The five best race drives of F1 2022

A record-breaking 22-round calendar provided ample opportunity for the Formula 1 field to impress this season. But some Sunday performances were more equal than others. When weekends were on course to be scuppered by grid penalties, occasionally drivers defied the odds to salvage success with a surge up the order. Others shone in sometimes substandard machinery. Or, in the case of Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc, exerted sheer dominance over their rivals.

When it came to picking the top five drives of 2022, there were always going to be casualties. Autosport doesn’t do long-winded ‘honourable mentions’, so there was no room for Sebastian Vettel’s fightback from a botched pitstop in the United States. Likewise, Lando Norris misses out despite steering the troubled McLaren MCL36 to the only non-Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull podium of the year at Imola, and for battling through tonsilitis to score points in Spain. And, while it may well have earned him a pukka AlphaTauri seat for 2023, you won’t find Nyck de Vries slotting ninth at Monza here either.

We thought these five drives even more worthy of recognition.

Alex Albon - Australian GP (10th)

Albon made full use of his unusual strategy to elevate the recalcitrant Williams into a rare points finish in Melbourne

Photo by: Williams

After a low-key start to his F1 return with Williams, Alex Albon lit up the end of a race dominated by Charles Leclerc.  

In qualifying, Albon would have made it out of Q1 if he’d nailed his best sectors before the Lance Stroll/Nicholas Latifi crash, but was disqualified anyway for his FW44 failing to provide a fuel sample. Pre-race predictions “looked a bit sad”, said the last-starting Albon, so he settled on an ultra-long one-stop strategy. This meant 57 laps on the C2 hard tyres, while soaking up pressure in the pack after not pitting during the VSC or two earlier safety car periods.  

Albon had been able to gently bring his tyres in at the rear of the pack early on, and this paid dividends later – he ran in the points from half-distance after those ahead of him had pitted. With his rubber lasting well, Albon’s pace was so good he kept up with the McLarens and pulled away from the chasing Esteban Ocon in the closing stages.

He stopped one lap from home, dropping from seventh to 10th, which he sealed when Zhou Guanyu lost a chance of nabbing the final point with a last-lap slide at Turn 2 after Albon had roared out of the pitlane exit ahead. AK

George Russell - Spanish GP (3rd)  

Russell defied Verstappen for several laps on his way to a spirited third in Barcelona

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

If you take each race weekend as a whole, George Russell peaked in Brazil. But his Sunday drive there was all about leading from the front. His work in Spain used a far broader skill set. Mercedes was still taming the W13 and, rather than competing with Ferrari and Red Bull, it had to be careful that Alpine didn’t surpass it too.

No one told Russell that. He immediately launched past Carlos Sainz for third before saving a snap when he was clipped by Sergio Perez.  

Then, as Max Verstappen recovered from a trip through the gravel, Russell defended for his life. The Red Bull was suffering from intermittent DRS failure, but the overtaking aid was working well when the champion tried to lunge into Turn 1. Then as the track snaked to the left, Russell brilliantly fought back past. Verstappen would later talk about how much he relished this protracted duel. 

The immense resilience proved downright annoying for Red Bull. It pitted both drivers to find clear air and forced team orders where Perez was instructed to drop behind after failing to overtake the Merc. Russell had to manage spiralling temperatures late on but still bagged a hard-earned podium. Toto Wolff waxed lyrical: “His driving was unbelievable – a great star in the making.” MK 

Charles Leclerc - Austrian GP (1st) 

Leclerc defied Verstappen to score what turned out to be his final win of 2022 in Austria with a wounded car after passing him on track three times

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

When Charles Leclerc triumphed on Red Bull’s patch in early July, few imagined that a Ferrari driver wouldn’t top the podium again in 2022. That speaks volumes about how spectacularly the team’s title tilt collapsed. But the cracks had already been on show with slow pitstops, shocking strategy and fragile engines. Hence why Leclerc’s excellence in Austria felt so significant. The race for the drivers’ crown wasn’t over; Max Verstappen wasn’t going to have it all his own way – or so we thought. 

After a tame second place in the sprint contest, Leclerc bounced back emphatically the following day. He had the pace to overtake his rival no fewer than three times. Granted, Verstappen gave him enough room – perhaps because it wasn’t Lewis Hamilton in the other car. Or maybe he recognised how much faster Leclerc was, so it was pointless to resist.

The Monegasque’s showing deserves extra recognition because he was left without a rear gunner after Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari combusted, and for the way in which Leclerc managed a sticking throttle. This meant that, in the already twitchy F1-75, he was arriving at corners much too fast. Yet he kept it on the road to complete a virtuoso drive. MK

Max Verstappen - Belgian GP (1st) 

Verstappen couldn't be denied another victory at Spa, despite starting 14th following grid penalties

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

The champion delivered seven or eight drives that were right out of the top drawer. Even then, Spa stands clear – the man himself rates it as his best work. While Ferrari had wound down its engine, and the Red Bull RB18 had been on a crash diet over the summer, Max Verstappen was independently astonishing. 

The hybrid-era host of tactical grid penalties duly arrived at this circuit, where overtaking to offset the pain is more plentiful. Despite smashing pole by 0.6s, Verstappen was relegated to 14th on the grid and all set for a day of damage limitation.  

But after gaining three places by the exit of La Source, Verstappen began picking off his remaining colleagues with ease. The pressure of the pursuing Charles Leclerc was soon relieved when, in the first-lap dust, Verstappen removed a visor tear-off that flew straight into the Ferrari’s brake duct. 

DRS helped the cause also, but – among many highlights – he expertly demoted Alex Albon through Bruxelles. Incredibly, on lap 12 of 44, his ascent was complete. Verstappen hit the front, finished 17.8s clear of second-starting team-mate Sergio Perez and a crushing 27s ahead of polesitter Carlos Sainz. Sheer domination. MK

Fernando Alonso - United States GP (7th) 

Alonso remarkably rejoined after being sent skywards by Stroll, and went on to score points

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

This Austin performance did not earn a 10 in our driver ratings for several reasons, the first being Fernando Alonso qualified behind Lance Stroll’s slower Aston Martin in Q3. Then, at the start, he allowed Charles Leclerc to drive around his outside at Turn 5 as both began grid-penalty recoveries.  

Alonso rose to fight Pierre Gasly and Stroll early in the second stint, after gaining by stopping under the safety car. He feinted past the AlphaTauri at Turn 1 on the restart and, seconds later, moved from very close behind the Aston down the long back straight. Stroll’s awful late chop sent the Alpine skywards and glancing the left-side barriers. 

It was what Alonso did next that earns his spot on this list. He took the hobbled Alpine back for fresh hard tyres, a new front wing and a damage assessment, then charged from 17th in the safety car queue to finish seventh – higher than where he’d been running when attacking Stroll. A stewards’ saga followed due to Alonso’s mirror falling off, but seventh was ultimately returned.  AK

Alonso's dogged recovery to finish seventh with his battered Alpine at COTA was his seasonal highlight

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images