Who was F1 2022’s most underrated driver?

All through a Formulation 1 season there are drivers that always go unnoticed with their performances as the primary protagonists develop and write their tales.

Just lately the RacingNews365.com employees compiled an inventory of the bottom ranked and highest ranked drivers of the season.

This was completed on a outcomes and normal efficiency foundation all through the season, with drivers getting scored primarily based on how every of their years panned out.

However what about drivers that weren’t essentially stand-outs, however put in a stable season given their circumstances?

Valtteri Bottas

The information that Valtteri Bottas can be leaving Mercedes echoed that of Lewis Hamilton when he introduced his departure from McLaren in 2012, though on this occasion Bottas’ hand was compelled by Mercedes, who opted to put George Russell within the second seat.

The fact took some time to sink in for Bottas as he performed second-fiddle to Hamilton within the latter years of his Mercedes profession, however the transfer to Alfa Romeo offered a much-needed reset for the Finn who was as soon as billed as a possible champion when he was at Williams.

Traditionally Alfa Romeo has not been a contender for race wins, you would need to return to the times of Sauber and Sergio Perez after they final stood on the rostrum 10 years in the past.

Going into the brand new laws for 2022, the staff was in the most effective place having been the one staff to hit the load goal and signing a confirmed race-winner in Bottas.

Bottas went on to attain his highest end of fifth at Imola, after the staff failed to interrupt into the highest 5 within the earlier two years even with World Champion and compatriot Kimi Raikkonen on the wheel.

Errors within the latter elements of the season, coupled with poor reliability, probably hindered what may’ve been a pivotal second for Bottas as he appears to reinvigorate his profession away from the years at Mercedes and sticks it out heading into the brand new period with Audi.

Alex Albon

Regardless of the brand new laws, it was one other yr of being opportunistic for Williams as they proceed with their goals of breaking into the midfield once more.

Alex Albon was the primary driver behind their resurgence, himself making a comeback on the grid after being snubbed by Crimson Bull in 2020.

There was was a right away standout efficiency on the Australian Grand Prix, the place he went from twentieth to tenth to attain his first factors for the staff in simply 4 races – a feat that took George Russell 27 races.

The end result additionally led to him sporting crimson hair dye following a go to to a neighborhood orphanage in his dwelling nation, Thailand, the place crimson is supposed to be a fortunate color.

This was later adopted up with a point-finish on the newly constructed Miami circuit – it appeared the crimson hair was working!

The subsequent factors end wouldn’t come till the Belgian Grand Prix, and had he not suffered from tonsillitis at Monza he most likely would have repeated the identical feat in Italy.

As a substitute he set the automotive up for De Vries to take the wheel, who ultimately used the drive to earn his seat at AlphaTauri. However the work completed by Albon on Friday was largely unseen, and enabled that automotive to get into the highest ten.

Albon has confirmed his proper to a seat on the grid and maybe these years at Williams will make different prime groups re-evaluate him, particularly as the fee cap begins to kick into impact on efficiency.

Zhou Guanyu

Zhou Guanyu is the one rookie on the grid, so you may say that he’s the highest rookie of 2022.

Factors on his debut at Bahrain adopted by just a few shut finishes exterior the highest ten, it all the time felt like Zhou was getting extra out of what was in any other case a tricky studying curve.

Many had been sad together with his promotion to F1 after coming runner as much as Oscar Piastri in Formulation 2, however Zhou confirmed that he is worthy of a spot on the grid by not often committing any unforced errors.

It was largely reliability that plagued his season, together with his race in Miami lasting simply six laps, adopted by a successive retirement on the Spanish Grand Prix.

His greatest qualifying place got here at Silverstone, though shortly after the beginning he was sufferer of a terrifying crash that pitched his automotive the other way up and over the catch fence at Flip 1. The photographs of him strolling away was one more tribute to the advances made in F1 circuit security.

Zhou rounded off his yr with what he described because the “greatest overtake I’ve completed all season” at Abu Dhabi on Albon within the closing phases. It actually gave us a sneak peek of what’s but to come back from the Chinese language driver.

Lando Norris

One other stand-out season for the British driver, after it appeared that 2022 could be a troublesome yr for McLaren following the Bahrain Grand Prix.

A fast regroup noticed Norris again within the factors at Saudi Arabia and Melbourne, earlier than taking a podium end at Imola.

This resurgence to a podium confirmed why Norris is likely one of the most formidable drivers in F1, amassing 122 factors in a automotive that’s arguably fifth quickest.

Different star performances embody making the technique work for McLaren and ending forward of Max Verstappen on observe at Singapore, and at Austin, the place he claimed a sixth place on benefit.

His race in Brazil would have been a outstanding factors end after Norris revealed that he was affected by meals poisoning all weekend, however a reliability downside minimize quick his outstanding feat.

By his qualifying performances Norris has taken an actual step up within the final couple of years in F1, and now it is all the way down to McLaren to present him a automotive able to making the subsequent step and difficult for podiums.