2022 F1 Season
22 races · Red Bull RB18
The 2022 season ushered in a technical revolution: the return of ground effect, with cars designed to follow each other more closely and encourage overtaking. The new rules reshuffled the grid and gave Ferrari its best car in years, the F1-75.
Charles Leclerc started flying, winning two of the first three races and leading the championship with authority. But the season unravelled completely for Ferrari: a string of failures — like retiring while leading at home in Bahrain and in France — and a chain of strategy errors squandered a lead that had looked solid.
Max Verstappen and Red Bull capitalised on every slip with relentless consistency. The Dutchman fought back, strung together wins to reach fifteen in the year — a matched record — and sealed his second world title with four races to spare.
Drivers' Champion
Max Verstappen
Red Bull RB18
Constructors' Champion
Red Bull Racing
22 races
Key moment
"Leclerc retires in Valencia while comfortably leading — the symbol of Ferrari's cursed season."
What if 2022 had been raced 100 times?
We took the real 2022 grid — every car with its performance and reliability, every driver with his rating — and re-ran the full 22-race championship 100 times.
| Driver | Avg. finish | Titles |
|---|---|---|
| Max Verstappenreal championRed Bull | P1 | 100% |
| Charles LeclercFerrari | P2.3 | 0% |
| Sergio PerezRed Bull | P2.7 | 0% |
| Carlos SainzFerrari | P4.5 | 0% |
| Lewis HamiltonMercedes | P4.6 | 0% |
| George RussellMercedes | P5.9 | 0% |
Max Verstappen wins 100% of the simulated championships. Runner-up Charles Leclerc manages 0%: with that machinery, the real result was very nearly the only one available.
Tags
What if Senna, Hamilton or Alonso had driven the 2022 championship-winning car?