[Aditya]

The 2022 Formula 1 season has come to an end. It has been a long and hectic one for the constructors and drivers.

The fans have been treated to some fantastic driving by the reigning champion Max Verstappen, who easily defended his World Drivers' Championship crown. His team, Red Bull Racing, won the World Constructors' Championship quite easily as well as Max's teammate, Sergio Perez chipped in with some strong performances as well.

Ferrari drivers, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz and Mercedes driver, George Russell had their moments too.

Former champion, Lewis Hamilton did make some podium appearances and McLaren driver, Lando Norris finished on the podium once as well. Strong finishes from Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon ensured that Alpine Renault finished ahead of McLaren. On the other hand, Daniel Ricciardo and Mick Schumacher had poor runs.

The end of 2022 also saw four-time champion, Sebastian Vettel retire from the sport.



So who was your F1 driver of 2022?

Image Source: The Guardian

[attinder]

Max, 15 wins in a car which was not dominant over the season.

[Turbohead]

I think this poll should be converted into who's the second best driver this season. Verstappen has been performing at a very high level consistently this season apart from a weekend or two.

The second best driver on the grid was Alonso IMO who's finishes were completely ruined by Renault's lousy powertrain. Leclerc didn't adapt to the stupidity of the Ferrari pitwall like Sainz and thus lost out big time.

[ds.raikkonen]

VER was untouchable in 2022, on a different plane, but he did have crucial straight line speed, decent RB reliability (except for Bahrain perhaps and that DRS glitch in Spain) & decent strategy calls by Hannah Schmitz. He probably got bored this season, given the high adrenaline fight with HAM in 2021.

I believe LEC had the better of VER when the Scuderia were not throwing away potential victories either due to reliability issues or bad strategy calls. Leclerc himself also had some glitches like the spins at Imola (trying to chase down the Bulls) and Paul Ricard (while leading!). A mixture of both misfortunes had a major impact on his confidence both in the team and even himself at certain points in the season. Even Perez got the better of him in quite a few races but was told to move aside for WC reasons.

But the way LEC fought with VER reminded everyone that he is among the greats and will no doubt win a WC soon enough. Let's hope SF can back him up well in 2023.

[AutoConsultant]

I don’t think you cannot vote for anyone else other than Max for Driver of the year, he was on another level and no one comes close to his performance.

We can talk about drivers who performed better than expectations though - Alonso tops the list for me along with Magnessun and Ocon. Not really sure about Lando because we couldn’t get a clear picture of the car’s potential as Ric was way below par.

In terms of constructors, I was mightily impressed by Merc - I mean you expect them to rectify their mistakes through the year but loved the Champion mentality showcased by the team, not ready to be content with podiums. Alpine took a positive stride as well this year, hope they fix their reliability issues.

[kadanaJ]

The obvious choice is Max, but I voted for Lando.

He was the only driver outside the big 3 to get a podium finish.

Not to mention the massive point gap between him and his teammate. Shows how good he is in equal machinery.

I believe he's a definite top contender, and it's mainly the McLaren car holding him back at this point.

[Sudarshan42]

Voted for Nicholas Latifi. How can you pass over the GOAT?

[Sudeep_Kimster]

Voted for Fernando Alonso, with a more reliable car he could have surpassed many in the points, lets not forget his age!

[sanjayrozario]

Originally Posted by Turbohead

I think this poll should be converted into who's the second best driver this season. Verstappen has been performing at a very high level consistently this season apart from a weekend or two.

The second best driver on the grid was Alonso IMO who's finishes were completely ruined by Renault's lousy powertrain. Leclerc didn't adapt to the stupidity of the Ferrari pitwall like Sainz and thus lost out big time.

Agree. Leclerc should have been more assertive & pushed back much like Sainz (I hope he's learnt & will be assertive next year). Alonso is a classic fighter.

On a separate note; Ferrari has retained Mekies & Rueda , and will expect different results from Fred

[sanjayrozario]

I voted for Leclerc even though Verstappen is the obvious choice.

Reason being that Leclerc showed he has the temperament & fight to take it to Verstappen, only if SF didn't bungle up car reliability & poor strategy calls. Even Leclerc made mistakes (Imola & France). This concoction dented him big time.

Nonetheless, some of his drives - for e.g. his duel with MV in Bahrain (letting him overtake because he knew he'll come back in the next zone), his brave dive-down manoeuvre on MV in Austria to overtake show that someday he'll be a great world champion

[anand_roy]

Max was ahead this season compared to the rest of the pack. He was almost flawless and made very few driving errors. He was on a mission and had a beautiful car.

RB did have a few issues at the beginning of the season; however, once they had sorted those out, Max was unstoppable. And the gap with his nearest competitor, Charles Leclerc, looked wider since Ferrari was unreliable and also made strategic blunders throughout the season. Charles made a few driving errors as well.

Mercedes, with all the porpoising, was no where in contention in the beginning of the season. However, Russell, in his debut season, still made a valiant effort and was better than his partner, Hamilton.

Perez should have done much better with the RB - seems he has lost some of his touch.

Sainz needs to be more consistent and he also had a good car and showed flashes of his brilliance now and then.

In summary, Max is the true champion!

[Kickdown]

Max Verstappen hands down. He is way ahead of the competition and I feel is performing at his peak. I don't see him being dethroned anytime soon unless RB gives him a shitty car which is highly unlikely. Reminds me of the great Michael Schumacher and Ferrari era in early 2000s.

[vignesh207]

This season was clearly dominated by Max and Lec trying to put his best inspite of Ferrari consistenly trying to pull him down with reliability and strategy, but my vote would go to Vettel.

He absolutely gave his best in every race this year, probably knowing it is his last season in F1, and tried to put that Aston-Martin car in the top 10 and even managed to make it P6 couple of times.

[cdrajeevkumar]

Voted for Max Verstappen as the circuit stops at his name! A very mature and versatile driver who has grown leaps and bounds to be the champion! Look forward to one more sweep in 2023

[venkyhere]

Quali-craft --> LEC towers above everyone. His ability to put together the final Q3 lap is unmatched, even VER pales in comparison.

Race-craft --> MAX handsdown. Lap after lap, adjusting to traffic variables, grip variation, tyre age, and still driving on the % limit that is required - sometimes 80%, sometimes 90%, sometimes 95%, sometimes 101% - exactly what is required, nothing more, nothing less. It's one thing having a car which was superior to others (2nd half of season), but it's quite another to string together 45 laps (except two VSC laps) with the same lap time (1.22.xxx in Mexico) on a single set of tyres - it's a testament to the level of tradecraft that this man possesses. Anyone who claims "it's the car" doesn't have a deep enough understanding of the technicality of the task, given the variation in grip over such a long stint.

Outperforming the car --> Norris. No doubts. He is the right talent in the wrong team, keeping on extending his contract year after year and ruining his career.