These F1 drivers and teams perform best in 2022

Mercedes

Mercedes did not get off to as good a start as it expected. After dominating F1 for eight years, Ferrari and Red Bull Racing appear to have done their homework better for the new regulations. The W13 bounces around quite a bit, and that's preventing Lewis Hamilton and George Russell from driving with the ideal setup.

Within the team, with the arrival of Russell, there are also some changes. Whereas Hamilton was clearly the leader of the team with Valtteri Bottas at his side, he clearly has a harder time with Russell as a teammate. The young Briton has nothing to lose alongside a seven-time world champion, whereas Hamilton, after years of dominance, must get used to not competing for prizes in 2022.

Red Bull Racing

Despite the fact that Red Bull Racing had to go all the way in 2021 to win the world title with Max Verstappen, the team has again managed to build a car that can compete for the world title with the RB18. There were several reliability issues in the early stages of the season, but the team compensated for that with strategic masterstrokes and great pit stops.

Verstappen, wearing number #1, is once again the leader in the world championship in 2022, and that's despite two crashes. The Dutchman is showing that he is still very fast, but on weekends where he is not quite there, teammate Sergio Perez is now there. In Jeddah and in Monaco, Perez finished ahead of Verstappen in qualifying and in Monaco, it even resulted in a win for the Mexican.

It is therefore not surprising that Red Bull has chosen to extend Perez's contract. Since the departure of Daniel Ricciardo, he is the first to stay so close to Verstappen and with his current results even has a chance at the world title.

Ferrari

Ferrari has managed to build the best car for the start of the season in 2022, but it has not yet been able to take full advantage of it. For example, Charles Leclerc crashed out in Barcelona with an engine problem and the Italian formation was childishly outplayed in Monaco by a strategic move by Red Bull.

Leclerc is driving at the top of his game. In Imola the Monegasque could be caught with a mistake, but in all other weekends he was unbeatable, especially on Saturday. His Spanish teammate also noticed this, as he never finished ahead of him in qualifying. Carlos Sainz also makes many individual mistakes, which has caused him a lot of damage (and thus costs).

McLaren

McLaren had expected more from the start of the 2022 Formula One season. The gap to the top teams has widened rather than narrowed and the MCL36 is still showing a lot of kinks.

Lando Norris is the hope in somewhat anxious days for McLaren, as the young Briton is really taking the team by storm. With his new contract in his pocket, he is the clear leader of the team and has already achieved a podium finish. His success is directly the painful failure of former star driver Daniel Ricciardo. The Australian has not yet been able to break through his lesser series and slowly the rumours about his dismissal are getting stronger.

Alpine

Alpine has not yet got things right in 2022 as it had hoped. Compared to 2021, it is even one place lower in the rankings, as Alfa Romeo has come alongside with its new car. The difference is only one point, but as a factory team Alpine actually has to compete with Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull Racing.

Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon are equals in 2022. The Spaniard shows in qualifying why he once managed to win two world titles, but in the race, he has had a lot of bad luck with dropouts. Ocon was spared that bad luck which allowed him to pick up more points. 

AlphaTauri

AlphaTauri is in a familiar seventh place in the constructors' standings, but the team probably expected a little more from the new regulations. The Italians often rely on parts from Red Bull Technology, but in such a first season they cannot already buy all of Red Bull's parts.

Surprisingly, it is Yuki Tsunoda who has accumulated the most points in 2022 for the Italian team. The Japanese driver has come out of the winter break very well and is a match for Pierre Gasly this year. This does the Frenchman's career little good as he saw Sergio Perez get a new contract at Red Bull Racing.

Aston Martin

Aston Martin has huge ambitions, but Lawrence Stroll and consorts have so far only caused the team to fall further back in the rankings. The AMR22 is impossible for the drivers to drive and the B-spec the team has come up with in Spain looks suspiciously like Red Bull's RB18. Better to steal something good than invent something bad they will think.

Sebastian Vettel missed the first two races due to a corona infection but has shown since his return that he can still race. The four-time world champion scored the most points for the team and is drawing a clear gap to his teammate. Lance Stroll continues to whine about all sorts of things, but hardly proves over the weekend that he deserves the seat in F1.

Williams

There was also great disappointment at Williams when the first races of 2022 showed that the FW44 was not as fast as they had hoped. The new regulations were the chance for Williams to make a jump in the rankings, but the team is again the last team on the grid.

Alexander Albon is a bright spot for Williams, as he has quickly made George Russell forget. With two spots in the top ten, the Thai provided a big celebration in the Williams garage. That he and not Nicholas Latifi is in charge within the team is significant. The Canadian is increasingly under pressure due to his lack of speed, but mainly due to his enormous number of crashes that have cost his team a fortune in the meantime.

Alfa Romeo

Alfa Romeo has it right in 2022. As the only team on the lower limit in terms of weight, the team has brought in a fantastic driver in Valtteri Bottas. The Finn has been scoring points all the time and the Swiss team has climbed from ninth to fifth place in the standings.

Yet there is also a downside and that is Guanyu Zhou. Of course, it is his first season in Formula 1, but a difference of more than a second in qualifying is rare. He may bring a huge bag of money and a lot of attention from the Chinese market, but a second driver who would be close to Bottas would already ensure that the team was fourth among the constructors.

Haas

Haas started the 2022 Formula 1 season spectacularly with points for Kevin Magnussen on his return. Yet that start did not follow up strongly. After the fifth place in Bahrain, the Dane finished ninth twice, after which many results outside the top ten followed.

Mick Schumacher is also becoming a pain point for the team. The German crashed hard several times and has already caused huge costs. The team is more concerned with repairing than bringing updates. The crashes are a logical consequence of the German going over the limit, clearly falling short of his new teammate.