The 2022 Formula 1 racing calendar is well underway. As it stands nine races have been completed with more than half still remaining.
Despite an obvious dominance on the points table between Verstappen, his Red Bull teammate Perez and Ferrari rival Leclerc, it is clear to see that this year's championship is shaping up to be one of chance rather than skills or the best use of resources. The element of skill appears to be missing this season and winning a race has become a thing of luck, akin to a free spin on your favourite game.
Verstappen winning easily
Currently Verstappen is 49 points clear of Leclerc, showing signs of a clear pathway towards the top spot of the Drivers' Championship 2022.
Although Verstappen has only held three pole positions out of the nine races so far this season, whereas Leclerc has successfully gained eight. It appears the opposite is occurring when it comes to winning the race. Verstappen has now won six first place podium finishes but Leclerc only two.
However, it could be argued that Verstappen is merely winning by default. Luckily for him, he appears to be avoiding most of the drama that is happening elsewhere this season and coasting to first position due to the technical struggles of other the teams.
Problems for Ferrari
Ferrari have been accused of profligacy this season. As previously mentioned, Ferrari have gathered the highest number of pole positions in the qualifying rounds on Saturdays, proving they are the fastest car in dry weather. But the team is failing to take advantage of this on race day, easily allowing Red Bull's Verstappen to move clearly ahead.
Given the fact that he himself had an unfortunate two retirements in the first three races of the season due to loss of power in Bahrain and further engine issues in Melbourne, this is surprising.
Out of Leclerc's control
So far, Ferrari are failing to address the root cause of their issues with car control and mechanical failure. While performing well in qualifying rounds, Leclerc has lost many recent races for reasons out of his control.
He suffered two DNFs in three races in Spain and Azerbaijan. As he began feeling technical problems with his car, he watched as his comfortable lead disappeared.
In Canada, he was handed a penalty requiring him to start off at the back after the electronic control was updated for the third time, going over the 2022 limit rule.
No comeback for Mercedes
Hamilton finally celebrated a podium position after placing third in Canada, his first since another thirds position in the opening race in Bahrain. So much for a comeback for both Mercedes and Hamilton this year. It seems Mercedes have yet to overcome their issues.
All the while, they are holding onto their third position with 188 points in the Constructors' Championship just with pure consistency of showing up and finishing races. Interestingly, Mercedes have seemed to accepted the randomness this year.
Inopportune safety car
Ahead of the 2022 season the rules regarding the safety car were changed to remove ambiguity around lapped and uplapped cars.
The safety car has been a mainstay feature this season, appearing in almost every race due to an incident on track or poor weather conditions. However, it seems the arrival of the safety car is still causing upset as it comes in and appears to shuffle the pack. It can be a question of luck which position a driver finds themselves once the safety car departs the track.
One example of this was seen in Saudi Arabia when Perez lost his leading position after the safety car handed his opponents to make a pit stop and re-emerge ahead of him. It is playing a deceive role this season.
While the race to win to be winning driver and constructor seems straightforward this year, there really is no predicting what way individual races will go but one this is for sure, it will be entertaining to watch.
