Jeddah Corniche Circuit is the next location the 10 F1 teams will do battle, with the long-term rankings of those teams still very much unknown.
Shortly after an exciting 2022 season opener in Bahrain, the field moves to Saudi Arabia for round 2. Bahrain was the first real test of the 2022 cars that adhere to updated regulations, and there has been significant shakeups in the field from recent years.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc claimed pole, fastest lap, and a race victory, though he spent much of the race with Red Bull's defending world champion Max Verstappen within striking distance. Leclerc's teammate Carlos Sainz ran in 3rd position for much of the race, and ended up claiming second place at the end of the race.
Verstappen's race had an unfortunate ending, as various mechanical issues that had been discussed with his team throughout the race finally ended the race for car #1 with just three laps to go. His teammate had an even more unfortunate result, as Sergio Perez' car spun mid-corner in turn 1 and was unable to continue.
The late exit by the Red Bull cars left a door open for a Mercedes team that was off pace versus the Ferrari and Red Bull front-runners, but ahead of the remaining seven teams. This put Lewis Hamilton onto the podium, and gave George Russell a 4th place finish in his first race as an official Mercedes team driver.
While the Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes teams were predictably leading the way, further down the field there were some significant surprises.
Kevin Magnussen's return to Formula 1 was a tremendous success, as he finished 5th in his HAAS, a car not expected by many to finish in the points at any race this season. In fact, his 5th place finish gave his team more points that they had scored in the previous two years. His teammate Mick Schumacher finished outside of the points, but still a respectable 11th.
Valtteri Bottas is a name we are used to seeing finish in the points, though not in a car thought to be a non-contender. His Alfa Romeo finished in 6th, ahead of teammate Zhou Guanyu who finished an impressive 10th in his Formula 1 debut.
The biggest surprise near the bottom of the running order was McLaren, whose performance last season included a 1-2 finish at Monza. The team of Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo ran near the back of the order the entire race, and ended up 14th and 15th, respectively.
Whether Bahrain was merely an extended test session for the top teams to work out bugs and shortly return to the form we've seen in recent seasons, or whether the team rankings in F1 have truly been upset remains to be seen, but Saudi Arabia will be a telling session for trends.
Who do you expect to come out on top at Jeddah? Let us know your predictions in the comments below or share your votes via the poll.
Shortly after an exciting 2022 season opener in Bahrain, the field moves to Saudi Arabia for round 2. Bahrain was the first real test of the 2022 cars that adhere to updated regulations, and there has been significant shakeups in the field from recent years.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc claimed pole, fastest lap, and a race victory, though he spent much of the race with Red Bull's defending world champion Max Verstappen within striking distance. Leclerc's teammate Carlos Sainz ran in 3rd position for much of the race, and ended up claiming second place at the end of the race.
Verstappen's race had an unfortunate ending, as various mechanical issues that had been discussed with his team throughout the race finally ended the race for car #1 with just three laps to go. His teammate had an even more unfortunate result, as Sergio Perez' car spun mid-corner in turn 1 and was unable to continue.
The late exit by the Red Bull cars left a door open for a Mercedes team that was off pace versus the Ferrari and Red Bull front-runners, but ahead of the remaining seven teams. This put Lewis Hamilton onto the podium, and gave George Russell a 4th place finish in his first race as an official Mercedes team driver.
While the Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes teams were predictably leading the way, further down the field there were some significant surprises.
Kevin Magnussen's return to Formula 1 was a tremendous success, as he finished 5th in his HAAS, a car not expected by many to finish in the points at any race this season. In fact, his 5th place finish gave his team more points that they had scored in the previous two years. His teammate Mick Schumacher finished outside of the points, but still a respectable 11th.
Valtteri Bottas is a name we are used to seeing finish in the points, though not in a car thought to be a non-contender. His Alfa Romeo finished in 6th, ahead of teammate Zhou Guanyu who finished an impressive 10th in his Formula 1 debut.
The biggest surprise near the bottom of the running order was McLaren, whose performance last season included a 1-2 finish at Monza. The team of Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo ran near the back of the order the entire race, and ended up 14th and 15th, respectively.
Whether Bahrain was merely an extended test session for the top teams to work out bugs and shortly return to the form we've seen in recent seasons, or whether the team rankings in F1 have truly been upset remains to be seen, but Saudi Arabia will be a telling session for trends.
Who do you expect to come out on top at Jeddah? Let us know your predictions in the comments below or share your votes via the poll.
- Next page: Free Practice 1 | Saudi Arabian GP
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