2022 F1 Season Review Part 6: P5 - McLaren F1 Racing

 

2022-2023 Winter Break P5 - McLaren

Drivers

Lando Norris – 7^th with 122

Daniel Ricciardo – 11^th with 37

McLaren – 5^th with 159

Per F1C Rules

Lando Norris – 3^rd with 424

Daniel Ricciardo – 17^th with 226

McLaren – 6^th with 650

 

The team founded in 1963 is second oldest and most successful team in the history of F1, winning 183 races, 12 Driver’s Championships, and 8 constructors championships.  Their last championship in 2008 with Lewis Hamilton, and their last win in 2021 at Monza with Daniel Ricciardo.wn

Summary

McLaren hasn’t really been in contention for quite some time, which is extremely disappointing.  Changes take years in this sport, and it looks like they’re finally seeing some of the fruits of their labor.  Unfortunately, the marriage (Danny Ric joining) that we (i.e. I) was so excited about just didn’t pan out and now they’ll be starting over with the second driver in 2023.  2022 wasn’t a complete wash though.  They didn’t get a freak win like they did in Monza in 21 or almost a win in Russia (don’t think we’ll be racing there, well, ever the fuck again), but it was still a pretty great season!  Stay Tuned!

Qualifying Part 1

Lando was never kicked out in Q1 and made Q3 16 times, including 11 straight to finish the season.

 

Ricciardo was kicked out of Q1 on 5 occasions – Bahrain, Austria, Zandvoort, Suzuka, and COTA, and he only made Q3 7 times

 

Lando is the clear winner

Qualifying Part 2

Lando qualified an average of 8.1, including 1 3^rd (Imola), 3 4^ths (Australia, Hungary, and Brazil), 2 5^ths (Monaco and France), 2 6^ths (Silverstone and Singapore), 3 7^ths, 3 8ths, and 2 10^ths.  His worst qualifying position was 15^th in Austria.

 

Ricciardo qualified an average of 12.2.  He had 1 6^th at Imola, 1 7^th at his home race in Melbourne, 1 8^th at Monza, 3 9^ths and 1 10^th.  He qualified in the bottom 5 on five occastions.

 

Lando is the clear winner.

Sprint Race Results

Lando finished 5^th at Imola, 11^th in Austria, and 7^th in Brazil scoring 6 points for McLaren.

 

Danny finished 6^th at Imola, 12^th in Austria, and 11^th in Brazil scoring 3 points.

 

Lando doubled Danny’s points in the sprint races.

 

No Contest….Lando!

Starting vs. Finishing Position

Neither driver improved much from where they started to where they finished each race.  Lando improved 7 positions over the course of the season to Ricciardo’s one place improvement.  Neither did that well, but Lando’s numbers are higher.

Race Results

Lando scored points in 17 races this season with one podium (3^rd) at Imola, one 4^th in Singapore, one 5^th in Australia, 4 6^th place finishes at Monaco, Silverstone, COTA, and Abu Dhabi.  He finished 7^th 6 times, 8^th once, 9^th twice, and 10^th once.

 

Ricciardo scored points in 7 races, less than half of what Norris did.  He had a season high finish of 5^th in Singapore.  He finished 6^th in Australia, 7^th in Mexico City, 8^th in Baku, and 9^th three times (Austria, France, and Abu Dhabi).

 

Ultimately the scoreboard shows the winner here: Lando had 122 points to Danny’s 37.  As a big Danny Ricciardo fan, this one’s tough, but Lando whooped his ass in 2022.

Team Winner

Lando outqualified Danny, improved his race position more, scored higher in all 3 sprint races, and outscored him in the races.  There is zero contest, Lando is the McLaren Team Winner!!!

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