The Start
On his way to the grid, Yuki Tsunoda encountered a problem which meant that he could not start the race. Mick Schumacher also did not participate as a result of his massive crash in qualifying which cost the team around £1 million. However, Schumacher was ok despite the accident.
The lights went out, away they went and first time pole man, Sergio Perez got away first keeping the Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc behind. Rookie Zhou Guanyu dropped down to last from P13 after he had a poor get a way and then found himself caught on the inside kerb which caused him to fall down the order. Verstappen got past Sainz at the opening corners of lap 1 which promoted the Dutchman to P3. On Lap 3 we saw Russell overtake Ocon for P5.
The Alpine Battle
After Ocon was overtaken by Russell on lap 3, it seemed the Frenchman was a bit off the pace, especially to his teammate who started to gain on him. On lap 5, down the main straight, Alonso saw a gap on the inside and went for it, however he was quickly and fiercely cut off by Ocon which almost put Fernando into the wall. On lap 6 Alonso went for the move again but Ocon fought him off to keep his position once more.
When they arrived at the main straight, Alonso was a lot closer and managed to get past his teammate early on down the straight. Despite this, Ocon was able to follow him closely and when turn 1 arrived on lap 8, the Frenchman pounced again but went too deep and had to cut turn 1 and by the time he gave the place back, Bottas was right behind both of them and he tried an unsuccessful move on Ocon. Lap 9 saw both Bottas and Ocon attempt moves but they ere unsuccessful as Bottas couldn’t pass Ocon who in turn couldn’t pass Alonso, this battle enabled Magnussen to join the fight.
On Lap 11, Magnussen attempts a move on the Alfa Romeo of Bottas into turn 1 but Magnussen was forced to back out of it. Meanwhile Hamilton was climbing up the field and was now in P11 after overtaking Norris. Finally on Lap 12 Ocon was over the radio "Hold position” and was eventually past by Bottas on lap 14.
Disaster for Perez
On Lap 15 Leclerc made the decision to pit and radioed to his team “BOX BOX” the team shortly responded “Box to overtake, Box to overtake”. However Red Bull reacted and pitted Perez who was in front which meant Leclerc stayed out. On lap 16 Latifi lost the rear at the last corner and crashed into the wall. The safety car was deployed meaning Perez would end up dropping down the order as a result. As Sainz exited the pits still under safety car, he was pushed wide by Perez and into P4. On lap 19 the stewards declared the incident was under investigation and when the safety car came in, Perez gave the position back to Sainz dropping the Mexican down to P4.
Verstappen versus Leclerc
On lap 38, we saw not one, not two, but three DNF’s as a result of mechanical problems which brought out the Virtual Safety Car, but to Hamilton’s frustration he could not pit as both Riccardo and Alonso had stopped in the pit lane entrance. Bottas was the other driver to retire as his team pulled him into his garage. When the Virtual Safety Car ended on lap 41, Verstappen was right behind Leclerc.
On Lap 42 Verstappen went for the move at the final corner and got past but not for long as Leclerc retook him at turn 1 on the following lap. On lap 43, Verstappen knew that Leclerc would repeat this and when they arrived side by side at the final corner they both locked up as neither driver wanted to go first through the DRS detection point. Despite this, Verstappen went through first and Leclerc got Verstappen again.
On Lap 44, Max informed his team that Leclerc had crossed the white line of the pit entry but was told to calm down by his team. Finally on lap 47, he managed to get his timing right to be behind Leclerc for the straight and got past the Ferrari driver. Leclerc challenged Verstappen one last time on lap 48 but it wasn’t to be.
The chequered flag was waved and Verstappen had won the first race of 2022 and proved the reigning world champion was able to fight for the championship once more. Hamilton finished P10 after a late pit stop, which was the first time he had finished in that position since South Korea in 2012!