Written by Luke Edmonds:
Twitter (For More Work): @LukeEdm66579762

Through the first 3 races of the season, we have seen quite the performance from the 20 drivers on the Formula One grid. There are drivers who look set to lock up long term contract, some who look eager to leave their current team, and some who need to look to a future outside of Formula One. There is a saying around the F1 world about the sports ‘Short-Term Memory’, and thus, the 3 Drivers who are hanging their heads the highest.

#1 Fernando Alonso

Fernando Alonso’s return to F1 in 2021 was a welcomed surprise. When the Spanish driver showed up for the first race of his rejuvenated career, he was unfortunately met with a slow start. The Alpine car did not look as though it was ready to handle Fernando Alonso, nor was Alonso ready to handle the car. He would only score 19 points throughout his first 8 races. When it came to crunch time, and Alonso was able to regain his composure in his F1 seat, the results started coming in.
He would finish 4th at the Hungarian Grand Prix, after putting on an incredible defensive display that ultimately won his former teammate, Esteban Ocon, his first race win. He also achieved a podium for himself at the end of that season at the Qatar Grand Prix. However, when it came to his 2022 campaign, it was back to the basics. He finished P9 at Bahrain, but would 4 scoreless races, starting among the top 10 in ¾. This is not a season that he would come back to storm the field in, and only achieved his highest position of P5, three separate times (Silverstone, Spa, and Brazil).
Irritated by his lack of performance, Alonso secured a deal with Aston Martin, a team who Alonso single handedly outscored in the 2022 season. However, Alonso would go through both Bahrain testing, as well as Barcelona testing with his head high, as it looked like Aston Martin had fixed their issues and were off to a championship challenge. Alonso would qualify P5 at the inaugural race of the season, only lined up behind the Ferrari’s and the Red Bull’s.
When it came to race pace though, no one quite had it like Fernando Alonso. Alonso would finish on the podium, (a place that he has become rather familiar with), as well as achieving a lap faster than that of any Red Bull, Mercedes, or Ferrari. Since then, Fernando Alonso has taken this spark into each of the countries he’s visited, bringing home the bronze trophy each time. When it comes to seasons, hardly anyone is having the one that Fernando is.


#2: Max Verstappen

A reigning double-world champion with 2 pole positions, and two wins to his name might just be the most motivated driver that we’ve ever seen. Not only does the pace of Max improve the strength of the car, Max has been almost mistake-less. In Saudi we saw an unfortunate mechanical DNF that resulted in Verstappen having to start from the back of the grid. Max would charge through the field to finish in P2, only 5 seconds behind his teammate, Sergio Perez, who both took pole, and won this track two years running.
However, this season, it looks as though Max Verstappen is complacent. He leads the championship by 15 points to his teammate, and then a further 9 to Alonso in the Aston Martin behind. Do not be mistaken, a complacent Max Verstappen is still a driver that will win a championship, and every race by 15+ seconds. It’s just not the same Max that we heard celebrating with Alexander Albon after his first championship in Abu Dhabi 2021.
After Japan 2022, the race that secured him his second world championship, Max had a moment of confusion, but once the fact was certain that he was in fact the Driver’s World Champion, he didn’t have the same reaction. With Alonso’s performance thus far, as well as Aston Martin’s upgrades to their factories and air tunnels, if the team can manage to put together a championship charge, Max shouldn’t guarantee himself anything.


#3: Alexander Albon

I know this one will be hard to justify, as Albon has DNF’ed in his previous 2 races, and only achieved a P10 finish in Bahrain, but this is the explination…
After spending his junior years in the Red Bull young driver academy, Albon got the call (along with Russell and Norris) to join the F1 grid for the 2019 season. This season would see him face a difficult challenge. When Albon was called up, it was to join Red Bull’s junior team, Scuderia Toro Rosso, however, after the Hungarian Grand Prix, Albon got the call to join the official Red Bull Racing Honda team. In his rookie season with the team he was able to achieve great success. This was still during a time of Mercedes domination, with a sprinkle of Ferrari’s return to glory, so wins weren’t exactly on the table for a rookie who was racing in the third fastest car, however, he was able to put constant double-digit point finishes on the board.
His performance in this season was able to secure him the job through 2020, where his results skewed from his performance at the end of his rookie year. Alex was still able to finish in the top 5 six times, but his teammate, and future world champion Max Verstappen, was developing a tase for blood, and even more, a taste for wins. Max finished that season with 2 wins, 6 P2’s, and 3 P3’s. There was only a singular race all season that he finished outside of a podium place. Seeing this performance in their wonderboy, Red Bull made the change in the offseason before the 2021 season where they would sign former Racing Point driver Sergio Perez. Albon would go on to spend this season in the DTM racing league and finish P6 in the championship.
This type of performance out of Albon, mixed with George Russell’s ties to the Mercedes senior team opened up a seat for Albon in F1. Sitting alongside Nicholas Latifit, Alexander looked as though his season outside of the sport was a waisted opportunity for a struggling team to pick up some points. Albon had a tremendous race in Australia where he managed a P10 finish. Two races later he would come home in P9 at the Miami Grand Prix. He would finish in the top 13 twelve times that season, in a Williams car that I am not sure deserved to ever be up there.
This season though, paired up alongside rookie driver Logan Sargeant, Albon has been able to flex his motor muscles and put on performances that do not reflect his point totals. Throughout the weekend of the Australian Grand Prix, he was constantly lighting up the timing charts with purple sectors. He would qualify P8, and after the turn 1 explosion, he was riding high in P6. He would later DNF after his car was unable to be stabilized coming off of a kerb.
However, this is a strong season for Albon. In a recent interview, he said that though he is disappointed in the way that his race went, he knew that the opportunity to score big points was there, and that he felt like he had a great car.