2022 F1 French GP: Top 5 Bold Predictions

The 2022 F1 French GP might just be the last time we see the sport at Circuit Paul Ricard for some time. The track is rumored to be off the 2023 F1 calendar as the sport tries to expand to new geographies. Having said that, the race is still an integral part of the calendar this season. It marks the start of the second half of the season and comes at a very critical juncture in the championship.

Charles Leclerc has reduced Max Verstappen's lead in the last two races to 38 points. Although the gap is still quite big, carving into it is still the first step in the right direction. So, what can we expect at the F1 French GP this weekend? Well, let's find out as we share our top 5 bold predictions for the race this weekend.

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#5 Tire degradation will bring unpredictability to the 2022 F1 French GP

Europe is suffering from a heat wave right now and the track for the 2022 F1 French GP is going to be no exception this weekend. The soaring temperatures and high-speed sections like the entire sector 3 are going to put a premium on tire life.

We saw something similar happen in Barcelona as well but even then the temperatures were not this high in Spain. For the 2022 F1 French GP, tire life is going to be one of the biggest talking points of the weekend. If we consider past form then teams like Ferrari have somewhat struggled in the heat while Red Bull and Mercedes have excelled.

It would be slightly foolish to make predictions on what happens to the teams when it comes to tackling the heat. It is, however, fair to say that tire degradation more or less will bring a sense of unpredictability to the race on Sunday.

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#4 A points finish for Sebastian Vettel at 2022 F1 French GP

Aston Martin has recently borne the brunt of abuse from Sebastian Vettel fans. The driver has faced Q1 elimination in the last three races and the car just does not appear to have the speed to do much more in qualifying. Having said that, if we keep a close eye on it, the race pace of Aston Martin is not bad. On paper, it might appear that zero points in two of the last three races do not look good for Vettel but beneath the surface, there are positives as well.

In Canada, the tire pressure disaster ruined the weekend for the team! In Silverstone, Vettel pulled off a great salvaging act but surely the car had a role to play as well. Finally in Austria, Vettel would have scored points if he did not get punted off the race track.

Aston Martin might just continue to struggle in qualifying because of the intrinsic problems the car faces. In a race where tire life could be a factor, however, expect Vettel to make his way through the field and score points at the 2022 F1 French GP.

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#3 Alpine overhauls McLaren in the championship

Alpine does not have the best reliability in F1, far from it. Having said that, the rate of improvement and growth that it has shown in the last few races is very impressive. McLaren has held strong at the top of the midfield for some time now and despite the peaks and troughs in form due to the car's erratic nature, the team has stood firm at P4 in the standings.

The last few races, however, have been a bit of a jolt to McLaren's standing in the midfield. Alpine has roared into contention with some very impressive performances complemented by a healthy influx of upgrades at periodic intervals.

The inflection point in this battle was what happened in Silverstone. The track was supposed to favor McLaren but Fernando Alonso stayed in contention and ended up jumping ahead of Lando Norris in the end.

Alpine is overall a better package and works at almost every track. This weekend at the F1 French GP, which is Alpine's home race, we expect the team to take that final step and jump McLaren in the standings.

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#2 Mercedes will be part of the frontrunning group

There have been quite a few positives for Mercedes to look at recently. The team has scored a podium in all of the last three races, there's a clear jump in performance for the car, and finally, the porpoising/bouncing effect has not bothered the team too much. Some of the best showcases of the car's performance were in Barcelona and Silverstone, two races where the fast speed sections worked like a charm without much bouncing.

The track layout and surface at the F1 French GP are somewhat similar to Silverstone and Barcelona. To add to this, there seems to be a major upgrade coming the way of Mercedes this weekend and that should further help the team as well.

The final piece of the puzzle? Mercedes appears to be kinder on its tires as compared to others as the car can pull out a good stint length compared to others. In conditions where tire life could play a role, the German team will be in play. Expect Mercedes to join Red Bull and Ferrari at the front of the grid as the team should be more competitive here than in the last couple of races.

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#1 Max Verstappen is winning the 2022 F1 French GP

Ferrari might have the momentum on its side but it does not take away from the fact that Red Bull still has a competitive car. As mentioned earlier, the F1 French GP track layout rewards cars with strong straight-line speed and fast speed corners efficiency.

To add to this, rising temperatures are going to add another variable to the race. If we take a look back at the trend, Ferrari seems to hold the edge when the temperatures are lower, with Red Bull especially struggling with tire wear in races in such conditions. This was the case at the last race in Austria and a similar thing happened in Australia where the latter struggled as compared to the former.

For the F1 French GP, the conditions will be the opposite; the temperatures will be very high, which should work in Red Bull's favor. Unless we see something out of the ordinary in terms of conditions, Max Verstappen should hold the edge in the race and win the race.