What went right and what went wrong for every F1 team in 2022

The 2022 Formula One season is over. Red Bull took the championship, but all 10 teams had at least one good thing to shout about, as well as moments that didn’t go to plan, across the season.

Here we look at the best and worst of every team’s season, in championship order.

1. Red Bull

What went right: Pretty much everything. Max Verstappen was on another level this year and looked as good as any dominant champion in F1’s recent history, winning a record 15 of the team’s 17 victories. Verstappen’s ability to continually raise the bar was impressive and it is hard to argue against him being the best driver in F1 right now. With Verstappen on board the team’s future looks incredibly bright. The team operated at a top level too. Red Bull out-developed and out-strategised its rivals throughout the year and continually underlined the strength of the whole F1 operation — head of strategy Hannah Schmitz was one of the heroes of the team’s campaign. The world champions had to deal with engine supplier Honda officially withdrawing from F1, but later struck a deal to continue using one of the best power units in F1 until the end of 2025. Early reliability issues threatened the team’s championship challenge in the early weeks of the year but once the team was on top of those problems, it never looked back.

What went wrong: Optics and reputational damage. The team’s 2021 budget cap overspend cast a shadow over the achievement of winning both F1 titles for the first time since 2013. Red Bull was hit with a $7 million fine and will lose 10 percent of its aerodynamic testing allowance next year. Red Bull was already due to have the lowest allocation of any team, having won the championship, raising the possibility it could struggle to keep pace with the development of Ferrari and Mercedes next year. Then there was Brazil, where Verstappen refused a simple request to help his dutiful teammate Sergio Perez in his bid to finish second in the drivers’ championship. It made Verstappen look petulant and disrespectful and, worst of all, made the team look powerless to control their superstar driver. Red Bull took the blame, but the damage was done. Team harmony is now a big question-mark and the whole saga may set up an interesting situation if Verstappen needs Perez’s help in a tighter championship fight next season.

2. Ferrari

What went right: Returning to the front. Ferrari’s car was the cream of the…