2022 F1 mid-season driver ratings – how has the grid performed?

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With 13 grands prix completed and F1 under its summer break, it's time to look back on each driver's season so far and rate how they've performed

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Formula 1 has embarked on a new era in 2022 which has given teams and drivers the chance of a fresh start.

With 13 races of the season now completed and the championship on its annual summer break, a competitive picture – albeit one that is still evolving – has begun to form.

Bearing that in mind, we’ve decided to come up with mid-season driver ratings based on how they’ve performed.

The drivers are listed in championship order, however Nico Hülkenberg has not been included due to only completing the first two races of the season, after Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel tested positive for COVID-19.

 

Max Verstappen – 9/10

CEL

Verstappen’s lead in the standings is worth over three race wins

Vertsappen’s championship defence couldn’t have gone much better. With eight wins and 10 podiums, he is currently storming towards a second world title.

The Dutchman’s 80-point lead is quite remarkable considering the start of his season was plagued with two retirements – through no fault of his own – in the opening three races, which had him 46 points behind then-championship leader, Charles Leclerc.

He just hasn’t really put a foot wrong taking exceptional victories in Imola and Montreal along the way, with Budapest standing out in particular winning from the fifth row on the grid.

However, if one were to be hypercritical, Verstappen’s three poles to Leclerc’s seven has slightly let him down. As the cliche goes though, it’s what happens on a Sunday that counts.

 

Charles Leclerc – 7.5/10

POR

A season full of missed opportunities for Leclerc

It’s been a familiar story for Ferrari this season; a car capable of fighting for the championship, but individual and team mistakes costing it.

There’s the bewildering decision to fit Leclerc with the hard tyres in Budpest, despite evidence that compound clearly wasn’t working well on the day, the pit-stop blunder which scuppered victory in Monaco, while reliability problems have also cost the Scuderia a couple of wins.

Yet on the whole, Leclerc can look at his season positively, because he has still been putting in very good drives, especially in qualifying.

More often than not he is on pole, while Leclerc has also picked up impressive wins this season like in Bahrain and Austria.

However, individual mistakes of his own have also cost him which is why the score isn’t as high as it could be.

He was too aggressive in Imola, resulting in a spin into the barrier and out of a podium position, while a similar thing happened in France, that time costing Leclerc a victory.

 

Sergio Perez – 7/10

Sergio Perez celebrates winning the Monaco Grand Prix on the podium

Perez was seen crying on the podium after his win in Monaco and just two days after, a contract extension was announced

Grand Prix Photo

This season has been much improved for Perez, after a bit of an underwhelming debut year for Red Bull in 2021 with just five podium finishes.

He has already exceeded that number this year with six, drove brilliantly in Monaco to win that day, leading at one point to talk of him challenging Verstappen and Leclerc for the championship.

However, much of that hype has fizzled out in recent rounds and the Mexican has just one podium in the last five races, with two retirements in that period.

Perez is still a decent chunk off Verstappen’s times in qualifying and has failed to reach the final session in three of the past five races.

Clearly there is a lot for him to improve upon, but it’s still been a good season for Perez, who has played a crucial role in helping Red Bull have a 97-point lead in the constructors’ championship.

 

George Russell – 8/10 

CEL

It’s been a brilliant debut year for Russell at Mercedes

Mr Saturday has turned into Mr Consistent this season with Russell’s unfortunate retirement on lap one in Silverstone, being the only time he’s finished outside the top five in 2022.

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In what has largely been a difficult year for Mercedes, struggling for pace in the early part of the season and porpoising affecting their car heavily, Russell has still showed his immense talent to even be ahead of one Ferrari driver in the championship.

It’s been an incredibly impressive year for the young Briton, who hasn’t seemed fazed by the fact his team-mate is a seven-time world champion.

While Lewis Hamilton has started to get the better of Russell recently, in the early part of the season the 24-year-old was consistently beating his illustrious colleague and still remains ahead in the championship.

Russell claimed his first-ever pole in F1 at the most recent round in Budapest and leads Hamilton 7-6 in qualifying, so there are many positives for him heading into the last half of the season and should easily build on the five podiums he has so far.

 

Carlos Sainz Jr – 7/10 

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Alongside Zhou Guanyu, Sainz has the most retirements this season

2022 has been a very topsy-turvy season for Sainz. While this year has seen him get a first-ever pole and victory in F1, there’s still been moments to forget for the Spaniard.

He spun off into the gravel in Australia, got stuck behind the Williams cars in Monaco which cost him victory, while he only has one pole compared to his team-mate’s seven.

To be fair to Sainz, a lot of his low moments this season have come through bad luck, retirements in Imola and Austria for example, but at times he’s still been a long way off Leclerc and is even behind Russell in the championship.

However he has still put in some very good drives, like Silverstone and France, which is why his score is pretty solid, but still with much to work on after the summer break.

 

Lewis Hamilton – 7/10

CEL

After a tough start to the year, Hamilton’s season is now on track

The start of this season was tough for Hamilton and had a lot of people doubting him.

He had beaten Russell just once in a race in the opening seven rounds, was eliminated from Q1 in Jeddah and was severely impacted by the porpoising.

However, Hamilton has managed to turn it around and quieten the doubters with five consecutive podiums before the summer break, with only Verstappen scoring more points in that time.

Had it not been for a late safety car, there is an argument to be made that he would have won in Silverstone, while a DRS problem prevented him from going for pole in Budapest.

It has been very impressive to watch Hamilton in this back end to the first half of the season and that’s what has upped his score.

It also has to be said that at the start of the season he was experimenting with a lot of different car setups – to help the team – which cost him at the time.

Now it seems like the worst of times are behind though – Hamilton and Mercedes can go into the second part of the season feeling positive, with a good chance to snatch a race win.

 

Lando Norris – 7.5/10

CEL

Leclerc’s blunder in Imola gifted Norris with a podium

In a season where his team-mate has largely struggled, Norris has been putting in one solid performance after another and the 22-year-old has now added that consistency to his game.

Seventh in the championship, he comfortably leads the midfield and is the only driver outside of Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes to finish on the podium this season.

Even more spectacular, the way he conducted himself in Spain and Monaco despite suffering hugely with tonsillitis was immense.

The Brit simply got on with his job and earned a very solid P8 and P6 in the races, while even finishing above his team-mate. That just shows how good Norris has been in 2022.

 

Esteban Ocon – 6.5/10 

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A very solid and consistent season for Ocon

Ocon has had a season to be proud of so far and has continued his reputation of never really making any mistakes.

The Frenchman has been very consistent, finishing inside the points in all but three races, is ahead of his team-mate Fernando Alonso in the championship – although the Spaniard has been on the end of some bad luck – and has taken the fight to the likes of Norris and Alonso.

However, if there’s one area which lets him down, it is his qualifying, where he trails Alonso 8-5 this season.

If he improves on that, then come the end of the season this score could easily be higher but nonetheless, a very solid year for Ocon so far.

 

Valtteri Bottas – 6/10 

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A move to a new outfit has seen Bottas take on a leadership role within the team

Moving to a new team can often be difficult, yet the transition for Bottas has been pretty smooth.

Going from world champions Mercedes to midfield Alfa Romeo, it was going to be interesting to see how he coped with the move.

He started the season off brilliantly with P6 in Bahrain, followed by points in five of the following six races.

However, that great start to the season then fizzled out, often due to reliability issues admittedly, the Finn not scoring in the last four races.

There was also a stint between Baku and Silverstone where rookie team-mate Zhou Guanyu out qualified him three times on the bounce.

Yet on the whole, Bottas has pretty comfortably got the better of him with 46 points compared to Zhou’s five, so there’s no doubt the former race winner will soon get his season back on track.

 

Fernando Alonso – 7/10

CEL

Alonso’s front-row in Canada will stay long in memory

At the ripe, old age of 41, Alonso is still driving to the level he’s always performed at and is perhaps as good as any driver on the grid.

Despite his season being hindered by a series of bad luck – car failing to start in Austria, water pump issue in Saudi Arabia, hydraulics issue causing a crash in Australia qualifying – Alonso has still delivered some incredibly impressive performances along the way.

Drives like putting his car on the front-row of the grid in the wet Canadian qualifying, or finishing a very solid P5 in Silverstone where he was in with an outside chance of a podium will live long in the memory.

It’s been a good year for Alonso, finishing inside the points in the last eight races, so some might think his score is a little high.

However, the lack of race results compared to Ocon is what lets him down.

 

Kevin Magnussen – 5/10

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Following the invasion of Ukraine, Haas decided to terminate the contract of Russian driver Nikita Mazepin, which gave Magnussen the opportunity to return to F1 after a year out

It’s been an unusual year for Magnussen, who was all set to start his WEC career with Peugeot, until Haas offered him the seat just over a week before the opening round in Bahrain.

Despite a lack of preparation, Magnussen started off the season well with a very good P5 in Bahrain, before further points in Jeddah.

Since then he’s been in and out of the top 10, like a solid P9 in Imola is then followed up by five point-less rounds, before back-to-back points in Austria and Silverstone.

First lap collisions with lewis Hamilton from strong positions in Spain and Canada haven’t helped his cause either.

On the whole it’s been very up and down for the Dane, but this is due in some part to the nature of the inconsistent Haas car, meaning Magnussen has still been able to shine in some races and not at others.

 

Daniel Ricciardo – 3.5/10 

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A very tough year for Ricciardo, whose team-mate constantly has the upper-hand

It really hasn’t been the season Ricciardo hoped for. A disappointing start to the year has caused him to be fighting for his McLaren future amid rumours of the team hoping to replace the Australian with young countryman Oscar Piastri.

He’s only finished inside the points on four occasions and one disappointing weekend after another causes him to even be behind an Alfa Romeo and a Haas in the championship.

Ricciardo is 57 points off his team-mate in the standings, is trailing 11-2 in qualifying, and was even beaten when Norris was in an incredibly bad state suffering with tonsillitis.

Since moving to McLaren at the start of last season, the move just hasn’t been what they hoped for and Ricciardo has struggled to adapt to the car.

 

Pierre Gasly – 4.5/10

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Gasly has struggled for consistency this season

Gasly is another driver who has had a bit of a disappointing season so far, struggling with the sub-par AlphaTauri car.

After 13 rounds last season, he had already stood on the podium with just a trio non-point classifications but fast forward 12 months, he’s only finished inside the top 10 three times.

This includes a Q1 elimination in three of the past five races, but there’s still been times where F1 has seen what Gasly is certainly capable of.

He followed up a solid P6 in Baku qualifying with fifth in the race, while in Jeddah he also got through to Q3 before finishing inside the points.

There’s not been enough of that from him this season though, with an argument to be made that he has struggled to adapt to the new era of car.

 

Sebastian Vettel – 5.5/10

POR

Vettel has performed well during his final year in the sport

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In what is now officially his final year in F1, some races have shown the talent is still there when Vettel has been one of the best performers.

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He finished inside the top 10 in Hungary after starting P18, scored sixth in Baku and he was also on for points in Miami had Mick Schumacher not crashed into him.

There are further cases but the car has been problematic, putting a limit to how competitive Vettel can be.

The German has often been knocked out in Q1 – six times this season – but that is still better than his team-mate with him out-qualifying Lance Stroll eight times to three in 2022.

The four-time world champion is also 12 points ahead of him in the standings, meaning Vettel’s driving this season can be looked at in a positive light.

 

Mick Schumacher – 4.5/10

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Schumacher easily had the better of fellow rookie team-mate Mazepin last year, but has found the head-to-head battle much more difficult this season with Magnussen

It’s been a bit of a rough sophomore year for Schumacher, who is now driving with a more competitive car and a better skilled team-mate than his rookie season.

It took him until the 10th round to score some points, with Schumacher squandering various opportunities up to then.

There’s the case of Miami, two high-speed crashes in Jeddah and Monaco, while  fell out of the points in Barcelona with poor race pace after qualifying inside the top 10.

Yet Schumacher’s time finally came with a very good performance at Silverstone when he went from P19 to P8, which he then followed up with sixth in Austria.

The potential of Schumacher was clear for all to see over those two weekends but he’s not done it often enough for his score to be above average.

 

Yuki Tsunoda – 4/10

POR

At the time of writing, it’s been three months since Tsunoda scored any points

Here’s another driver in his sophomore year, and the season actually started off quite well for Tsunoda.

The Japanese driver scored points in three of the opening six races – although he didn’t start in Jeddah due to a reliability issue – and has got the better of Gasly various times in qualifying.

However, the young Red Bull junior is currently on a seven-race streak of no points. Last time out in Hungary was pretty bad for Tsunoda, when he finished last of the runners, a minute behind Nicholas Latifi who was next up ahead.

That run doesn’t tell the whole picture though, with reliability issues plagueing his season so far, Azerbaijan and France also being examples alongside Saudi Arabia.

However, there’s still much to improve upon and he really needs to end the current streak that he’s on, considering Tsunoda’s spot for the 2023 grid isn’t fully confirmed yet.

 

Zhou Guanyu – 4.5/10

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It’s been quite a memorable rookie season for Zhou 

Although he lags quite far behind his team-mate in the championship, Zhou’s rookie season has been rather unlucky.

He was on course for points in Baku until a hydraulics problem forced him to retire, Zhou also qualified inside the top 10 in Silverstone but then he had that horrific incident on lap one, while the Chinese driver was also put out of the races in Miami and Barcelona due to problems with his car.

Despite those incidents, there’s still been signs of promise from the 23-year-old who got points on his F1 debut, as well as a very solid P8 in Canada.

In fact, Zhou has reached Q3 a couple of times this season and he’s been able to hold his own against Bottas on a Saturday.

Obviously he’s still a raw talent and hasn’t quite got the consistency yet, but there’s been some positive moments from Zhou this season.

 

Lance Stroll – 3.5/10

POR

Stroll has failed to get the better of Vettel in both seasons as team-mates

It’s been a difficult season for Stroll, who only has four points in 2022 and has never finished a race above P10.

Of course his car – second-slowest on the grid – makes it difficult but against Vettel, Stroll’s not really put up too much of a fight and is behind in the standings despite the German missing the first two races of the year due to COVID.

He was also out-qualified by reserve driver Hülkenberg at the opening race of the season, so qualifying is certainly an area Stroll needs to improve upon.

On eight occasions he has been out in Q1 but he has been good at recovering in the race.

The Canadian scored a point in Miami despite starting from the pit lane, gained seven places in Canada to finish P10 and the 23-year-old just missed out in Hungary.

But on the whole, it’s been pretty sub-par for Stroll and if it’s difficult going up against Vettel, next year will be even tougher with Alonso joining the team.

 

Alex Albon – 6/10

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Albon went 57 laps on the hard compound in Australia with some incredible tyre management

On his comeback to F1 – after a year as Red Bull’s reserve driver – Albon has performed pretty well in what is the slowest car on the grid.

Although he is P19 in the championship, he has delivered some very good drives to score valuable points for Williams.

He performed tyre heroics in Australia when he climbed from last into tenth while only pitting with a lap to go, while he also finished ninth in Miami.

In terms of going up against his team-mate, it’s not really been much of a match with Silverstone being the only weekend where Latifi has out-qualified Albon.

All of this resulted in the 26-year-old recently signing a multi-year contract with Williams, so it’s been a very positive comeback into the sport for him.

 

Nicholas Latifi – 3/10

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Latifi has struggled in what is arguably a make-or-break year for him

In contrast, Albon’s team-mate continues to struggle in F1 with Latifi being the only driver who has started every race this season to not score a point.

He consistently gets beaten in qualifying and the closest Latifi has come to scoring a point is his P12 in Silverstone, meaning the Canadian is now fighting for his F1 future.

With his contract expiring at the end of this season, these next nine races are crucial for Latifi to try and stay in the sport.

The writing is perhaps on the wall with him more often than not trailing at the back, the Williams driver’s one bright moment this season coming when he got into Q3 at the British GP.