As we are heading into the next season of Formula One let us have a look at the previous season.
Drive to Survive is coming out on the 24th of February on Netflix, and while the show tends to get a little bit too dramatic, it’s a great recap before the next Formula One season starts in Bahrain this March.
Here is the full F1 schedule for 2023
However, if you’d rather cut to the chase, here are the 2022 Formula One highlights.
Haas on top
2022 consisted of 22 races and each and every race left us with something to say, especially the beginning of the season starting off like this;
I mean let us be honest, we all lowkey rooted for Haas there for a second.
As Gunther Steiner would say, they where looking like Rockstars at this point and not like a bunch of… well you know what.
Cooldown room
The cooldown room made a comeback as well, and we’re all grateful.
Magnussen on pole
K-Mag has seen it all in F1.
After being dropped by Haas in 2020, he returned like he never left (No, this isn’t a dig towards Daniel).
He scored points in the beginning of the season however, a series of DNFs followed that.
Thats until… almost out of nowhere, Magnussen is on pole!
Despite this, he did crash with Riccardo during the actual race, but thats fine because he broke Haas’ curse of being the longest constructor without a pole ever since joining back in 2016.
World Champion and Record Breaker
No not only did Max become a two time champion, but he also set the record for the most won races in a season with 15 wins breaking Vettel and Schumacher’s records who both have won 13 races in a season.
Max has also won with the highest points in a season with 454 points!
Red Bull vs Ferrari
Sainz got his first win by starting on pole on his 150th race but many doubt that it was thanks to the Ferrari strategist.
This season would have gone very well if Ferrari didn’t have their drivers make some questionable choices, often leading them to lose their shot at a podium.
Red Bull started off on the wrong foot but compared to Ferrari, their strategy was flawless.
They went head to head the entire season and while Max did win the season, the real competition was for 2nd place as Checo and Leclerc were tied with 290 points.
The results where Max 1st, Leclerc 2nd, Checo 3rd, Russell 4th and Sainz 5th.
Red Bull gathered a total of 759 points allowing them to win the constructors championship, Ferrari came in 2nd with 554 points.
The fall of Mercedes ?
Mercedes have fallen behind this year having Hamilton finish in 6th place (although Russell did finish 4th).
Many are starting to doubt if the team will ever recover however the 2022 season wasn’t all bad.
Russell’s not only got to be teammates with his idol…
…but he also finished in 1st place at the Brazilian GP.
And while Hamilton might have not won a single race this season, Mercedes won’t give up on him just like he won’t give up on Mercedes.
Sportsmanship
After seeing Mercedes act like a family, we’re about to remind you how Verstappen refused to let Perez pass back at the Brazilian GP.
Max had already secured the title by this time and so the team ordered for Max to move aside for Checo whom still needed to get 2nd place. Perez ended up finishing in 7th place.
This one kind of stings if you had to remember the 2021 season in Abu Dhabi and how Checo helped Max win by holding Hamilton back.
But let us not forget Perez’s best moment this season, after 12 years competing, he got his first pole!
Vettel retires
I remember this day very clearly.
It was the 28th of July. I was on a holiday.
Then I got the most dreaded notification. I fell to my knees with tears in my eyes.
Vettel had retired.
Everyone was so happy because Vettel had created an Instagram at last…only for him to post about his retirement.
The beloved four time world champion will remain in everyones hearts as he continued to steal the show on and off the track.
#DankeSeb
Riccardo leaves McLaren
And to make matters worse Riccardo left McLaren.
Despite winning in Monza in 2021, which by the way was McLaren’s first win since 2013, they chose not to extend their contract.
He is now a reserve driver for Red Bull, with whom he had his best moments on track.
Daniel really just did a full circle.
McLaren vs Alpine
Oscar Piastri was set to join Alpine in 2023… or maybe not as Piastri declined this.
Instead Oscar signed with McLaren making him Daniel’s replacement.
Alpine was outraged by this which led it to become a whole case to the FIA board… although the board ruled in favour of McLaren.
2023 grid
There are some big changes to the 2023 grid.
Mick Schumacher and Nicholas Latifi will also be missing from the 2023 grid.
Williams signed Logan Sargeant and Haas signed Nico Hulkenberg.
Fernando Alonso left Alpine for Aston Martin which led for Pierre Gasly to leave Alpha Tauri and join Alpine. He was replaced by Nyck de Vries.
Yes, I know, we also will miss Yuki and Pierre as teammates
Binotto resigns
After all that Ferrari’s been through this year… is anyone surprised?
Zhou’s crash
We all have the halo to thank for this one.
The rookie was involved in a horrible accident this season in Silverstone.
The fact that he survived such a high speed crash proves the safety of the modern cars.
“Once I stopped I didn’t know where I was because I was upside down and the next thing I felt was some leaking, I was not sure if it was from my body or from the car, so I just tried to switch the engine off. I knew if a fire started it would be difficult to get out.”
What are your predictions for the 2023 season? Dm us.