After the nail-biting affair which was last year’s final race of the season, this one felt like a bit of a snooze in comparison. Especially with Max Verstappen having already clinched the title and pretty much cruising to the finish line to collect his silverware. But whilst the Championship battle didn’t go down to the wire, that doesn’t mean that there wasn’t any action on track. There still were some scores to settle and goodbyes to be said as the 2022 grid saw the lights go out one last time before a well-deserved winter break.
Whilst my colleague Jack has been kind enough to only mention the top of the class in his F2 article, I still have some bones to pick, so the struggle bus will be present in the last F1 report cards for 2022, albeit it perhaps is small enough to be a struggle van instead.
Want to know whether your favourite was a winner or loser during this outing in Abu Dhabi? Be sure to check out this final edition of the 2022 F1 report card!
Top of the class:
Red Bull Racing
Max Verstappen – Qualifying: 1st | Race: 1st
Sergio Perez – Qualifying: 2nd | Race: 3rd
Closing out the year with both a Constructor’s and and Driver’s Championship under the belt definitely does warrant Red Bull earning the title of top of the class, because they quite literally are and there is simply no way around it.
Max Verstappen reeled in a record-breaking fifteenth win of the year, making an one-stop strategy look quite simple and executing it effortlessly, whilst others quite clearly struggled with trying to make the same strategy work for them. That partly might be the car, but it most definitely also has something to do with the fact that Verstappen is simply unstoppable at the moment. The Dutchman finishes out the year 146 points clear of the rest of the field, making him very much the man everyone will be aiming to beat in 2023.
Teammate Sergio was favourite to take pole, but he couldn’t quite make it stick when it came down to it, which meant that he lined up on the second place instead. As he was on a two-stop strategy, whilst Max and Charles were on a one-stopper, he ended up falling back. If the race had a lap or two more, or if he’d been able to make some of his earlier moves stick on his first try, he might have been able to catch the Monegasque to step onto the second step of the podium, but it still wouldn’t have earned him 2nd place in the drivers’ standings, as the deficit to Leclerc was bigger than that.
In fact, even if Verstappen had moved over last race as the team had asked, the Mexican still wouldn’t have been able to claim that 2nd place in the championship. Still, with both bulls on the podium it was an excellent way to round out the season. All eyes will be on them in winter testing, but will they be able to build another fast car, or will they perhaps be more evenly matched to their competitors or even fall behind due to the time missed in the windtunnel? We can only wait and see.
Sebastian Vettel – Qualifying: 9th | Race: 10th
Alright, admittedly Vettel would have missed out on points if it hadn’t been for Lewis Hamilton’s retirement, but Seb drove an incredible race. It simply was the one-stop strategy which held him back from reeling in more points, as he definitely did move forwards but ended up being a sitting duck when his tyres had reached the end of their lifespan.
As expected, the German was voted driver of the day as a thank you from the fans in his last race, just like the motorsport community did for Kimi Raikkonen last year. The donuts on the start were a cherry on top of a rather emotional weekend as the F1 circus wished one of the legends of the sport a happy retirement, with the German being gifted anything ranging from old car parts to alpacas.
The honourable mentions of the day go to…
The honourable mentions go to both McLaren drivers. Lando Norris earned himself a mention for being best of the rest once more, overtaking George Russell at the start (a place he later lost on pace, but still…), and earning himself the fastest lap point to boot.
The other side of the garage had a decent weekend too. After a three-place grid penalty meant that getting lost among the midfield seemed unavoidable for Daniel Ricciardo, but with overtaking and then later defending his position from Vettel he certainly has a last race to be proud of. Taking home some points and playing himself in the picture before he hangs up the helmet (for now) as fans hope that this won’t be his last race ever and he will be able to make a return sooner rather than later. Rumours of him coming home to Red Bull and becoming their reserve are running rampant, which might allow him to keep a foot in the door and perhaps become the next Supersub (Edit: Danny Ric returning home to Red Bull Racing as their reserve has just been confirmed).
Struggle Bus:
Mick Schumacher, or rather, Haas
On Thursday it was confirmed that Mick Schumacher wouldn’t be driving for Haas in 2023 as American team opted to replace him with Nico Hulkenberg. Whilst the team can’t be faulted for that, as practically everyone have been rooting for Hulk the Supersub to get a seat once more, it rather is the way they handled Mick’s situation which is far from pretty. It has stirred up quite some controversy online as it left a bad taste in the mouth of fans. Leaving Mick in the dark for so long and preventing him from going out and hunting for a seat whilst the ink was already drying on Hulkenberg’s contract certainly is a far cry from how Mercedes looked after Bottas whilst replacing him with Russell – but then again not so surprising, as the sport as a whole is known for it’s ruthlessness, and Haas in particular has been known to be rather careless in their consideration for a driver’s future when making a decision.
Haas have previously strung 2020 Formula 2 runner-up, Callum Illot along before choosing money over talent and signing Nikita Mazepin instead, leaving their rookie reserve high and dry. At least with Red Bull drivers got a second chance in their B-team when axed.
Anyway, back to Schumacher. Sunday’s race certainly wasn’t Mick’s cleanest outing, as he tagged Latifi in a synchronised spin which earned him a five-second time penalty, resulting in a lowely p16 after a rather impressive qualifying, but at least this time there weren’t any unfavourable comparisons to be made with the other side of the garage, as Kevin finished behind him in 17th.
Fernando Alonso’s Alpine
The way Fernando Alonso finished out this season certainly was befitting to how the rest of the year went at Alpine, as he had to retire car 14 once more, this time due to a suspected water leak. This was his sixth non-finish of the season. Or if you want to get technical about it, it was his fifth, as he was still classified in Mexico despite his engine failure a couple of laps before the chequered flag fell.
He will be looking forward to next year, where there will be a whole different car waiting for him – not just in colour but also in make, as he’ll be moving to Aston Martin to replace Sebastian Vettel. Whether he’s better or worse off there is something only time can tell, but the Spaniard certainly feels confident after taking the green machine for some post-season testing.
Then for a dishonourable mention…
The dishonourable mention of the day goes to Pierre Gasly, who drove what was perhaps his most anonymous weekend of the year.
That was it, the 2022 season wrapped up al neat with a bow on top. Now we will have to wait for lights to go out on the 5th of March in Barhain. Unsure of what to do with your time, or just wanting to refresh your memory on what happened in 2022? Check out all our F1 report cards here.