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Sunday positions won | Mercedes engines dominate

Sunday positions won | Mercedes engines dominate

09-08-2022 10:03
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GPblog.com

Max Verstappen is currently leading the driver's championship, while Red Bull Racing is at the top of the constructors' standings. However, there is also another 'championship' in Formula 1, namely the driver who has won the most positions on Sunday. GPblog has made an overview of all the drivers.

With thirteen races behind us, we are already over halfway through the 2022 season. Now that the four-week summer break has begun, it is time to take stock of the drivers' performances. Who gained the most positions on Sunday and who performed less well in the race?

Of course, drivers like Verstappen, Sergio Perez, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz do not win many positions on Sunday. The four drivers compete with their teams for the constructors' title and often start at the front of the grid. Drivers such as Nicholas Latifi and Lance Stroll will have to rely on Sunday, however, as qualifying often sees them at the back of the field.

Mercedes engines dominate

It's no surprise that Stroll leads the field with the most wins in the first half of the season. The Canadian is not a qualifying beast, but in the race, he often manages to win many positions. The same goes for his teammate Sebastian Vettel. Aston Martin hasn't developed a strong performing car, so the two drivers often have to start from the back of the grid. Still, Vettel and Stroll are able to profit from other drivers' mistakes and make a lot of overtaking manoeuvres.

Alexander Albon is in third position, while Nicholas Latifi is in seventh place. Qualifying is also not the best quality of the Williams car, but the two drivers are taking advantage of DNFs and especially Albon has also been doing a lot of overtaking on the track. Finally, George Russell, Esteban Ocon and Lewis Hamilton are in the top six of most won positions. Mercedes is slowly getting closer to the speed of Red Bull and Ferrari, but especially at the beginning of the season the drivers often started further back in the field. Due to Ferrari's many dropouts, Russell and Hamilton have won many positions and usually managed to finish on the podium.

What is immediately noticeable is the number of Mercedes engines in the top six. The Williams, Mercedes and Aston Martin cars are all powered by the Mercedes engine. The teams with Ferrari engines have suffered many DNF's in the first half of the season, while the Mercedes has shown strong reliability. This is also immediately apparent from the drivers who gained the most positions on Sunday. The McLaren drivers do not gain many positions, but Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris often start in the midfield and do not really move up because of Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes.

Who loses the most positions?

Leclerc and Sainz have gained few positions on the track. Both drivers mainly benefit from their grid penalties, as Leclerc made up fifteen places in the Canadian Grand Prix, while Sainz moved up fourteen places in France. Otherwise, the drivers usually start at the front of the grid or drop out. Verstappen made up a lot of positions, especially in Hungary, while the Dutchman also gained positions here and there compared to the Ferrari drivers. Sainz and Leclerc generally have a strong car in qualifying, but Verstappen often comes back in the race. As a result, Leclerc in particular loses a lot of positions, but the Monegasque also sometimes falls back to the back due to his own mistakes.

Hamilton is the only driver who lost zero positions in the race. The Briton is doing good business on Sunday and has been able to move up in almost every race. The other drivers at the top of the standings also lost few positions. Drivers who lost a lot of positions in the race were Ricciardo, Kevin Magnussen and Yuki Tsunoda. Ricciardo still doesn't seem comfortable in the McLaren. Magnussen has qualified high a number of times, but as a result, falls back to the back in the race.

Ranking most positions won on Sunday

Driver Positions won * Positions lost Started and finished in the same position Number of DNFs
1. Lance Stroll 52 1 2 0
2. Sebastian Vettel ** 38 1 0 2
3. Alexander Albon 35 1 3 3
4. George Russell 34 2 1 1
5. Esteban Ocon 31 7 0 1
6. Lewis Hamilton 28 0 2 0
7. Pierre Gasly 27 2 0 3
8. Nicholas Latifi 27 2 0 3
9. Valtteri Bottas 27 2 1 3
10. Fernando Alonso 26 17 2 2
11. Mick Schumacher 26 11 1 2
12. Guanyu Zhou 20 2 0 5
13. Max Verstappen 19 6 2 2
14. Carlos Sainz 16 4 3 4
15. Charles Leclerc 16 12 3 3
16. Yuki Tsunoda 16 21 0 3
17. Sergio Perez 15 4 2 3
18. Lando Norris 14 10 1 1
Daniel Ricciardo 14 23 1 1
20. Kevin Magnussen 12 26 0 4

* DNFs are included in the count. When a driver on the grid retires due to reliability issues or his own mistake, the drivers behind still win a position in a fair way by finishing the race themselves.

** Vettel missed the first two races of the season due to his Covid-19 infection.