The MSM readers have voted: Daniel Ricciardo is the biggest disappointment of the Formula 1 season so far, and George Russell surprises positively.
This weekend, the Formula 1 cars return to the track. At the Belgian Grand Prix, the season begins again after the summer break and with it the “final spurt” with the last nine races of the season. News outlets already had a vote during the four-week break on how F1 fans see the season so far. Show your opinion on this, bet in live at 22Bet on the rider you see the potential in.
The first part of the reader poll has already been published, clarifying the question of which season is more popular: 2022 or 2021. The best and worst races of the year so far were also chosen. Now we continue with the racers.
Russell with a landslide victory
After the question of who has been the best driver so far in the 2022 F1 season was already answered via the been settled, in the mid-season poll we asked who the biggest surprise of the year so far has been. Which driver’s top performances could not have been expected?
The result was clear. With 32.6 percent, more than three times as many votes as the runner-up, this vote clearly went to Mercedes newcomer George Russell. For most of the season so far, the Briton has performed on a par with record world champion Lewis Hamilton and is even twelve points ahead of his teammate in the world championship.
Ricciardo disappoints across the board
Even clearer than the vote for the biggest surprise was that for the biggest disappointment of the F1 season so far. Daniel Ricciardo, whose contract was terminated by McLaren yesterday, received the most votes. More than 50 percent of the votes went to the Australian.
Nicholas Latifi came in second with 7.9 percent. A surprise was delivered in third place. 6.9 percent of users declared Charles Leclerc the biggest disappointment of the first half of the season, followed by Pierre Gasly. Mick Schumacher, despite a leap in performance in the summer months, was punished with a share of the vote of 5.8 percent with 5th place.
As far as Daniel Ricciardo is concerned, there are really no two opinions: The Australian simply hasn’t delivered at McLaren what he and the team expected when he took up his duties. That was the case in 2021, and that’s exactly how the 2022 F1 season went. For good reasons, they have drawn the consequences from this disgraceful performance in Woking.