually, in 2021 you would see him go for an overtake that just wasn’t on whereas, in 2022 that wasn’t the case, he timed his moves perfectly and extracted every bit of performance out the car that was possible.
Best Result:
Verstappen’s best result was a 1st-place finish achieved at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Miami Grand Prix, Spanish Grand Prix, Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Canadian Grand Prix, French Grand Prix, Hungarian Grand Prix, Belgian Grand Prix, Dutch Grand Prix, Italian Grand Prix, Japanese Grand Prix, United States Grand Prix, Mexican Grand Prix, and Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
2: George Russell
Became the third driver to beat Lewis Hamilton over a season, which says a lot given Hamilton is one of the GOATs (Greatest Of All Time) in the sport. Russell always put himself in the position of being in 4th/5th place and found himself finishing on the podium when others ahead dropped out due to reliability issues but in a car that was so unexpected from Mercedes, Russell quickly got on top of the issues and settled in the team perfectly. It was a season of firsts as well for Russell, his first pole position in Hungary, the first legitimate podium in Australia, and the first win in Brazil. In an underperforming car, to claim 8 podiums was so achievement from Russell and he only had 1 DNF sadly for him at his home race at Silverstone.
Best Result:
Russell’s best result was a 1st-place finish achieved at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
3: Charles Leclerc
A season of what could have been for the young Monegasque, a strong start to the season got him dreaming of his first title and the team's first drivers’ title since 2007 and their first title since winning the constructor’s title in 2008. Super quick on a Saturday with the most pole positions of anyone on the grid (9), however, Sunday's race pace let him down badly with just the 3 race wins but his season was filled with loads of podium finishes (11). 2022 was a learning experience for Leclerc, having never been in a title battle, he will now know what it takes to challenge for one (hopefully 2023) especially competing with Max Verstappen and a bullet-proof Red Bull team.
Best Result:
Leclerc’s best result was a 1st-place finish achieved at the Bahrain Grand Prix, Australian Grand Prix and Austrian Grand Prix.
4: Lando Norris
Lando Norris doing Lando Norris things by doing what he does best which is finish best of the rest and what makes it even more impressive is that he did it in the 5th fastest car. The only driver outside the big 3 to step on the podium, in Imola, but was always a consistent points scorer as he finished 30 points ahead of Esteban Ocon. The changes that McLaren made from the Bahrain Grand Prix throughout the season helped Norris massively go from a P15 finish to the points scoring finish. If Norris carries on these performances, he will be hounded by the big teams where he deserves to be but only if McLaren can’t make any progress to close the gap to the top teams.
Best Result:
Norris’s best result was a 3rd-place finish achieved at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
5: Lewis Hamilton
A challenging season for the Brit but one that can still look back on with some positives. The number of podiums that he took from others' misfortunes just like what his teammate did. Sadly his record of winning a race in every season he has competed in is now over which is gutting given it was an impressive record given some of the cars he has driven during his F1 stint. The thing that impressed me the most about Hamilton was he never once gave up on the car even when it was causing him physical pain (Baku), which says a lot about his mentality with a never die attitude when others would have called it quits.
Best Result:
Hamilton’s best result was a 2nd-place finish achieved at the French Grand Prix, Hungarian Grand Prix, United States Grand Prix, Mexican Grand Prix and Brazilian Grand Prix.
6: Sebastian Vettel
An F1 icon and what a pleasure it has been watching Seb and what he achieved in the Aston Martin this year in what at times was the slowest car on the grid. Don’t forget though Vettel missed the first 2 races of the season due to testing positive for COVID-19 at least though he was able to do the pre-season test so he knew what to expect from the green tractor. Imola was when he showed what he had to offer in the sport and you could see that the passion and drive were still there. Hungary was a sad time when he announced his retirement and in every race, since he made that announcement, you could see that he was enjoying the racing Japan springs to mind after qualifying and the race. His move on Magnussen at the end of the US Grand Prix was stunning and just epitomised Sebastian Vettel.
Best Result:
Vettel’s best result was a 6th-place finish achieved at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and the Japanese Grand Prix.
7: Carlos Sainz
Putting Carlos as the 7th best driver of 2022 is maybe a bit harsh when you consider Hamilton being in 5th but Ferrari for the early running had the fastest car compared to Red Bull and made some mistakes, being beached into the gravel at Australia, crashing in Imola qualifying and a bit of reliability issues occurred in Baku and in Austria but for all of the downsides to Sainz’s 2022 season, there were also a couple of firsts. He got his first career pole position at Silverstone in a wet qualifying followed up with a first career win 24 hours later but overall he hasn’t had the pace to keep up with Leclerc and Verstappen.
Best Result:
Sainz’s best result was a 1st-place finish achieved at the British Grand Prix.
8: Esteban Ocon
Esteban Ocon, for me, was the most improved driver outside the top 3 teams finishing ahead of teammate Fernando Alonso who is not easy Yes Alonso had more reliability-related DNFs than Ocon. This season showed us a different side to Ocon, where he was willing to become that team leader. Ocon had a good season in the Alpine a best finish of 5th and was more consistent than he had been in previous seasons so it was truly an improved season, especially with everything happening on the other side of the garage.
Best Result:
Ocon’s best result was a 5th-place finish achieved at the Austrian Grand Prix.
9: Fernando Alonso
Got to feel sorry for Fernando Alonso, the amount of unreliability that the 2-time World Champion suffered was borderline a joke. His claim of losing x amount of points in the season is probably a fair reflection and he should have finished as best of the rest in the standings. He drove well in 2022 but ultimately the history books will say “Fernando Alonso DNF”. He got everything out of the Alpine to the point it kept blowing up on him. He survived an airborne crash with Lance Stroll at the Circuit Of The Americas to eventually finish P7 after a post-race disqualification but Alonso he had enough and found another seat for the 2023 season with Aston Martin.
Best Result:
Alonso’s best result was a 5th-place finish achieved at the British Grand Prix and the Brazilian Grand Prix.
10: Sergio Perez
If we are being brutally honest, it’s no surprise that Checo is this low. You can make the argument that the car wasn’t suited to his driving style which is true but for as long as Max Verstappen is in the other car, it will never suit the number 2 driver in the team. Over 1 lap pace, he was in no-man land compared to Verstappen/Leclerc and even at times Sainz. Over a race distance, it was the same story he never really got anywhere close to Leclerc/Verstappen’s pace, and for someone who is known as a tyre saving expert that never really showed after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Yes, he had 2 wins this season but other than a pole at Saudi Arabia, what else is there to say about his season other than it was quite underwhelming? Red Bull had the fastest car during the second half of the season, there’s no denying that but for him to finish P3 in the drivers' standing just goes to show that he just doesn’t have the speed to match the others at the front of the grid.
Best Result:
Perez’s best result was a 1st-place finish achieved at the Monaco Grand Prix and the Singapore Grand Prix.
11: Valtteri Bottas
You could argue that Valtteri should be higher up on the list but everyone above just had an overall better season than the Finn. His start to the season, you couldn’t ask for anything better for a team that hasn’t scored a podium under the Alfa Romeo name. The best way to describe Bottas’s start to the season was that he looked like he went back to the Bottas which allowed him to challenge Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes. He just looked like an entirely different person, almost as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders, following the announcement of his move and alongside a rookie, it could have been easy for arrogance to build up inside of him but he never showed that. Up until the British Grand Prix, Bottas and Alfa Romeo looked unstoppable with regular points finishes but after that, the car just went backward as rival teams were able to flex their muscles with updates to their cars.
Best Result:
Bottas’s best result was a 5th-place finish achieved at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
12: Kevin Magnussen
Kevin Magnussen, returning back to the sport after a year out, was able to show that he never left with his performances in the first few races. A stunning start at the Bahrain Grand Prix was awarded a P5 finish. A couple more points finishes were to follow before a run of Ferrari reliability issues which knocked the confidence out of the team, who you can also say lost confidence in the car with the following races not really looking in contention to score points. Overall in a car that he only had 1 test in and a team that would have had new faces in from the last time he raced in F1, it was a solid season for the Danish driver.
Best Result:
Magnussen’s best result was a 5th-place achieved at the Bahrain Grand Prix.
13: Guanyu Zhou
Now when Zhou Guanyu was announced to be racing in F1, he instantly had his critics but he quickly shut them up with a points finish on his debut in Bahrain. Now for a rookie, there is a lot that needs to be done in the cockpit and at times it can get the better of the driver but with Zhou, having a steady start to the season was important not getting involved in accidents with other drivers was critical. Alfa Romeo never really utilised the package they had throughout the season after a strong start. It would be 8 races till Zhou would score his next points finish at the Canadian Grand Prix with a P8 finish but to be fair to Zhou in that run were 3 DNFs that were out of his control.
Best Result:
Zhou’s best result was an 8th-place finish achieved at the Canadian Grand Prix.
14: Mick Schumacher
In his second year in F1 and at Haas, Mick Schumacher had a very solid season with point-scoring finishes and at times had DNFs which took away from the German driver securing a good finish. Canada springs to mind where he qualified a career-best P6 in a wet qualifying session. Schumacher should have scored a good haul of points but a mechanical DNF stopped him from showing his true pace. It was a frustrating season for Schumacher, even though he did have 2 big crashes at Saudi Arabia qualifying (which led to him not taking part in the race) and in Monaco (where anyone could have made the same mistake but it was unfortunately Mick it happened to). The ending of the season doesn’t make for a good look at Schumacher, with a highest finishing position being P12 at Monza but he was unlucky to lose his seat at the team for the 2023 season.
Best Result:
Schumacher’s best result was a 6th-place finish achieved at the Austrian Grand Prix.
15: Alex Albon
Alex Albon’s first season back from sitting on the sidelines at Red Bull and he had a season you’d expect from a team that has struggled in the turbo-hybrid era. Albon comfortably beat Nicholas Latifi over the course of the season which wasn’t a surprise given the pace difference between both drivers. Albon did have some races that went under the radar, races such as Belgium when he was able to finish in P10 and score the sole remaining point. With a new teammate due in 2023, Albon will surely be looking to put himself back on the market for a seat higher up on the grid if Williams isn’t able to provide him with a car good enough to compete for places that aren’t P17-P20.
Best Result:
Albon’s best result was a 9th-place finish achieved at the inaugural Miami Grand Prix.
16: Lance Stroll
Lance Stroll had an average season even when Aston Martin developed an entirely new car when the series returned to the European stint of the season. Stroll struggled to match the pace of his teammate and only scored 17 points through the season. The problem with Stroll was that he knew he had a car that didn’t suit his driving style and was overdriving it so was forcing little errors and the biggest error he made was in qualifying for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Best Result:
Stroll’s best result was a 6th-place finish achieved in the changeable conditions at the Singapore Grand Prix.
17: Pierre Gasly
Pierre really struggled with the transition from the 2021 car to the 2022 car but got a move to a bigger team for 2022 with the Frenchman securing a move to Alpine and ending his illustrious Alpha Tauri/Toro Rosso career which consisted of his first win, his first podium. Gasly just hated the new car and it showed throughout the season with only 5 points finishes, coupled with some DNFs while in the other races, he would finish outside the points.
Best Result:
Gasly’s best result was a 5th-place finish achieved at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
18: Yuki Tsunoda
Just like his teammate Gasly, Tsunoda also struggled with the transition and if anything had a worse season than Gasly. The young Japanese racer only had 2 points finishes in the first 4 races. His season was filled with more DNFs and a DNS in Saudi Arabia but just for the entire Alpha Tauri squad, it was a season of frustration and a season that everyone will want to forget.
Best Result:
Tsunoda’s best result was a 7th-place finish achieved in the changeable conditions at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
19: Daniel Ricciardo
Oh Daniel, just how far could an 8-time winner fall so badly? 2022 was meant to be the year that we saw Ricciardo back to his best but sadly that never happened. A new car to learn but he looked even worst than what he did in 2021 when he took the win in Monza. Ricciardo rightfully got dropped by McLaren and in my opinion cost McLaren 4th in the constructors’ standings with his poor performances. The Daniel Ricciardo that we all know, just truly disappeared which is a shame given his immense talent. His best result was a 5th place finish at the Singapore Grand Prix but other than that and a few other points finishes, his season just never matched what Norris was getting out of the car.
Best Result:
Ricciardo’s best result was a 5th-place finish achieved in the changeable conditions at the Singapore Grand Prix.
20: Nicholas Latifi
Someone had to sadly finish last on this list and Nicholas Latifi being there isn’t a surprise. Compared to his 2021 season, Latifi struggled and his race pace really showed where he really stood compared to his teammate (Alex Albon) and his fellow peers on the grid. Latifi was never F1 quality, even though he has the character to be an F1 driver, but when he made his debut in 2020 he did what was expected. Hopefully, Latifi can find a series that suits him and he can see that passion inside again.
Best Result:
Latifi’s best result was a 9th-place finish achieved in the wet conditions in the shortened Japanese Grand Prix.
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