Top 5 | The best races of the 2022 Formula 1 season

F1 News

4 December 2022 at 16:23
Last update 4 December 2022 at 17:31
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  • GPblog.com

With last season, Formula 1 broke new ground. New regulations have brought the field closer together and made overtaking easier, resulting in some spectacular races. Which races stood out? Check out the top five according to GPblog and vote for your favourite in the poll.

5. Austrian Grand Prix

Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing were already running away hard in both championships, but Ferrari came back very strong at the rival team's home circuit. Charles Leclerc ran away with victory at the Red Bull Ring while teammate Carlos Sainz had to pull over his flaming F1-75.

It was an action-packed race. Leclerc overtook Verstappen three times on the track after his team's strategic choices put the Dutchman in front of the Monegasque. Behind, there was no shortage of action either: no fewer than five drivers battled it out for eighth place, culminating in a double overtake from Lando Norris.

4. Bahrain Grand Prix

In Bahrain, F1 started a new chapter. The new regulations proved to work immediately, as the opening race showed a blistering battle between title contenders Verstappen and Leclerc. The rivals overtook each other back and forth several times, having to be clever with DRS zones to avoid giving the other an advantage.

However, the race ended in drama for Verstappen, who retired with technical problems. A few laps before the end, Sergio Perez suffered the same fate. The tone for the rest of the season seemed set and after Red Bull Racing's double failure, Ferrari seemed the big favourite for the title, but that picture would change dramatically during the season.

3. United States Grand Prix

On arrival in Austin, the championship had already been decided, but nevertheless an exciting race lay ahead. Mercedes looked truly competitive for the first time this season thanks to the extensive update package brought by the German racing stable and Lewis Hamilton was eager for his first win of the year.

At the start, Verstappen immediately took over the lead from Sainz and he built his lead, but lost it due to two safety cars. After this, he managed to retain the lead, but Hamilton was hot on his heels. Things then went completely wrong at Red Bull's pit stop, which seemed to be Hamilton's ultimate chance, but Verstappen had other plans and managed to outsmart his 2021 rival ten laps before the end.

2. Hungarian Grand Prix

There was no shortage of action in the Hungarian GP either. Red Bull's tenth and eleventh starting positions were an outside chance for Ferrari, but it was not exploited due to - once again - questionable strategic choices by the Italian race team. Everything was still going according to plan when Leclerc took the lead at the expense of George Russell, but everything changed when Ferrari made a questionable tyre choice.

The Monegasque could not get any pace in the hard compound and stopped again 15 laps later, but to no avail. Verstappen drove a mad overtaking race in which he overtook Leclerc, made a 360-degree spin after which he lost the position again, only to overtake his rival once more and drive to victory.

1. British Grand Prix

A true thriller of a race followed after Guanyu Zhou's terrifying crash at the start. The lead changed several times between Verstappen, Leclerc, Hamilton and Sainz, who fought a fierce battle at the front. However, Verstappen's RB18 was damaged by debris from Pierre Gasly's AlphaTauri, preventing the Dutchman from competing for victory.

This could have been a great opportunity for Leclerc, but he again fell victim to a lack of decisiveness from his team, which did not bring the driver in during a late safety car while his opponents - including Sainz - did.

A spectacular battle ensued between Hamilton and both Ferrari drivers, with Leclerc managing to overtake the Briton in a daring outside move at Copse - where it went horribly wrong a year earlier when Verstappen made a similar overtaking attempt. In the end, it was Sainz who took the win with Perez and Hamilton behind him.