First, what is Formula 1 (F1)? A Formula 1 season consists of a series of races, known as Grands Prix, which take place worldwide on both purpose-built circuits and street circuits (closed public roads). Formula 1 has a competition structure that involves 10 teams, with two drivers per team. A points system is used to determine two annual World Championships: one for a driver, the other for a constructor (constructors in F1 are the companies, entities or manufacturers that are responsible for developing and constructing the cars used for racing – for example, Ferrari).
More on points: these are awarded to the top 10 finishers in a Grand Prix and an additional point is awarded to the driver with the fastest lap, providing they finish in the top 10.
| Position | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11-20 |
| Points | 25 | 18 | 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
Now let’s focus on the current season, below are the drivers and teams for 2022:
| Team | Drivers |
| Red Bull Racing | Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez |
| Ferrari | Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz |
| Mercedes | Lewis Hamilton, George Russell |
| McLaren | Lando Norris, Daniel Ricciardo |
| Alpine | Fernando Alonso, Esteban Ocon |
| Alfa Romeo | Valtteri Bottas, Zhou Guanyu |
| AlphaTauri | Pierre Gasly, Yuki Tsunoda |
| Haas F1 Team | Mick Schumacher, Kevin Magnussen |
| Aston Martin | Sebastian Vettel, Lance Stroll |
| Williams | Nicholas Latifi, Alexander Albon |
As of 15th June, we are eight races into the 2022 season: the first being Bahrain on the 20th March and most recently Azerbaijan on the 12th June. Max Verstappen is leading the pack at 150 points with teammate Sergio Perez following just behind at 129 points. Third is Charles Leclerc at 116, fourth George Russell at 99, fifth Carlos Sainz at 83 and sixth Lewis Hamilton at 62. Then follow Norris (50), Bottas (40), Ocon (31), Gasly (16), Alonso (16), Magnussen (15), Ricciardo (15), Vettel (13), Tsunoda (11), Albon (3), Stroll (2) and Zhou (1). Mick Schumacher and Nicholas Latifi are the only two drivers who are yet to grab their first points of the season.
More on the 2022 teams: Red Bull Racing is currently in first place at a total of 279 points, a comfortable 80 points above second place team Ferrari at 199 points, who are followed closely by Mercedes at just 38 points behind. Then come McLaren, Alpine, Alfa Romeo, AlphaTauri, Haas F1 Team, Aston Martin and then Williams.
More on the 2022 drivers: the youngest driver on the grid is 21-year-old Yuki Tsunoda whilst the oldest driver is Fernando Alonso at 40 years old, who also holds the record for longest time racing since debut at over 21 years and 3 months. Alonso is one of the four drivers on the grid who have won a World Championship. Alonso is a two-time world champion, achieving one in 2005 and one in 2006. Sebastian Vettel has four championships, all gained in a row from 2010 to 2013. Lewis Hamilton holds the record for most World Championships (joint with Michael Schumacher) at 7, winning his first in 2008 and then in 2014 and 2015, before gaining four in a row from 2017-2020. Max Verstappen received his first world championship last season (2021) after a controversial ending, detailed below.
Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen were equal on points going into the last race of the season, Abu Dhabi. Although Lewis Hamilton lead most of this race, some dramatic final few laps created one of the most chaotic, controversial title showdowns in F1 history. There were just five laps remaining when Latifi spun on the track and damaged his car, meaning a safety car was sent out. Red Bull had taken the opportunity to pit Verstappen for a new set of soft tyres meaning he had an advantage over Hamilton who had older and slower tyres, but there were five lapped cars between them. As the pack started the penultimate lap, race control decided to let the five cars between Hamilton and Verstappen un-lap themselves, meaning Verstappen started the final lap directly behind Hamilton. This is controversial because the regulations state all unlapped cars should have been able to overtake, which would have taken the remaining race time to complete, resulting in Hamilton winning the championship. The FIA also say the race director Michael Masi, who has since been replaced after the scandal, “called the safety car back into the pit lane without it having completed an additional lap as required by the Formula 1 Sporting Regulations (Article 48.12)”. Therefore, many still debate which driver should have won the 2021 World Championship.
And this is only the start, I haven’t yet mentioned F1 sprint races, pit stops, tyres, flags, the rules when constructing cars, the costs of cars, salaries of drivers and more. However, I think this is enough to get you going – so why don’t you tune into the next Grand Prix in Canada this Sunday 19th June.
