Which Formula 1 drivers are the fastest?
I've compiled data from every qualifying session in 2022 to find some answers.
Qualifying is the one time when a Formula 1 driver is solely focused on going as fast as they humanely can.
Unlike practice sessions or the race, there are no reasons to hold back. Raw pace is all that counts.
So, I decided to compile data from every qualifying session in 2022 to see what it could tell us.
Here’s what I found.
Russell impresses, Perez doesn’t
Everyone knows that a Formula 1 driver’s first benchmark is their teammate.
The graph below shows the average gap between teammates during the dry-weather qualifying sessions in 2022.
Firstly, notice that George Russell was an average of just 0.021s behind Lewis Hamilton?
That’s hugely impressive because Russell was only in his first year at Mercedes - and yet he practically matched Hamilton, who only happens to be one of the sport’s greatest qualifiers.
Less impressive was Sergio Perez at Red Bull, who tended to be more than three-tenths adrift of his championship-winning teammate Max Verstappen.
It’s shocking to see their gap was actually slightly larger than the one separating Lando Norris from Daniel Ricciardo at McLaren.
Perez probably gets away with his gap because the frontrunners tend to have more spread-out qualifying times. For Ricciardo, in a much more condensed midfield, his gap was a lot more costly.
For the data above, it is important to note two things.
Wet weather times were not used because they tend to skew the data.
The times used were always set in the same part of qualifying, so track evolution didn’t play an unfair role.
Other fascinating qualifying statistics
The graph below shows the average qualifying position of each driver during the 2022 season.
The next graph shows the number of times each driver appeared in Q3 during the 2022 season.
So, what do these tell us?
The standout qualifiers of 2022 were Valtteri Bottas, Fernando Alonso, Lando Norris, and Kevin Magnussen.
Here’s why.
Valtteri Bottas
When it comes to average grid position, Bottas is six places higher than his Alfa Romeo teammate Zhou Guanyu. Bottas made it to Q3 eight times while Zhou made it just twice.
Fernando Alonso
Alonso was the most common midfield driver in Q3 during 2022. Across 22 races, he only missed out four times. Not bad for a 41-year-old.
Lando Norris
Norris was the quickest midfield qualifier. While Alonso had more Q3 appearances, Norris’ average grid position was slightly higher. The only drivers with higher averages than him were from Red Bull, Ferrari or Mercedes.
Kevin Magnussen
Magnussen clearly beat his Haas teammate Mick Schumacher in 2022. He had twice as many Q3 appearances and was five places higher on average qualifying results. Plus, Magnussen pulled off what was perhaps 2022’s greatest qualifying moment, taking a sensational, majestic pole in Brazil.
Who could forget that?
More from Musings on Formula 1
While we’re on the subject of qualifying, I proposed a new format in my last post because I think it needs a shake-up.
We have had the same three-session knockout qualifying format since 2006 and it’s getting repetitive and boring.
So here’s my idea. I call it head-to-head qualifying. You can read about it below:
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