Ferrari and Leclerc stay ahead, Red Bull breathes

After the second Grand Prix of the 2022 season in Jeddah, let’s take a look at the championship standings.

Ferrari confirms its position as favorites and remains the leader of the championship after its double podium with Charles Leclerc in second and Carlos Sainz in third position. These are important points for the red team.

Mercedes remains below Ferrari and Red Bull, but nonetheless managed to score points with George Russell’s fifth-place finish and one point from Lewis Hamilton, who finished tenth after starting fifteenth. The German team still has a lot of work to do to catch up to Ferrari and Red Bull in order to keep up in the championship.

Red Bull reassures itself after their double retirement last week in Bahrain with Max Verstappen’s victory after a beautiful battle with Charles Leclerc. This victory allows Verstappen to secure third place in the drivers’ championship. However, there is a small disappointment for Sergio Perez, who only finishes fourth despite starting in pole position and leading the first part of the race. The rest of the championship looks promising for the Austrian team, as they are capable of fighting against Ferrari.

Good result from Alpine, who finished in fourth place in the championship. This is thanks to Esteban Ocon’s impressive sixth position, which earned valuable points for the midfield battle between Alpine, Alfa Romeo, Haas, AlphaTauri, and McLaren. The French team could have done even better, but reliability played tricks on Fernando Alonso, who had to retire due to a mechanical issue. The performance is there for Alpine, but reliability still needs to be improved.

Haas had only one car on the grid on Sunday due to Mick Schumacher’s accident in qualifying the day before. Therefore, it was Kevin Magnussen who had to carry Haas’ colors alone and finished in ninth position, notably resisting Lewis Hamilton thanks to the very good Ferrari engine of the Haas and the good management of the tires. This allowed Magnussen to perfectly manage his race. The rest of the championship looks promising for the American team if the development keeps up.

Alfa Romeo didn’t score any points this weekend with Valterri Bottas retiring due to mechanical issues, even though the Finn was in the points behind the Alpines. The potential of the Alfa Romeo is more than satisfying as the car is well-designed and benefits from the Ferrari engine. The Bottas-Zhou duo seems to be working well and performing, which hints at a good 2022 season.

AlphaTauri is doing well because Yuki Tsunoda was unable to start due to an engine problem during the warm-up lap. Pierre Gasly had to manage alone and brought his car home in eighth position. The Italian team moves up to seventh in the constructors’ championship thanks to Red Bull’s results and should fight for fourth place in the championship.

McLaren scores its first points of the season thanks to Lando Norris finishing in seventh place, taking advantage of a good strategy from his team. However, the English team still has a lot of room for development in terms of both performance and reliability, as Ricciardo had to retire due to a gearbox issue. If the development is not successful, McLaren’s chances in the rest of the championship will be compromised.

Finally, the two teams that have not yet scored any points are Aston Martin and Williams, who are definitely not experiencing the start of the season they had hoped for. The Mercedes engine is not performing well and the chassis still needs development. Albon could have hoped to score points by finishing eleventh, but the collision with Stroll ruined his hopes of doing so.