SK's 2022 F1 End of Season awards

As the year comes to an end, it's always nice to look back at what has been a historic F1 season by some measure. Multiple records have been broken. The cars can race again now. And most importantly, things are looking up for the sport.

Looking back, the 2022 season was arguably not as spectacular (or controversial) as the one before. Having said that, there was still some great action. So much so that it allows us to hand out the year-end awards for some of the more fun categories this season.

So, without further ado, let's jump straight to it as Sportskeeda hands over its first-ever end-of-the-season awards!

---

2022 F1 End of Season awards

The driver of the year

It's hard to look beyond Max Verstappen for this one. The 2022 F1 season, at least in terms of statistics, will be hard to replicate anytime soon. 15 wins, the most points in a season, a second title, the biggest gap to the second driver in the championship, and so much more. This was one of the more complete seasons of the modern era from a driver that is on top of his game.

The team of the year

17 wins, bouncing back from three DNFs in the first three races, and putting together one of the most dominant seasons in terms of results, deserves a lot of credit. What Red Bull did this season was to consolidate on a championship-winning campaign last year and showed virtually no weakness (other than sticking to that pesky budget cap, as Horner and Marko would say).

This is an F1 team that ticks boxes in all aspects and will be hard to beat next season.

The hero of the year

It could easily have been Max Verstappen, but it's hard to look beyond what Sebastian Vettel has made everyone feel in the last few races of his F1 career. A legend of the sport in his own right, Vettel has turned the clock back far too many times all season. He proved to all doubters that this was an F1 elite who was leaving the stage and will be missed tremendously.

The villain of the year

The FIA did not paint itself as a hero all season. The rather questionable handling of the 2021 F1 Abu Dhabi GP scandal was followed by the jewelry situation that dragged itself for half the season. Finally, its latest amendment mandating drivers obtain permission before taking any political stand was the icing on the cake.

The feel-good moment of the year

Kevin Magnussen, a driver plucked out of the wilderness to drive for Haas and then doing so like a f**king Viking (as Guenther Steiner would stay) in Bahrain, was nice to see. The Dane toppled that when he secured his first-ever F1 pole position in Brazil later that season. This was Haas and Magnussen returning from the wilderness of the 2021 F1 season and making a statement.

The not-so-good moment

It all started at Silverstone, got worse in Austria, and then peaked in Zandvoort. Fan abuse reached disgusting lows as not only Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, but anyone remotely close to these drivers was targeted as well. While F1 and the FIA have vowed to take action, we will have to wait for the 2023 F1 season to see results, if any.

The best team radio of the year

Fernando Alonso served up quite a few gems this season on the radio but arguably one of the best was after the 2022 F1 Spanish GP. It was during this time that porpoising/bouncing became the buzzword around the paddock. Mercedes was one of the teams that struggled the most with it (and arguably complained the most as well).

The race in Barcelona had Alpine on a setup that led to somewhat excessive porpoising. Regardless, a storming drive by Alonso saw him drive through the field and take a P9 finish, leaving the Spaniard pumped. So much so that when his race engineer apologized for the bumpy nature of the car, Alonso said, "I'm Young, I'm Fit, NO PROBLEM!"

The worst team radio of the year

We had to wait until the end of the season for the worst, but this had to go to Mick Schumacher's race engineer stopping the young driver from doing doughnuts in the car after the F1 Abu Dhabi GP.

Haas won quite a few hearts in the way it showed improvements on the track. On the flip side, the team's treatment of the German left a lot to be desired.

The most memorable action of the year

It has to be the race at Silverstone after the last safety car period. What we saw was pure brilliance from Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton, and Sergio Perez. The FIA did award Lewis Hamilton's pass on both Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc on the start-finish straight as the Action of the Year. We, however, differ on that, as for us, it was the entire sequence of wheel-to-wheel action that involved Leclerc trying desperately to hold position against the pursuant drivers on much fresher cars.

That particular sequence will always stand out as some of the best wheel-to-wheel action between multiple cars for some time.

The most forgettable part of the year

This has to be the moment in Suzuka where once again a recovery truck found its way onto the track even though F1 cars were still on it. The frustration and anger from Pierre Gasly and every other driver should tell you how horrible that error was. The fact that the incumbent Race Director lost his position should tell you how catastrophic that mistake could have been, especially after something similar led to Jules Bianchi's demise in 2014.

The best part of the 2022 F1 season

Arguably, for any Formula 1 fan that has followed the sport closely in the last decade or so, there is definitely a sentiment that Sebastian Vettel did not get his due as a driver. When the German was dominating the sport, he was vilified and his success was attributed to the car that he drove. His downfall at Ferrari was further picked up as a tool to put down his achievements at Red Bull.

After all his achievements, for once, it was nice to see all fans unite and pay homage to one of the best drivers in F1 history who boasts one of the most successful careers of all time. Vettel, albeit a bit late in the day, got his due when he departed the sport and he got it fittingly.