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The 2022 F1 season featured quite a few impressive performances. The season was, however, a letdown for a few others, while things did not go to plan for a few others.
The caliber of the 2022 grid was very high, but it's safe to say that there were drives who were just not up to the mark. On a grid of 20 drivers, it's not easy to take out the five worst, but that's what we're going to do here.
So without further ado, let's take a look at the five worst drivers on the F1 grid this season:
#5 Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
It was a toss-up between Lance Stroll and Kevin Magnussen, but the Haas driver pipped Stroll because of a few 'flash in the pan' performances (that pole position in Brazil was just a thing of beauty from Magnussen).
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Stroll spent an almost entire season being the supporting cast to his teammate Sebastian Vettel. There were very few and far races where Stroll was better than Vettel all season, as the Canadian seemed out of his depth alongside a multiple world champion.
The lowest point of his season was probably the way he defended against Vettel in multiple races. It was something that was completely unnecessary and probably cost Aston Martin a P6 finish in the constructor standings.
#4 Mick Schumacher (Haas F1)
This was supposed to be the season where Mick Schumacher would show the F1 grid how good he is.
To be fair to him, the second half of the season was markedly better than the first, but the damage was done already. The German is still too rough around the edges and struggles to put together a race weekend.
The fact that all the highlights, be it pole position or more points went to his teammate Kevin Magnussen, who was himself not as impressive all season. That put sinto context that Schumacher left a lot to be desired.
#3 Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren)
There's not much to say when we talk about Daniel Ricciardo in 2022. The driver took all the criticism on the chin but you could see that it wore him down as the season progressed.
Losing the McLaren seat a year earlier than stipulated was a bit sad, but it's difficult to say that no one saw that coming. When you're 20-2 against your teammate in a team like McLaren, where every point is crucial, your performances have left a lot to be desired.
By Daniel Ricciardo's standards, or by any standards one would want to measure against, the 2022 season was not good for the Australian. So it's no shock that he finds himself in this list.
#2 Guanyu Zhou (Alfa Romeo)
Zhou received quite a bit of praise from many corners early in the season when he scored his first points of the season.
The Chinese driver had a decent first few races, especially for a rookie, but the next step in terms of matching against his teammate never came. If the car was strong on any weekend, Alfa Romeo would invariably rely on Valtteri Bottas for the result, while whatever Zhou got would be a bonus.
As a result, a season where your teammate scores eight times the points you did, it's a worry. Alfa Romeo have extended an olive branch to Zhou, signing him on an extension for the next season, It will be interesting to see how long the Chinese driver takes to show concrete improvements.
#1 Nicholas Latifi (Williams)
No surprises here, is it? Latifi was supposed to make a step up this season at Williams and take a leadership role, as George Russell was replaced by Alex Albon. That did not happen, and what we saw was a complete capitulation of the young Canadian driver.
From the first race, Albon had a gulf between him and Latifi in terms of performance, which remained throughout the season.
During the entire season, it was almost as if Latifi spent at the back of the grid even when the car was capable of much more. Arguably one of the glaring moments was when Nyck De Vries stepped into the Williams seat and scored points on his debut in Monza, while Latifi could not.
Latifi is a likable personality, and unlike Nikita Mazepin, a driver who rubbed everyone the wrong way, the Canadian had a great rapport with other drivers on the grid. Is he a driver worthy of being in F1, though? Probably not.
