【2022 Season Review】Verstappen takes record 15 wins in a season, and 2nd consecutive World Championship

Honda has finished participating in F1 as a power unit supplier in 2021. From the 2022 season, new organized HRC has supported 4 cars of two teams, Oracle Red Bull Racing and Scuderia AlphaTauri by the request Red Bull Group to support Red Bull Powertrains that is the division of developing power unit.

Season opener begins with the turmoil of successive retirements

In the opening round of the 2022 Bahrain GP, Oracle Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen, who won the driver's title the previous year, and teammate Sergio Perez, who ranked 4th last year, retired in the final stages. Scuderia AlphaTauri's Yuki Tsunoda, the only Japanese regular F1 driver, finished in 8th place, but teammate Pierre Gasly also retired, making it a tough start for both teams.

Verstappen defeated Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) in the second round of the Saudi Grand Prix to win his first victory of the season. However, Verstappen had trouble again in the third round of the Australian GP, and he had to retire from the race. Perez made to the podium as 2nd. For the team, it was a sluggish start.

Verstappen winning streak turns things around

However, the situation improved with Verstappen and Perez's first 1-2 finish of the season at Round 4 Emilia Romagna GP. Verstappen won consecutive victories in Round 5 of Miami GP and Round 6 of Spain GP, rising to the top of the points ranking.

Round 7 is the Monaco GP, one of the world's top three races. Perez, who was in 3rd place in the early stages, took the lead despite the difficulty of overtaking, and achieved his long-cherished desire to win the Monaco GP for the first time. He also won his first win as a Mexican driver.

Verstappen and Perez finished 1-2 for the third time this season at Round 8 of Azerbaijan GP which made Oracle Red Bull Racing to the dominated podium. Verstappen won the following round of the 9th Canadian Grand Prix, and he was running top of the ranking by himself.

Perez finished 2nd in round 10 of the British GP, and Verstappen took 2nd in round 11 of the Austrian GP. In the 13th round of the Hungarian GP, Verstappen had trouble with his power unit in the qualifying and finished 10^th. However, the strategy towards championship was successful to become the champion coming from behind. Oracle Red Bull Racing returned to the season with a strong result.

Verstappen wins five in a row

At the 14th round of the Belgian Grand Prix after the summer break, Verstappen and Perez got off to a good start with their fourth 1-2 finish of the season.

Continuing on to Round 15, Verstappen took pole-to-win at his home country's Dutch Grand Prix to make his 10th victory of the season. He also won the 16th round at the Italian Grand Prix and achieved five consecutive victories. In the 17th round of the Singapore GP, he finished 7th, but Perez won the race and covered the team.

Winning the Drivers' Title for the second time in a row at the Japanese GP

Round 18 in Japan GP held at Suzuka Circuit, was held in wet conditions with rain from beginning to end. On the third lap, the red flag was suspended due to bad weather. The race was restarted more than two hours after the original start time. The timing of the pit stop affected the course of the race, but Verstappen took the lead and won the race, while Perez finished 2nd on the podium. Verstappen, who won his 12th victory of the season, won the drivers' title for the second consecutive year with four races remaining.

Tsunoda, who graduated from Suzuka Circuit Racing School and made it his first home GP, ran in the points until the middle stages, but the tires did not hold until the end and he made a pit stop and fell back to 16th. He finished 13th at the end and unfortunately did not reach the prize.

Oracle Red Bull Racing achieving the double crown

On the 35th lap of the 19th round at the United States GP, Verstappen pitted in the lead, but had trouble changing tires, allowing Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) and Leclerc to take the lead, but he overtook them and won. As a result, Oracle Red Bull Racing won the Constructors' title, and together with Verstappen's Drivers' title, achieved a double crown.

Verstappen won again in Round 20 of Mexico City GP, but finished 6th in Round 21 of Sao Paulo GP, due to contact and penalties in the early stages of the race. Teammate Perez also struggled with tires and finished seventh.

At the final round of the Abu Dhabi GP, Verstappen regained his form and took pole position. After that, he ran the lead and achieved pole-to-win with a difference of more than 8 seconds from Leclerc in 2nd place. He ended the 2022 season with an outstanding record of 15 wins in a season which is the most in history.

Perez fought hard with Leclerc for 2nd place in the ranking, but fell short and finished 3rd. Tsunoda of Scuderia AlphaTauri finished the race in 11th and Gasly in 14th.

Oracle Red Bull Racing got off to a shaky start to the season, but from the middle stages onwards, Oracle Red Bull Racing won without any major problems. In the end, Verstappen won the driver's title for the second year in a row with 15 wins, the most in history, and Perez had 2 wins and finished 3rd in the ranking. He won 17 out of 22 races and dominiated his rivals.

Race Report

Rd.01 Bahrain：Yuki Tsunoda Finishes 8th in Bahrain GP

Rd.02 Saudi Arabia：Max Verstappen Wins Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

Rd.03 Australia：Sergio Perez finishes 2nd in Australian Grand Prix

Rd.04 Emilia Romagna：Oracle Redbull Racing Duo Finish 1-2 in Emilia Romagna GP

Rd.05 Miami：Max Verstappen got his second consecutive victory, and the first Miami Grand Prix win in history

Rd.06 Spain：Oracle Red Bull Racing finishes 1-2, Max Verstappen tops the points standings

Rd.07 Monaco：Sergio Perez wins Monaco Grand Prix

Rd.08 Azerbaijan：Oracle Red Bull Racing Finishes 1-2 for the Third Time This Season

Rd.09 Canada：Max Verstappen Wins Canada Grand Prix

Rd.10 British：Sergio Perez Finishes 2nd on the Podium

Rd.11 Austria：Max Verstappen Finishes 2nd on the Podium

Rd.12 France：Max Verstappen takes his seventh win of the season

Rd.13 Hungary：Max Verstappen takes his 8th win of the season after starting 10th

Rd.14 Belgium：Oracle Red Bull Racing finishes 1-2, Max Verstappen wins 9th race of the season

Rd.15 Netherlands：Max Verstappen goes pole-to-win at his home GP, wins 10th race of the season

Rd.16 Italy：Max Verstappen wins his fifth straight race. His 11th win of the season.

Rd.17 Singapore：Sergio Perez takes his second win of the season at the Singapore Grand Prix

Rd.18 Japan：Max Verstappen Wins 12th Race of the Season and the Drivers' Championship

Rd.19 America：Max Verstappen Finishes First, Oracle Red Bull Racing Wins Constructors' Title

Rd.20 Mexico City：Max Verstappen Took his 14th Win of the Season

Rd.21 Sao Paulo：Max Verstappen finished 6th

Rd.22 Abu Dhabi：Verstappen closes out the season with his 15th win of the year