By Joe Man
It’s very hard to make predictions at this stage as we don’t know the true power of the cars. Much has been made of the Barcelona test but many of the cars could be totally different by the next test in Bahrain! We do however know quite a lot about our driver line up!!
Who will win team by team. Let’s start with the Constructors Champions.
Mercedes
Hamilton v Russell
With the last 8 constructors titles under their belt, you would have to fancy Mercedes to have a car that can win the title. What we saw in Barcelona only confirmed that this should be true. After five years of Hamilton dominating Valtteri Bottas, it’s easy to assume the dominance will continue. Hamilton jointly holds the record of seven world championship titles with Michael Schumacher and desperately wants the eighth that was stolen from him last year. There will be a fire in Lewis this year that will drive him to new heights. On the other side you have the wonder kid George Russell. He looks very at home already at Mercedes and has been on par with Lewis with his times. I think this will be one, if not, the most exciting pairing in 2022.
I’m going to be controversial here and pick George Russell to win this duel.
If Mercedes have the fastest car I believe Russell will win the championship. He has dragged a Williams to places it should never been in the last few years and I believe will be simply too fast for Lewis.
If Mercedes are in a close fight with Red Bull, Ferrari or McLaren then I fancy Lewis will win out. His race craft will help him avoid the inevitable collisions that Russell will find himself in with the other young, hot blooded drivers.
Russell by a whisker
Ferrari
Leclerc v Sainz
The Italian giants where my other pick for a fascinating battle. We are only days away now from final testing and a true look at the real pecking order. It’s been all smiles at Ferrari in 2022. They committed last year to making this year their only goal and we could be about to see the results. The car looks great and the drivers look excited about their chances.
Leclerc is the proven race winner has what it takes to take on Verstappen’s aggression and Hamilton’s guile. His weakness will be his temperament. On the other side of the garage sits the super smooth Carlos Sainz. Since arriving at Ferrari Carlos has had no problem matching Leclerc’s speed. What we haven’t seen yet is the Spaniard win a race. In fairness to him he hasn’t had the opportunity yet. Second to Pierre Gasly in Italy 2020 was the closet he has come.
I’m going with Charles Leclerc on this one. He will be a genuine title contender if Ferrari dreams come true!
Mclaren
Norris v Riccardo
Another team that have had a super positive start to 2022. Confidence is running high within the team and they have two great drivers. Everyone loves these two drivers for their comedy value but they will be genuine contenders if they have the tools.
Daniel Riccardo is the proven race winner here but very much not the team number one. He was soundly beaten by Lando last year, although he was the one to win a race. Lando is yet to win a race but is super fast.
I’m going to go with Norris to continue to dominate Riccardo again this year. The new heavier cars may suit Daniel’s aggressive driving style but I just don’t see him matching Norris for pure speed.
Lando Norris to win with Daniel not far behind
Red Bull
Verstappen v Perez
This is one battle that I don’t see being close at all. Max is at the top of his game and no teammate yet has got close to him. Red Bull will know that they have the fastest driver who will get the best out of the car. They will want Sergio to be in the top four every week. If that happens its best case scenario for them. You can clearly see that their main rivals all have team pairings that could be close and end in tears. Christian Horner will want Sergio there to provide a tow in qualifying when needed, fight Versatappen’s opponents hard and win if Max is out of the race. In Perez they have the perfect man.
Max Verstappen all the way
Scuderia AlphaTauri
Pierre Gasly v Yuki Tsunoda
My pick for fifth in the constructors championship in 2022, Alpha Tauri seem to always punch above their weight. They also have one of the finest drivers on the grid who really should be in a better car. This particular intra team battle is not a hard one to pick. Yuki is about to start only his second season and his first was pretty messy. Similar to George Russell, Gasly drags a second rate car to great results week in week out. It will be another frustrating season again for Pierre watching his piers in better cars disappear into the distance. If a chance pops up though you can guarantee Gasly will be there to take it. For Tsunoda his first priority will be to make sure he is retained for another season. Pierre Gasly, all the way
Stay tuned for
Aston Martin
Alpine
Hass
Williams
Alpha Romeo
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