Written by Olly Radley and Danny Jones, Edited by Sasha Macmillen
10. Richard Verschoor
At number 10 on our list is F2’s Richard Verschoor. The Dutchman had an impressive start to the F2 season, having only just made it onto the grid with the Trident team who have previously been consistent backmarkers. Right from the off it became obvious that the order had been shaken up and Trident were no longer the backmarkers they previously were. Having qualified tenth on the grid, Verschoor won the first Sprint Race of the season from pole, in similar fashion to his first win in F2 last year at Silverstone. At the next round in Jeddah, Richard set an amazing lap in qualifying to put him second, which the Dutchman converted into another podium on Sunday morning in the feature race. Richard has shown impeccable resilience after the many setbacks he’s faced in his F2 career and his opening two rounds in F2 this year have been nothing short of brilliant.
9. Enea Bastianini
Italy’s Enea Bastianini becomes the first MotoGP rider to feature on our list, after his impressive performances in the first two races of the season at Qatar and Indonesia. The 2020 Moto2 champion delivered the Gresini team their first MotoGP win since 2006, having caught up to the front of the pack at Qatar, before taking the win towards the end. At the next round, Bastianini struggled to convert his fifth placed qualifying finish into some good points, with 11th being the best the Italian could manage in a rain-soaked Indonesian Grand Prix. At the end of March, Bastianini currently leads the championship by 2 points ahead of Brad Binder.
8. Josh Pierson
Josh Pierson only turned 16 on Valentine’s Day this year, just a month before he’d help United Autosports to victory at the 1000 miles of Sebring in the World Endurance Championship. The teenage sensation completed a triple stint for Zak Brown’s United Autosports team, during which he caught up to and overtook the other United Autosports car piloted by Phillip Hanson, a WEC and ELMS champion. Pierson’s performance will go down in the history books for a long time for sure, as the youngest ever World Endurance Championship race winner at the tender age of just 16 years and 46 days.
7. Felipe Drugovich
Felipe Drugovich currently leads the F2 championship after the first two rounds. The Brazilian, in 2022, has returned to the MP team he made his F2 debut with in 2020, and so far, it’s been a happy reunion. At Bahrain, Felipe was in the top six in both races, scoring 12 points. At Jeddah, Drugovich got his second ever F2 pole position, with a stunning lap time in qualifying. While we didn’t get much running in the sprint race that weekend, Drugovich made the most of what he had, finishing third having started tenth. On Sunday, Felipe ran away with the win from pole, putting him 11 points in the lead over Liam Lawson.
6. Liam Lawson
While Felipe Drugovich is the championship leader, you could argue that it should actually be Liam Lawson in first. The New Zealander scored a double podium at the opening round at Bahrain, driving well in both races, finishing second and third respectively, netting 24 points. At Jeddah, Lawson’s decent qualifying of fifth put him sixth for the sprint race, which Lawson turned into a win, his first of the season. On Sunday, Lawson’s 100% podium streak looked like it was set to continue, only for a pit-stop blunder to leave him stranded at the end of the pit lane after his stop with his left front loose, ending his race and his streak. There’s a long season ahead for the F2 field, and Lawson has already asserted himself as a serious contender for the championship.
5. Carlos Sainz
Since qualifying at Bahrain, it’s been obvious that Ferrari have turned themselves into serious title contenders. So far, Charles Leclerc has seemed like the better of the two Ferrari drivers, but that’s not saying Sainz has been poor. Whilst the Spaniard wasn’t able to fight Verstappen or Leclerc for the win in both Bahrain and Jeddah, he’s driven two brilliant races, toward the front, finishing third in both races.
4. Josef Newgarden
IndyCar hosted its first oval round of 2022 in March at Texas Motor Speedway, and it did not disappoint. Newgarden has been a master in Fort Worth, and 2022 proved no different. After being in the Top 5 for the majority of the race, it would become clear that the Nashvillian would be duelling Scott McLaughlin for the victory. And on the final corner of the 248 laps, Newgarden attempted the high line on the exit of Turn 4, and swept past Scott McLaughlin, peeping him at the line by just 0.06 seconds.
3. Scott McLaughlin
Scott McLaughlin was top of our February Power Rankings in surprise fashion, and March didn’t disappoint for the Kiwi either. He found himself 0.03 off Felix Rosenqvist’s pole lap, but would dominate from the green flag, leading 186 of the 248 laps, and seeming destined to win his second race in succession, until he was stuck behind lapped cars on the final lap, allowing Newgarden to pip him at the line. Although McLaughlin was disappointed, it was his second epic performance of the season, and he retains his lead in the IndyCar championship.
2. Max Verstappen
In the first two rounds of the F1 season it has been an all out battle between Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc, and from these two rounds, we’ve decided on Max Verstappen being second best out of the two.The Dutchman was second best in Bahrain qualifying against Charles Leclerc and never seemed to have the measure of the Monegasque during the race either. Max led the race for a few moments in the race during his battle with Leclerc towards the end of the race, but an issue for his Red Bull ended his race prematurely. At Jeddah, last weekend, Max finished only fourth in qualifying, with Leclerc in third and teammate Perez on pole. In the race, Max got the jump on Sainz at the start, and jumped teammate Perez after an unfortunately timed safety car ruined the Mexican’s strategy, gifting Max and Charles the position. With only Leclerc ahead of him, Verstappen engaged in an enthralling battle with the Monegasque man, one which he won. It was very tight between the two, but Max was second best this month.
1. Charles Leclerc
In first place for this month then, it is of course, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc. The Ferrari driver currently sits top of the F1 championship after the first two rounds at Bahrain and Jeddah and as I mentioned, he’s been in an enthralling battle with Max Verstappen for the first couple of rounds. At Bahrain, Leclerc and Ferrari showed up in a similar fashion to Red Bull last year, putting it on pole ahead of the reigning champion. Charles took it a step further than Verstappen last year, dominating the race from start to finish, defending hard against Max, and taking the chequered flag. At Jeddah, Charles again had to fight tooth and nail with Max, only this time he came out second best. Despite this, Charles has been incredible in the first two rounds, and tops the power rankings in March.
We’ll see you on the 1st of May when we discuss our power rankings for April!
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