By Joe Murphy
And just like that, another fortnight comes and goes and round thirteen of the 2022 Formula 1 season, is upon us. The Paul Ricard Circuit yet again hosts the French Grand Prix for this year as Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc look to keep their rivalry going. Any number of scenarios could play out this weekend, so let’s explore some of these options.
Sainz penalty gives Red Bull advantage…
As it stands at the time of writing, Carlos Sainz is set to take a ten-place grid penalty on Sunday. This means, depending of qualifying performance, the Spaniard will probably be starting between 11th and 15th. The Ferrari is struggling to be competitive due to it’s unreliability. This penalty, enduced by the fireball of a car in Austria last time out, only makes things harder for both members of the red team. Whilst Sainz will struggle to get on the podium, the fact Charles will have to battle both Perez and Verstappen, naturally gives the Red Bull team, a tactical advantage. Expect Checo and Max to play a part in holding Charles up at times over the race distance. The man from Monaco may have won last time, but you have to think the reigning world champion has a better chance this weekend.
Estaban and Pierre – C’est magnifique!
The recent changes on the Alpha Tauri should give hometown hero Pierre Gasly a huge boost ahead of the race in front of his native fans. Moreover, Estaban Ocon is comfortably out-scoring veteran teammate Fernando Alonso and this isn’t nearly talked about enough. Whilst the Alpine man had a much better result in Austria than his French counterpart, expect both to have a strong showing around this track. A good bet would be that both French drivers have the edge over their respective teammates on both the Saturday and Sunday sessions.
Merc having to settle for 4th and 5th…
This will come up in the final entry in this predictions piece, but Lewis Hamilton and George Russell will find it hard to achieve better than a combined 22 points. If one of them is to step on the podium, it will be because of a mistake or mechanical error from either Leclerc or Verstappen/Perez ahead. It will be a decent haul of points for the Silver Arrows as they just about remain on contention to retain their Constructor’s Championship title for a ninth time in a row. The more races pass, the less likely this outcome is, but they will remain on the hunt primarily due to their impeccable reliability so far this season.
McLaren – fantastique ou Les Miserables?
It’s been an overall poor season for the orange team, with both drivers having positive and incredibly negative outtings. Things just haven’t clicked for Lando this season, whilst it could easily be argued that they never have for Daniel Ricciardo in this particular car. They will surely be hoping for better from this race and know that some decent points could be on offer from this race, especially since they have had more upgrades installed ahead of this race than any other team on the grid. However, it will be difficult to envisage a result better than P7 or P8, by the time the chequered flag is waved on Sunday afternoon.
Most predictable podium of the season?
There could be a crash. There could be a car failure. There could be a huge shock in terms of Mercedes pace. However, none of these are particularly likely. Ferrari will be making sure that their car gets to the end following the immense criticism in the wake of the Austrian Grand Prix. For Red Bull, their issues appear well and truly behind them following a stuttering start I to the campaign. With Carlos Sainz a good dozen places back from the front row, a podium of Verstappen, Leclerc and Perez looks increasingly likely. In what order, well that remains to be seen. As previously indicated, Max should have the advantage. He could be followed by either his Mexican teammate or the Ferrari man who is arguably his main title rival. Take it to the bank for a VER, LEC, PER podium, when events conclude this weekend.
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