Shifts in 2022: Perez closer to Verstappen, Leclerc switches up

Ferrari

Where Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were very close in 2021, the Monegasque has found an extra gear now that he has a car with which he can win races. After three Grands Prix the proportions are clearly in favour of Leclerc. If Sainz wants to win a title he will have to turn this around quickly.

Mercedes

With the arrival of George Russell, the duel between Lewis Hamilton and his new teammate was looked forward to. With a lesser W13, the two should work well together to develop the car further, but it is also clear that the young Briton is close to his compatriot. The differences are small. On Sunday, Russell is the better one for now, Hamilton is still the fastest on Saturday.

Red Bull Racing

With a pole in Saudi Arabia, Sergio Perez has already secured his first point in the qualifying duel with Max Verstappen. The gap on Saturday seems to be less at all between the two this year and Perez stays closer in the race as well. Verstappen is still the fastest, but due to bad luck was twice without points, while Perez (once) was able to drive to the finish.

McLaren

Lando Norris continues the line of 2021, by distancing himself from his more experienced teammate again in early 2022. Daniel Ricciardo came to McLaren as the big man, but is again beaten by the Brit on Saturday and Sunday every time this year. The average difference on Saturday is especially painful.

Alpine

In the qualifying duel, Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso are tied. Alonso could have done good business in Australia, but a problem with the car caused a crash with the wall. Ocon has started his season solidly and is especially strong on Sunday. Alonso has had some bad luck here and there, but needs to work on his tire management on Sunday to grab more points for the team.

Alfa Romeo

Not entirely surprisingly, Valtteri Bottas is the frontrunner within Alfa Romeo. The Finn comes over from Mercedes where he has already managed ten victories. For Guanyu Zhou an ideal benchmark on his debut in Formula 1. For someone who was seen as a "pay-driver", the difference in the race compared to the Finn is not so big and especially the consistency of the Chinese is remarkable. On Saturday, Zhou still needs to get a bit faster.

Haas

Kevin Magnussen, despite a lack of preparation, was immediately ready to score points in the first races for Haas. He was faster than Mick Schumacher, who then had to pay for a mistake in Saudi Arabia with a big crash. In Australia, Mick came back slightly, but it is clear that the German will face a real challenge this year.

AlphaTauri

The proportions within AlphaTauri have not changed in 2022 compared to 2021. Pierre Gasly has been faster than his Japanese teammate in every qualifying session and every race, and just doesn't have a big lead in points due to his dropout in Bahrain. The gap in qualifying remains particularly large.

Williams

Prior to the season, it was said by Williams that Nicholas Latifi was underestimated by many people, but in the first three races of 2022, that turns out to be an empty quote. The Canadian is a 'pay-driver' who is already being driven around the ears by his new teammate in the first three races of Alexander Albon for Williams. The difference is immense and on top of that Latifi has already caused a lot of damage and headaches.

Aston Martin

Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll have only fought one more duel that was also marred by their crashes in FP3. At least Vettel kept his car in one piece that qualifying in Australia, unlike Stroll. In the race, however, it was reversed and Vettel was in the wall.

Hulkenberg came into action for the first two races and did not do so without merit. The fact that he was able to qualify and finish once ahead of Stroll perhaps says enough about Aston Martin's regular lineup, as Hulkenberg had not driven an F1 car for a year and a half and had zero preparation time.