The 2022 Formula One season featured a number of impressive performances. Here are the five worst drivers. Others, on the other hand, were disappointed by the season, and some events did not go according to plan.
Although the 2022 grid was of a very high caliber, it is safe to say that there were drives that simply did not meet expectations. It is challenging to eliminate the five worst drivers from a grid of twenty, but that is what we are going to do here.
So moving right along, we should investigate the five most exceedingly awful drivers on the F1 network this season:
5. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
It was a toss-up between Stroll and Kevin Magnussen, but Magnussen won the race for the Haas driver thanks to a few “flash in the pan” performances (Magnussen’s pole position in Brazil was a beauty).
Stroll served as Sebastian Vettel’s supporting cast for nearly the entire season. Stroll appeared out of his depth alongside a multiple world champion, and there were very few races throughout the season in which he performed better than Vettel.
4. Mick Schumacher (Haas F1)
It was planned that this season would be the one in which Mick Schumacher would demonstrate his talent to the F1 grid.
While the second half of the season was significantly better than the first, the damage was already done, to be fair to him. The German is still too rough around the edges, making it difficult to organize a race weekend.
The fact that his teammate Kevin Magnussen, who was not as good all season, received all the highlights, including pole position and more points. That put Schumacher’s shortcomings into perspective.
3. Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren)
When we talk about Daniel Ricciardo in 2022, there isn’t much to say. The driver took all of the criticism on the chin, but as the season went on, you could see that it wore him down.
Although it is difficult to claim that no one anticipated the loss of the McLaren seat, it was regrettable to lose it a year earlier than required. When you’re 20-2 against your teammate in a McLaren team where every point counts, your performances have been disappointing.
The 2022 season was disappointing for the Australian, whether measured against Daniel Ricciardo’s standards or any other criteria. Therefore, his inclusion on this list comes as no surprise.
2. Guanyu Zhou (Alfa Romeo)
When Zhou scored his first points of the season, he received a lot of praise from various quarters.
The Chinese driver did well in his first few races, especially for a rookie, but he never got the chance to race his teammate. Alfa Romeo would always rely on Valtteri Bottas for the outcome if the car was strong on any given weekend, and whatever Zhou got would be a bonus.
1. Nicholas Latifi (Williams)
There aren’t any surprises here, are there? As Alex Albon took George Russell’s place at Williams, Latifi was expected to rise to the occasion and assume leadership responsibilities. That didn’t happen, and what we saw was the young Canadian driver giving up completely.
Albon and Latifi were separated in terms of performance from the first race all the way through the season.
Even though the vehicle was capable of much more, it almost seemed as though Latifi spent the entire season at the bottom of the grid. The fact that Nyck De Vries stepped into the Williams seat and scored points in his debut in Monza, whereas Latifi was unable to do so, may have been one of the most notable events.
In contrast to Nikita Mazepin, a driver who offended everyone, Latifi had a great rapport with the other drivers on the grid. She has a personable personality. But is he a driver who should be in Formula One? Most likely not.