The relaxed and dynamic races of 2022

During some races there are many position changes, obviously this fact depends on weather conditions, the circuit, pit stops and other circumstances. We find different situations during the race, from drivers who just lost position, to drivers who just advanced, then drivers who were constant during the season and drivers who had big fluctuations in positions.

In the statistics presented below, the position changes after each lap will be taken into account and they also include the rearrangements after the exits to the pits.

We will not consider the following cases a change of position

• a pilot is overtaken and then regains his position in the same lap
• a pilot climbed N positions in a lap in which exactly N pilots who were all ahead of him retired. If less than N is withdrawn, then it will be taken into account

Mention!!!

If a pilot overtakes and climbs a position, we will take it into account by 1 change in the case of pilots, but in the case of circuit reports, 2 changes of position will be considered because one pilot wins and another loses position. If a driver wins two positions in the same race, in the case of reports for the circuit, it will be considered that there were 3 changes.

Laps

Which is the lap in which the most changes took place

Throughout the 2022 season, the most changes took place in the first lap, 286, the start of the race and some incidents to occupy a better position seems to be the most attractive. In the list of position rearrangements from the first lap, we have 19 in Singapore where, apart from Pierre Gasly, all the other drivers changed their position. The next top races have 17 changes at Miami, Paul Richard, Bahrain, Mexico City, Austin and Catalunya, at the opposite end is Monte Carlo with three changes.

If there were 286 changes in the first lap, the next one on the top is lap 19 with 164 changes, followed by laps 15, 17, 18 and 16, laps in which pit stops were often made, which is why they are so up in the top.

The fewest position changes happen at the end of the race.

Ranking position

The biggest battle during the races, from a statistical point of view, seems to be in the middle of the standings for positions 11 to 16, all having over 300 changes, and position 13 taking the top spot with 328 changes. On the 13th position in 221 cases, the pilots won position(s) and in 107 cases they lost position(s).

Changing positions during the race

Each race is different, some being street, others with few overtaking options, sometimes even the weather influences the starting grid and the race. In 2022, the fewest changes in the intermediate standings were at the races in Emilia Romagna and Singapore, both with 102 changes, followed by Monte Carlo with 106, quite far from the fourth place occupied by Baku with 136.

The most spectacular in terms of changes in the intermediate classification was the Red Bull Ring race with 312 changes followed by Sao Paolo 309 and Hungaroring 307.

A place on the podium

In the quietest races for the podium positions in 2022, only 8 changes took place, in the Suzuka and Singapore races. At Suzuka in the first lap, Sainz abandoned, Perez taking the third position. Those on the podium outside lap number 8 and 9 after the exits from the pit stop kept their positions. In Singapore, in the first lap, we have a change between Leclerc(1) and Perez(2), and Sainz climbs to 3 from 4. Apart from laps 35 and 36 after the pit stop, there are no changes, with the observation that Perez maintains his position of the leader even after pitsop.

At the opposite pole is the race from Austin when we have the most fluctuations in the first three positions followed by the race from Hungaroring and Silverstone

1st place

Charles Leclerc in Melbourne and Verstapen in Emilia Romagna are the only ones who managed to start from pole and win the race without losing the leading position during the race.

During the Austin race, there were 6 drivers in 1st place, followed by the Hungaroring with 5. Lewis Hamilton ended his first season in 2022 without a win, even if we find him a temporary leader in seven races at Silverstone, Paul Richard, Hungaroring , Zandvort, Austin, Mexico City and Sao Paolo.

Verstappen was the leader in 17 races winning 15, Charles Leclerc was the leader in 15 but won only 3.

Drivers movements in a race

Alonso in 28 laps changed position at the Red Bull Ring race, followed by Zhou Guanyu with 27 moves in Bahrain and Yuki Tsunoda with 25 also in Red Bull Ring.

Some drivers had only one change of position during the race, some of them failing to finish the race.

Those who didn't finish

• Bottas at SpaFrancochamps loses a position in the first lap and then abandons.
• Perez in Austria loses 15 positions after which he abandons in lap 24
• Sainz loses first place in Austin and abandons after the second lap, just like in Australia where after the first lap he leaves the 9th position.
• In Catalunya, Leclerc leads until lap 26, after which he abandons
• Alonso loses a position in Singapore in the very first lap.

Only two drivers have a position change in three different races.

The most "valuable" is the race from Singapore when Perez starts from the second position, after the first lap he becomes the leader, a place he will keep until the end of the race.

Russel in Jeddah starts from the 6th position, in the third lap he climbs to the 5th place, which he will hold until the end of the race. Also Russel in Baku starts from the fifth position and finishes in the third place, climbing only one position in the 20th lap, in the 8th lap climbing the other place after the abandonment of Sainz.

Leaps

The weakest

Sergio Perez at the Red Bull Ring lost the most positions when in the first lap from 5th place to last after an incident with Russel, losing 15 positions.

In Montreal Magnussen in the 17th lap from 6th position loses 14 positions having an incident with Hamilton, finishing the race in 17th position. Verstappen in Sao Paolo also loses 14 positions in the 6th lap after an incident also with Hamilton, then managing to finish race on position 6

The greatest

The biggest leap during the race was made by Vettel in lap 19 at Emilia Romagna, climbing 8 positions, but this place is due to the rearrangements after exiting the pit stop.

In addition to the fact that in 2022 he obtained the first pole position of his career, it should be noted that Magnussen climbed 7 positions in the first lap in France, we can consider him as the biggest jump of the season. Stroll at Suzuka also in the first lap climbed six positions, not included here the abandonment of Sainz. At Suzuka in the first lap, besides Stroll, Mick Schumacher and again Kevin Magnussen climbed five positions

Just got positions

George Russel at Emilia Romagna started from the 11th position and finished 4th. During the race he only climbed positions, even 5 in the first lap and then one position each in the 12th and 53rd laps. In the same race Esteban Ocon also had 3 climbs starting from 16, climbing three positions in the first lap, then one each in laps 6 and 18

Just lost position

Charles Leclerc lost his position twice in the Montreal race, where he started from pole position and finished 4th, losing two places on lap 18 and one on lap 21.

The most moves throughout the season

Mick Schumacher had the most moves followed by Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel. Having only one active race, obviously Nyck de Vries is the driver with the least, with 7 moves, followed by Nico Hulkenberg with 28 moves in the two contested races. If we exclude those two, the least modified positions belongs to Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen,  with 161 each.

As we saw in two races, the one in pole position remained in charge the whole race, the rest being awarded by other drivers, the most intense lap is the very first, and the most dynamic battle is for the positions at the back, considering that they had the biggest fluctuations. The most interesting race seems to have been at Hungaroring, being at the top both in the movements of the first three positions and in the overall.

Verstappen and Leclerc who fought for the title of champion were also the most consistent. We note once again Kevin Magnussen with the biggest position jump of the season in one lap.