F1's new era: The five best races of the 2022 season so far

F1

With the new 2022 F1 technical regulations promising better racing, Motor Sport takes a look at the five best GPs of the season so far

Start of the 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix

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The 2022 Formula 1 season underwent the biggest technical changes the sport has ever seen.

Bringing ground effect cars back into F1, after they were banned in the 1980s, the hope was that this would deliver closer wheel-to-wheel racing with it being easier for cars to follow one another.

In turn, it was hoped the new design increases the amount of overtakes while, in hand with the budget cap, levelling the playing field.

While it’s up for debate whether or not the regulations have delivered on all of its promises, F1 has not been in short supply of enthralling races this season.

It could be said that there is yet to be a dull race in 2022, making it it difficult to narrow them down.

We’ve done our best though – here is Motor Sport’s five best races of this current F1 season so far.

 

Bahrain Grand Prix 

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A new look F1 took to Bahrain

It was the dawn of a new era. Significantly different-looking cars, teams with different drivers and the promise of more exciting racing.

That promise was delivered upon as Bahrain proved to be a great way to kickstart the 2022 season.

The impact of the new regulations was clear from the get-go with qualifying shaking up the order after McLaren had a car eliminated in Q1, while Haas – who didn’t score a point in 2021 – managed to get into the final session on Kevin Magnussen’s return.

The next day didn’t fail to impress either and afterwards, as drivers already noticed a difference the new regulations had made.

“Following the other cars is so much better,” said Magnussen, who finished fifth that day. “It’s going to be a lot better racing.

“There’s going to be tracks that we didn’t see any racing on in the past that now we can actually race on, I’m sure.”

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Magnussen had good reason to say this after what was a thrilling race which saw a total of 77 overtakes, but only two more than the previous season.

The battle that caught the most attention was the one at the front between Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc, which offered a glimpse of what was to come for the rest of the year.

Starting on pole, Leclerc lost the lead to Verstappen at turn one on lap 17, before retaking it just a couple of corners later.

The exact same thing then happened the following lap and what was so good about it all, is that onboards showed the intelligence of Leclerc.

The Ferrari driver purposefully didn’t fight Verstappen heading into Turn 1 because he knew he would have DRS on his rival on the straight between corners 3 and 4, where the Monegasque overtook the Red Bull both times.

The drama then escalated late-on when mechanical problems caused a double Red Bull DNF to give Ferrari a one-two, in what was a thrilling way to start the new era.

 

Monaco Grand Prix

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Things went very wrong for Leclerc in his home race

Monaco is a track which divides opinion; some think, with the tightness of the circuit, it is outdated for the modern day F1 car, but others want it kept for the heritage.

While the racing might not be the best at times, to give credit where it’s due, this year’s Monaco GP was highly entertaining.

Leclerc took pole for his home race but then wet weather in the principality changed things completely the next day.

Standing water on the track caused the race to be delayed by one-hour, but it was well worth the wait.

Monaco isn’t usually known for its wheel-to-wheel racing, yet fans were treated to Esteban Ocon and Lewis Hamilton going neck and neck, Pierre Gasly progressing through the field, while the battle for first was incredibly tight.

Although Leclerc seemingly had the race under control, a strategic blunder in the pit-stops saw him tumbling down to fourth after Ferrari pitted the Monegasque twice in the space of four laps due to changing conditions.

The second stop, however, was a double stack and so Leclerc lost time behind Carlos Sainz in the pits, while the Spaniard also got held up by the Williams cars on the out-lap.

This came to Red Bull’s aid, who were flawless in strategy helped by a solid drive from Sergio Perez, as he ended up taking victory with his team-mate in third.

 

British Grand Prix

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That weekend featured a first-ever pole and win for Sainz in F1

Silverstone proved to be one of the first true tests of the new regulations considering it is a fast track with sweeping turns which invites wheel-to-wheel racing.

The home crowd did not go away disappointed with entertainment and tight racing throughout.

Things were scary at first after George Russell tagged Zhou Guanyu at the start, whose car was then flipped upside down before sliding into the barriers while resting on the halo.

But when the damage was cleared and it was known that Zhou was okay, a thrilling race got underway.

The early stages saw the lead change hands multiple times with Verstappen, Leclerc, Hamilton and Sainz all battling tightly at the front.

Then Verstappen ran over debris – caused by the AlphaTauri drivers coming together – which put him out of contention meaning it was Ferrari against Hamilton.

It looked like Leclerc would come out on top but then a safety car was signalled with 14 laps to go after Ocon stopped on the side of the track with a fuel pump issue.

Ferrari failed to bring in its race leader for fresh tyres, which left him vulnerable at the restart against those who had pitted.

The action which then took place was some of the most exciting racing that F1 may see all year.

Pouncing on his team-mate, Sainz took the lead at the restart but behind him there was a frantic 10-lap dash for the final podium positions between Leclerc, Hamilton and Perez.

When Sainz took the lead, just moments later Perez passed Hamilton for third at Aintree, who then had Leclerc next in his sights.

While wheel-to-wheel battling for second, they both went wide at Club which allowed Hamilton to sweep through in one move, before he quickly fell out of the top three again on the same lap.

With much stronger pace, Perez then distanced himself from the other two, who were scrapping for third.

On lap 48 Hamilton passed Leclerc around the outside of Luffield, then the Ferrari driver took him again in an amazing move around the outside of Copse.

But then on the same lap at Stowe, Hamilton used his DRS to get into third, the frontrunners staying in position for the rest of the race.

However, during all of this, Fernando Alonso and Lando Norris were both within a second of the action, waiting on the periphery ready to pounce if any of them made a mistake.

It was an incredibly dramatic way to end what was an enthralling British GP and one which delivered on every promise of the new regulations.

 

Austrian Grand Prix

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Fans were treated to an incredible five-way fight in the midfield at one point in the race

It was only seven days later that fans were treated to yet another classic and, like Silverstone, the Red Bull Ring also delivered incredibly tight racing.

It all started in the sprint race which had an exciting battle between Mick Schumacher and Hamilton for eighth.

The Mercedes driver was constantly on the young German’s tail, resulting in an incredibly close moment with four laps to go, as Hamilton tried to make a move stick around the outside of Turn 4 before having to back out to avoid the gravel trap after hard defending from Schumacher.

Hamilton then got passed the Haas with much more ease heading into turn four the following lap, which set F1 up nicely for the next day.

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That close battle continued into the race, while at the top Leclerc and Verstappen fought it out with the Ferrari driver having to overtake the pole sitter thrice in order to win the race.

Amid all of that, five drivers were all separated within half a second in a battle for eighth on lap 24, which included an elegant double overtake from Norris heading into Turn 3.

There was also Perez spinning into the gravel on the opening lap after a collision with Russell at Turn 4, while to top off all the drama, late on Sainz had an engine blowout just before he was about to make a move on Verstappen for second.

That denied a Ferrari one-two in an Austrian GP which had just about everything.

 

Hungarian Grand Prix

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One of Verstappen’s best-ever victories which gave him an 80-point championship lead heading into the summer break

The Hungarian GP turned into a special victory for Verstappen, who won from the fifth row while Ferrari wasted yet another opportunity.

Heading into what was the final race before the summer break, the Scuderia trailed Red Bull by 82 points in the championship knowing anything but a win at the Hungaroring was not good enough.

After qualifying, it seemed like the only team who could stop Ferrari from winning was themselves, with both drivers starting inside the top three, while Red Bull were 10th and 11th.

Although Russell was on pole, Ferrari had stronger pace and Leclerc took the lead on lap 31 before extending it to five seconds by lap 40.

Before that, on the opening lap Alex Albon crashed into the side of Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo made a nice double overtake on the Alpine cars, while Hamilton, Verstappen and Perez all progressed through the field swiftly from seventh, tenth and eleventh, respectively.

Lap 40 is when it all changed, however, with Ferrari fitting hard tyres onto Leclerc despite prior evidence that the compound clearly wasn’t working well in Hungary.

It caused Leclerc to struggle, so much so that stint only lasted 15 laps before he had had enough and decided to pit again – by that point, it was too late.

He had already fallen out of contention for the victory after Verstappen had overtaken him twice with a 360 degree spin in between, while the Mercedes drivers were showing strong pace.

From this point, Verstappen’s win was unchallenged, while Hamilton made a late surge into second after overtaking Sainz and then Russell, with Leclerc lingering down in sixth.

It was an exciting way to head into the summer break particularly as the Hungaroring isn’t traditionally known for its overtaking due to the tightness of the circuit, as well as its many turns.

Last year there was only 18 overtakes but in 2022, with the new regulations, there were 65 in Hungary showing a significant difference.