The 2022 season has officially begun! We are only one race in and it is already looking like it is going to be an incredibly action packed season.

Ferrari seemed to have turned over a new leaf. They had a triumphant weekend finishing first and second. Charles Leclerc drove a beautiful race, defending against Max Verstappen for first place for the majority of it. He also secured the fastest lap and Driver of the Day. Carlos Sainz, also had a great race, following closely behind his teammate and finishing runner up.

It was a little bit of a roller coaster weekend for Mercedes. Lewis Hamilton started P5, and George Russell started P9.They had a bit of a slow start, but quickly demonstrated that they had good pace and managed to finish the race with Hamilton P3 and Russell P4. So far they haven’t been as strong as we have seen them in the past, but the season is still young and they could have a lot to show.

It looked like it was going to be a great weekend for Red Bull, but sadly that was not the case. Max Verstappen was driving a brilliant race in second. He almost managed an undercut on lap 15 when he pitted and cut the gap between himself and Leclerc to 0.35 seconds, however, the Ferrari had a little more pace. Verstappen was unwavered however, and continued to try and gain the lead. Unfortunately on lap 51, Verstappen developed a power steering problem and on lap 54, he had to retire his car. The disaster continued for Red Bull on the last lap, when Sergio Perez spun in the first corner and had to retire due to power unit issues. To top it all off, the AlphaTauri of Pierre Gasly, also with a Red Bull engine, caught fire on lap 46, bringing out the safety car and forcing his retirement. The only Red Bull engine to cross the finish line was the AlphaTauri of Yuki Tsunoda in P8.

McLaren also had a really bad weekend. Both drivers failed to make it to Q3, and had truly awful starts on the first lap, with Daniel Ricciardo dropping down to P20 and Lando Norris down to P18. They started their cars on Mediums, and the strategy almost paid off, but still a disappointing finish for them with P14 for Ricciardo and P15 for Norris. I hope they can improve their pace a little and get back to where they were last season.

After a truly awful last season for Haas, they came into Bahrain strongly, and left strongly. Kevin Magnussen had a great start going from P7 to P5 and managed to keep his car their all race. Mick Schumacher fell to P13 at the start of the race after being tipped into a spin by the Alpine of Esteban Ocon, but managed to finish the race just outside the points in P11. Although not finishing in the points, it was one of the best races the young German has ever done, and I am really excited to see what this duo can bring this season.

As mentioned it was a 1-2 for Ferrari with Leclerc on the top step, Sainz in second, and Hamilton completing the podium. George Russell finished fourth followed by Magnussen in fifth, Valtteri Bottas in sixth, Ocon in seventh, Tsunoda in eighth, Fernando Alonso in ninth, and Zhou Guanyu rounding out the points.

This Sunday we are racing in Saudi Arabia! I love this track and I am really excited to see what is in store for us this weekend.