By Joe Man
Joe Man’s Teammate Battle Diary – Part 3
It hasn’t been plain sailing for all the drivers on the 2022 grid so far this season. There have been positives for the majority of teams and drivers, but some are unquestionably struggling to get up to speed, literally! Let’s look at every driver and consider how they are getting on ahead of their visit to the streets of Monte Carlo.
Red Bull
Verstappen 1st – Perez 3rd
So finally Max has hit the front! The gremlins are still there but with luck finally running out for others Verstappen is back where he feels he belongs! Sergio Is right up there with him and we saw the first signs of team trouble. As fans of Formula 1 we all hate team orders! They are a necessary part of the sport for teams but really ruin the spectacle! After narrowly missing out on a podium in Miami Perez found himself in the lead of the Spanish Grand Prix on merit. A spin for Verstappen early and the retirement of Charles Leclerc meant Sergio had a great chance to take his third race win. However the team made it very clear that they where going to ask him to hand the win to Max. For the first time since joining Red Bull you could see Sergio was not happy!
Christian Horner argued that they where on a different strategy which is a fair point and I feel Max would have come out on top either way. It feels soon or later he will need to accept being a number two driver. If he has any chance of one day being a world champion he will need to get in front early. Right now he is only 25 points behind but you feel its too late. Sergio is driving beautifully this year but needs to take that extra step to get on level terms with his world champion teammate.
Mercedes
Russell 4th – Lewis Hamilton 6th
Mercedes are back and its still the new kid on the block, George Russell who is winning this one! He is the most consistent driver on the grid with a top 5 finish in every race so far. George is going wheel to wheel with the best and dragging an average car to great results. On the other side poor old Lewis cant catch a break. He has been in the wrong place at the wrong time for a couple of safety cars and , in Barcelona, a small but costly incident with Kevin Magnussen. We did however see the first signs that Lewis is flying in this years car. This is going to be one of the most fascinating stories of the year. Sooner or later Hamilton is going to figure out this car and then we will really see who is the faster of the two Englishman. It could very well be this weekend in Monaco!
Ferrari
Leclerc 2nd – Sainz 5th
Although Carlos has come away from the last two races with more points, the real story is very different. Sainz is nowhere compared to his team mate. You have to feel for both Ferrari drivers right now just for very different reasons. Charles has done everything over the last few weeks. As hard as he tried he simply didn’t have enough engine power to hold off Max in Miami and then the horrible ending failure in Barcelona that cost him his championship lead. He also lost the engine so will undoubtedly take penalties later in the year for a 4th engine at least.
Sainz meanwhile is coping with the knowledge that he currently isn’t as good as his teammate. After last year he would have felt he would be up there with Charles fighting for the championship but Leclerc is a different level. The harder Carlos tries the more the mistakes come in. His third and fourth place in Miami and Barcelona where very respectable but not to him. Every race there has been multiple errors and you feel he is over doing everything and needs to rediscover his natural speed.
Alpine
Ocon 9th – Alonso 15th
Like with many of the teams things have continued the same way at Alpine. Both drivers are performing well with one, Mr Alonso getting absolutely no luck! They seem to also have one of the most unpredictable cars. Its crazy fast one minute then disappears the next. Fernando has had bad pit stops, penalties and plenty of bumping wheels! They feel the most likely to pull off an unexpected podium or win. At some stage the luck will turn and this inter team battle will continue right to the end!
McLaren
Lando Norris 7 – Daniel Ricciardo 12
Couple of very average races for McLaren as a team. Lando continues to impress but got taken out in Miami by Gasly and then battled through sickness to finish eighth in Barcelona. It was a very respectable result but not where McLaren want to be. The Merc’s have left them behind and you feel Lando could be in for some lonely seventh place finishes! As for Daniel where are you? Things have got even worse for Ricciardo with no points or any speed in the last two races. Something just isn’t clicking! Everyone wants this to turn around but he seems just lost! Its hard to know what’s going on but there seemed to be a feeling after Barcelona that there was an issue with the car yet undiscovered. Daniel is a confident guy and needs to get his racing confidence back really soon!
Alfa Romeo
Valtteri Bottas 8 – Zhou Guanyu 18
Its a tale of two very different stories at Alfa. Valtteri is still flying with great results in the last two races. Sadly for Zhou its been two mechanical DNF’s. You can’t fault him for that, although a big gap is forming between the two. That, in undeniable. Both drivers came into the team with contrasting expectations. At the moment, the Finn’s experience is showing it’s true value.
Williams
Alex Albon 16 – Nicholas Latifi 21
More points for Albon and a continued dry spell for Latifi! Alex continues to lead the team in their pursuit of points. A great ninth place in Miami but no luck in Barcelona. In fact, it was the first time Latifi had got the better of his teammate in Spain. However it was largely due to a damaged floor for Albon. Either way last and second last didn’t matter much!
Alpha Tauri
Pierre Gasly 13 – Yuki Tsunoda 11
This continues to be the one we all got wrong! Things are not going well for Pierre this year! We all thought he would smash Yuki like he did last year but its not the case. Admittedly he hasn’t had the best luck but Gasly doesn’t look comfortable in this car. Yuki however just looks solid and reliable! Not words we expected to describe him!. He is doing a great job and Pierre really needs to get his season going and keep himself in the minds of the big teams.
Haas
Magnussen 10 – Mick Schumacher 19
The last two races have been a big comedown for the Haas team with no points to show. Qualifying has been good and Magnussen has been flying. In Spain both drivers got in to Q3 and Mick seems to be getting his speed together. He is still a long way behind the flying Dane though!
Aston Martin
Seb Vettel 14 – Lance Stroll 17
The Aston mess continues with both drivers being involved in all sorts of incidents. With the team under scrutiny for the Red Bull copy, they needed it to go like a Red Bull! Sadly it went more like a Lucozade! Seb is still on top but only with a merger 4 points! This will be a team mate battle that turns into whoever get a lucky break comes out on top!
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