F1 season 2022 predictions: Max Verstappen value after strong winter

Free Formula 1 tips, best bets and analysis for the 2022 F1 season, which starts with the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday, March 20.

Where to watch

All races, qualifying and practice sessions live on Sky Sports F1

When to bet

Bahrain Grand Prix Practice one begins midday Friday

Best bets

Max Verstappen to win F1 drivers championship
3pts 15-8 bet365, Betfred

Red Bull to beat Ferrari
3pts 8-11bet365

Season preview

Senna v Prost, Hunt v Lauda, Schumacher v Alonso - Formula 1 thrives on its great rivalries and last year saw the emergence of the most intense head-to-head for decades. But will we see more of the same in 2022?

It doesn't take more than a glance at the cars to realise that a new era is starting for Formula 1, and a new era often means a new pecking order.

Max Verstappen will proudly carry the champion's number one on his car this season, the Dutchman having become the first non-Mercedes driver to claim the title since 2013.

There will be plenty who would argue that the Red Bull ace doesn't deserve the honour given the controversial way the championship was decided - chief among those the dethroned champ Lewis Hamilton and his Mercedes team.

But that's all history now as Formula 1 prepares to begin a new chapter with new rules, new cars and a new race director, but it's likely to be the same faces fighting it out at the front - at least by the end of the season if not right away.

While the manner of Verstappen's championship triumph may suggest he was lucky to win the title, stats from the year indicate that the Dutchman was a worthy winner.

He won ten races to Hamilton's eight, took ten pole positions to Hamilton's five and led over 400 more laps during the season than Hamilton did.

However, the Briton went into the campaign on the back foot after a troubled pre-season, then suffered a lull in form mid-campaign, yet was able to dominate the final four races of the year.

Going into the new season Hamilton has once again bemoaned his winter's work. While there was an air of confidence around Red Bull, which seemed to grow as pre-season progressed, it was the other way round at Mercedes. The Silver Arrows arrived in Bahrain with a revolutionary design, but on track the car looked cumbersome.

However, it would be totally in character for the team to overplay pre-season concerns, and Ferrari's Carlos Sainz claimed GPS data suggested Mercedes are disguising their true pace.

Click here to read our complete guide to the 2022 F1 season

Whatever happens in Bahrain this weekend, Hamilton looks the right championship favourite. However Mercedes' tendency to get stronger as a season goes on suggests Verstappen is the early value.

Hamilton's win in Bahrain last year was earned largely through the team's strategy gamble. That was only his third win in a season-opening Grand Prix and his first since 2015, so it could well turn out that Hamilton is a bigger price after the race than now.

It will be fascinating to see how George Russell gets on in his first season at Mercedes.

Expectations on the former Williams driver would be much lower had he not dazzled in his one outing for Mercedes, when deputising for an ill Hamilton in Bahrain 2020.

Events conspired to rob him of a likely victory that day, and while Russell won't be expected to put pressure on Hamilton, his job is to get between his team leader and Verstappen - something Valtteri Bottas was unable to do in the second Merc last year.

Behind the likely title battlers, Ferrari had a much better winter than traditional rivals McLaren, and the Scuderia look in prime position to defend the lucrative third place in the constructors championship.

With their history and budget, and arguably the two best young drivers on the grid in Sainz and Charles Leclerc, there will be pressure from the board to win races this year - something they haven't managed since 2019.

But it will be a surprise if they can break the stranglehold of the big two and Red Bull look value at 8-11 to win a constructors matchbet with Ferrari.

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