While often unfortunate events such as car crashes or crashes can derail a driver’s race, they tend to even out over 20 laps. In fact, this is very rare, and some drivers suffer more bad luck than their competitors during the championship.
In typical style, Fernando Alonso was clearly upset about the problems he suffered as his second season at Alpine drew to a close last year. “It’s amazing that every race only one or two cars retire and it’s always car 14,” said one retirement.
With his own team, Alonso seems to have a point: Esteban Ocon hasn’t had too many problems on the other side of the garage. But what about the rest of the 20-car field? Was there someone else who wasn’t sick of wealth, but who wasn’t very vocal about it?
To look back at the 2022 season and find the unlucky drivers on the grid, it’s important to go beyond what happened on race day. Problems in practice can cause major knock-on effects for drivers over the weekend, but something in passing can ruin a driver’s chances before the race even starts.
So to assess just how unlucky the field is, RaceFans looked at all 22 race days to see how many times each driver had a hard time on the weekend, which could be considered out of control. That includes any car problems that limit runs, freeze or lead to retirement.
In addition, injuries in collisions where the other driver involved was deemed responsible or where they were an innocent third party (racing incidents where no further action was taken between two drivers were excluded) were counted. Any laps where the driver incurred a power unit penalty and significantly longer pit stops were also included.
Anything in which the driver had a reasonable degree of control over what happened, such as hitting a wall or causing damage in a collision in which the driver shares a degree of responsibility, does not count. Additionally, any driver losing due to a safety car or poor strategic decision is considered part of the sport.
Our analysis shows that five drivers in 2022 had very clearly poor fortunes, and at least one can count himself as lucky as Alonso.
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Kevin Magnussen
Car Problems in Practice: 4 Car Problems in Qualifying: 1 Laps with PU Grid Penalties: 3 Minor Car Problems in Race/Speed: 2 Significantly Slow Pit Stops: 0 Retirements from Contact: 1 Retirement from Car Failure: 2 Retirement Rate: 22.7%
Kevin Magnussen’s return to Formula 1 was by no means easy. He made an impressive return to the sport, scoring a number of points against Haas in the opening rounds, but his fortunes soon changed.
Among the technical problems Magnuson encountered with the VF-22 were a series of power unit problems. As ever these doubles proved to be jam-packed, spoiling France, Italy and Mexico for both events and subsequent rounds of grid penalties.
Then the very unusual triple black and orange flags Magnussen encountered at the time, forcing each of them into the pits for repairs and seriously spoiling the race. Should these be considered misfortunes?
No, because each was triggered by contact with another driver that caused the original injury. But Haas said other drivers in similar situations were not always called to the pits by the race director, particularly Fernando Alonso in Austin.
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Yuki Shunoda
Car Problems in Practice: 2 Car Problems in Qualifying: 1 Laps with PU Grid Penalty: 5 Minor Car Problems in Race/Speed: 1 Significantly Slow Pit Stops: 1 Retirement from Contact: 2 Retirement from Car Failure: 2 Retirement Rate: 23.8%
With at least one mishap in the semifinals of 2022, it’s not unusual for Yuki Tunoda to have some kind of bad or unfortunate end to a race weekend.
Some were his fault, such as his collision with teammate Pierre Gasly at Silverstone, and so are not counted here. But on other occasions, he is easily disappointed, as seen in Baku, when DRS fails while on course for good results. He also received grid penalties at five rounds during the year – almost a quarter of the season.
Pierre Gasly
Car Problems in Practice: 1 Car Problem in Qualifying: 2 Laps from PU Grid Penalties: 3 Minor Car Problems in Race/Speed: 1 Major Slow Pit Stops: 0 Retirements from Contact: 2 Retirements from Car Failure: 1 Retirement Rate: 13.6%
Statistically speaking, Pierre Gasly’s season may not have been too challenging. However, the second AlphaTauri driver had some unique opportunities during the year.
At the Red Bull Ring, he was unusually denied the opportunity to take part in Q3, as Sergio Perez was allowed to enter the final qualifying stage despite an illegal last lap. By the time the stewards were scraping Perez’s lap, it was over. Then in Hungary, Gasly seemed to stay within the margins, but his own lap time was canceled for going over the tracks limit.
Gasly was unlucky to hit a billboard on a wet Suzuka circuit which dislodged Carlos Sainz Jr. That caused him to slow to a pit stop which missed the scarecrow on the following lap.
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Fernando Alonso
Car Problems in Practice: 1 Car Problem in Qualifying: 1 Lap with PU Grid Penalty: 3 Minor Car Problems in Race/Speed: 3 Significantly Slow Pit Stops: 1 Retirement from Contact: 0 Retirement from Car Failure: 5 Retirement Rate: 27.3%
Officially, Alonso has retired from four Grands Prix in 2022 due to car-related failures. But that understates the extent of his suffering. He also pulled the Alpine from the circuit in Mexico after a power unit failure, but was classified as finisher after completing more than 90% of the race distance.
At Imola, Mick Schumacher came out due to a crash. Then there were the occasions when he had car trouble, like in Canada, where he didn’t stop the race.
His bad luck was not limited to Sundays. In Austria, Alonso couldn’t even start the race due to an electronic control unit failure. Add to that a failure to qualify for the Australian Grand Prix, with poorly timed hydraulics threatening to claim a front-row spot, and it’s easy to see why the two-time world champion is frustrated by his season.
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Valtteri Bottas
Car Problems in Practice: 6 Car Problems in Qualifying: 1 Lap from PU Grid Penalty: 3 Minor Car Problems in Race/Speed: 1 Major Slow Pit Stops: 1 Retirement from Contact: 1 Retirement from Car Failure: 4 Retirement Rate: 27.3%
With the length of Friday practice reduced from 90 minutes to 60 in recent times, drivers enjoy just three hours of track time on a regular race weekend to prepare their cars for qualifying and the race. But Valtteri Bottas had less track time than anyone in 2022, given how often he was forced to sit out entire sessions due to car problems.
Although Bottas suffered from poor reliability on Fridays to prevent his car from losing on Sundays, that also happened on a few occasions throughout the year.
Fortunately, as time went on Alfa Romeo began to improve their poor reliability. Unfortunately, as the team did, they were caught by their opponents in midfield. But ultimately Botts’ first season success saw them finish sixth in the Constructors’ Championship on countback.
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