Headed into the new season, there are a lot of familiar names in familiar places, although there are a few key changes at the front and back of the field from 2021. Let’s take a look and see what each driver needs to do to consider their year successful, regardless of how good their car is.
Image: F1
For simplicity’s sake, we will go in Constructor’s Championship order by team. It’s worth noting that many of these involve a driver’s performance relative to their teammate, so in some cases there will only be one driver per team that can achieve their goal.
For fun, let’s also give each team’s drivers a confidence rating out of 10, based on what we saw last year and how realistically they can achieve their (and the team’s) goals.
Mercedes: 9.2
2021 Team WCC: 1st Hamilton: Since 2013
2021 Best WDC: 2nd (HAM) Russell: Since 2022
Lewis Hamilton
Lewis was deserving of the 2021 title, until fate (and questionable race direction) intervened. However, 2021 saw the first signs of cracks in Lewis’ armor in years. Sure, he was more or less flawless down the stretch, but he still made uncharacteristic errors. Such as sliding off track in Imola, being inexplicably off the pace in Monaco, the accidental brake magic in Baku, and Sochi’s Q3 errors which ultimately made race day much more difficult than it needed to be. For a successful year, he not only has to put those behind him but prove that he is unfazed by the arrival of Russell in the garage next door. He must at least finish the better of the two drivers in the standings, or this well and truly could be the end of the line for him.
George Russell
The moment everyone has been waiting for, George in a Mercedes. Will the pressure get to him? I doubt it. He should go into the season not expecting to beat Lewis, otherwise he runs the risk of losing confidence and getting lost (see Gasly 2019). If he does, great! It will be a huge success and he will have validated Mercedes’ belief in him. At the very least, he must do better than Bottas did in 2021, although a more apt comparison may be 2017 when he first arrived.
Red Bull: 9.0
2021 Team WCC: 2nd Verstappen: Since 2016
2021 Best WDC: 1st (VER) Pérez: Since 2021
Max Verstappen
Nothing left to prove, title in pocket, Verstappen will have a successful year if he can be slightly more restrained in his wheel to wheel racing. Sure, he didn’t get penalized for most things, but now that he doesn’t feel the pressure to deliver his first title, perhaps he can dial it back a bit. Speed is not a problem, and with a little more patience he could win many more titles. A successful year would mean far less controversy on the track.
Sergio Pérez
Was 2021 a success for Checo? He would say no, but he ultimately delivered when it mattered most, unlike his counterpart Bottas. Having demonstrated on race pace that he is a notable improvement from his predecessors, he absolutely must improve his Saturday performances. Getting eliminated in Q2 or starting from P7 is unacceptable if you have a car that can win the WCC, even if you can climb your way up to P3 or P4 by the end of the race.
Ferrari: 9.5
2021 Team WCC: 3rd Leclerc: Since 2019
2021 Best WDC: 5th (SAI) Sainz: Since 2021
Charles Leclerc
Leclerc sometimes is something of an enigma; seemingly able to produce qualifying laps from nowhere, he has exceptional raw speed. Sometimes, however, he makes silly mistakes that aren’t really excusable in your fourth year in F1. To have a successful year, he has to eradicate these and make sure that he defeats Sainz soundly enough that he remains Ferrari’s golden boy.
Carlos Sainz
Arguably the surprise of 2021, Sainz has a reputation for somewhat anonymous, effective drives where you say, “where did he come from?” at the end of the race. Like his teammate, he can be prone to silly mistakes, although Sainz has a habit of doing them more in practice, rather than the race. To consider 2022 a success, he has to prove that 2021 was no fluke, and at least match Leclerc on points.
McLaren: 8.7
2021 Team WCC: 4th Norris: Since 2019
2021 Best WDC: 6th (NOR) Ricciardo: Since 2021
Lando Norris
For the first half of 2021, Lando was the breakout performer. Even in the second half of the season, he still did very well, although got notably worse luck (Russia, Qatar, Abu Dhabi to name a few). Lando really has to just solidify his role as the team’s leader, control what he can control, and let the results come to him. A successful 2022 probably means another season at or above the level of 2021, which was already very good.
Daniel Ricciardo
Danny Ric, Ric Bobby, The Honey Badger, whatever you want to call him, will likely want to erase most of 2021 (except Monza, probably). In a year where he clearly showed that he is not the most adaptable driver on the grid, there must be some hesitation over the fact that 2022 will force everyone to adapt again. If he can show the same level of improvement that he had from 2019 to 2020, then the year will be a success. Beating Lando would just be icing on the cake.
Alpine: 8.4
2021 Team WCC: 5th Ocon: Since 2020
2021 Best WDC: 10th (ALO) Alonso: Since 2021
Esteban Ocon
Everyone, myself included, thought Alpine was headed for fireworks in 2021, and not the celebratory type, given their drivers’ past teammate relations. However, Ocon showed himself much better against Alonso than Vandoorne ever did at McLaren, and the two worked well. If the car is improved and indeed really competitive, then this harmony must remain within the team. If Ocon can run Alonso close again, nobody will likely question the fact that he has one of the longest contracts on the grid right now.
Fernando Alonso
The low-hanging fruit is to say “complete El Plan” and the year is a success. Memes aside, Alonso won’t be too upset that he has had a teammate run him closer than he probably would like, since the car wasn’t stellar in 2021. However, Alonso joined with an eye firmly on 2022/23, and failure to improve the car this year will mean Alonso will find it a lot harder to restrain himself from his usual media antics. If he can keep a cool head, regardless of how good the car is, the year will probably be a lot more successful than if he starts throwing tantrums again.
AlphaTauri: 7.8
2021 Team WCC: 6th Gasly: Since 2019
2021 Best WDC: 9th (GAS) Tsunoda: Since 2021
Pierre Gasly
This is the year that is most likely to define the rest of Gasly’s career. Let’s face it, he’s not going back to Red Bull, so what he must do is sell himself to another team like Alpine, Aston Martin, or even Mercedes. Once again he will need to thoroughly outperform his teammate and quash any doubts about his ability. He also needs to remain more composed when things aren’t going well, because he tends to show his frustration with the team if things outside of his control aren’t great.
Yuki Tsunoda
Like his teammate, this year will define his career. What Yuki has to do in 2022 is prove that Abu Dhabi was not a fluke and that he really can give Gasly a run for his money. If he does, Red Bull will no longer need Gasly in that team and so they could insert their next junior driver alongside Tsunoda for 2023. Failure to match up to Pierre means that it will be Yuki who is on his way out instead.
Aston Martin: 7.8
2021 Team WCC: 7th Stroll: Since 2019
2021 Best WDC: 12th (VET) Vettel: Since 2021
Lance Stroll
Lance Stroll may just be the most anomalous driver on the grid, especially now that Giovinazzi is out of a job. Stroll showed himself reasonably well against Seb in 2021, but still seems to be missing that X factor that makes a driver really special. He does a good enough job to the point where he is probably not the weakest link in the Aston Martin chain, which is fine when your car is in the competitive void between the midfield and the back of the grid. In 2022 he must show some spark or at least get on par with Seb in terms of points, so that when Seb retires Stroll can actually make a case to lead the team.
Sebastian Vettel
This year was, in my mind, like his 2016 at Ferrari. Solid, unspectacular, and will probably be forgotten about in the coming years. Unlike most of 2020, Vettel did produce some outstanding performances in a lackluster car, but unfortunately those were quite few and far between. He seems much happier now, and is probably still capable of winning races, if not a championship in the right car. He absolutely must be more consistent this year, though, or he runs the risk of falling further into anonymity.
Williams: 6.5
2021 Team WCC: 8th Latifi: Since 2020
2021 Best WDC: 15th (RUS) Albon: Since 2022
Nicholas Latifi
Like his compatriot, Latifi is a fairly anonymous character (or was until Abu Dhabi). He was comprehensively beaten by George over their tenure, which is not a good look unless George turn up and absolutely waxes the field in the Mercedes. However, Latifi was notably much better than his first season, has a few qualifying wins against Russell, and still shows respectable race pace. Like Stroll, he is probably not the team’s weakest link, but needs to show that he can match Albon or risk losing his seat, now that money isn’t everything when it comes to Williams’ drivers.
Alex Albon
I don’t quite know what to make of this one, to be honest. His 2019 was good, although not what I would call a “breakout season” in most terms. 2020 wasn’t as good, and now after a year out he has wound up at Williams in a bizarre Red Bull-Williams-Mercedes deal. Regardless of the circumstances he must show himself to be significantly better than Latifi, and that he is a worthy replacement for Russell.
Alfa Romeo: 6.8
2021 Team WCC: 9th Bottas: Since 2022
2021 Best WDC: 16th (RAI) Zhou: Since 2022
Valtteri Bottas
Well, Alfa Romeo has replaced its Finn-that-was-replaced-by-a-younger-driver-at-a-top-team with another one, albeit one not necessarily in the twilight of his career. Bottas has great one-lap speed and will probably have a few really exceptional race performances throughout the year. However, he has shown time and again that he is not great on Lap 1, in traffic, defense, or at making decisive edge-of-your-seat overtakes. That’s all fine when you are starting in the top 4 every race in the best or second best car, but will be a glaring problem if he doesn’t make some improvements on this front, given where Alfa Romeo has been the last few years. He must prove that he can actually race well in 2022, regardless of how fast the car is.
Guanyu Zhou
Zhou comes in amid a respectable, but not exceptional, F2 career and a wave of Chinese cash. Now, other drivers have shown that just because you have cash doesn’t mean you don’t have talent, and just because you didn’t win the F2 title doesn’t mean you can be a great F1 driver. So in the interest of fairness, we will reserve judgement on this until the season is underway. However, Zhou needs to stack up better against Bottas than Tsunoda did against Gasly, for example, or he will struggle to lose the pay driver tag.
Haas: 5.8
2021 Team WCC: 10th Schumacher: Since 2022
2021 Best WDC: 19th (MSC) Mazepin: Since 2022
Mick Schumacher
Let’s be honest, very little will be remembered about his 2021 season, be it good or bad. Having comprehensively out-performed his teammate, Mick did about all he could given his equipment. That being said, he did tend to put his equipment in the barrier quite a lot, which is never great. He needs to significantly reduce his interactions with the wall in 2022, and still beat his teammate in a similar fashion to 2021. If Haas improves, they will want him to stay. If they don’t, Ferrari will want him to go.
Nikita Mazepin
It’s hard to characterize Mazepin. He has some speed, and certainly no fear, but also has some questionable conduct on and off track. That being said, he has noted that 2021 was personally very tough for him. Even though he played a part in some of that, he still often cut a dejected figure in interviews. For 2022 to be successful, he will need to significantly reduce the gap to his teammate. Then, he will be much happier and the downward spiral he appeared to be on at times in 2021 will begin to reverse itself. He has already shown he is not afraid to take risks, and can be quite effective on lap 1, so if the car improves he probably will take the opportunity to grab points. Or at least try.
Comments