Positions gained/lost at race start in 2022: Charles Leclerc +4, Carlos Sainz -56. Positions gained/lost at start in 2022.

The 2022 Formula 1 season is now a memory, but not so distant as to cause too much difficulty remembering some incidents that took place during the world championship that has ended. From the most spectacular to the most controversial, even the last championship stood out for a good level of entertainment expressed on the track by the drivers, beginning with overtaking and the positions gained by each driver during the 22 races which took place in 2022 in the thrilling phases of the start.

Now that the season is over, it’s time to analyze some particular rankings, including precisely that of the highest number of positions gained/lost by the drivers at the start with respect to the place occupied on the grid.

Contrary to those who tend to occupy the top places of the ranking, and who therefore take off in pole position or close to it, this ranking is an exception for the names of those who find themselves in the lead, starting with Lance Stroll. In fact, the Canadian from Aston Martin holds the seasonal record for the most number of positions gained during the first lap of the 22 rounds, with a total of 30. A result which was also made possible by two other records, also secured by the 24-year-old: In fact, Lance Stroll is also the one who has finished the number of races in a higher position than the one taken in qualifying, on 16 occasions, as well as the one who has recovered most positions in a single race. In this case, the Aston Martin driver impressed in Japan, overtaking no less than seven drivers. In this ranking, the drivers of Aston Martin and Alpine stood out in particular, with the Canadian, Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon occupying the first four positions. Ocon is on the podium, at 25 points, followed by Vettel, who leaves Formula 1 with a score of 18.

Even this ranking, however, has a rear area, for those who instead have lost more positions as compared to the starting ones. In this case, the last place of a Ferrari driver like Carlos Sainz, with a difficult to believe -56, is striking. The causes of this situation can be identified mainly in the three accidents that took place at Imola, Suzuka and Austin, which in these three circumstances alone cost him 50 positions. On the other hand, Charles Leclerc has gained four places at the start, which is a good stat considering that many times he started from pole position and therefore without the possibility of gaining any place, but rather focusing on keeping P1.

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The two Alfa Romeo teammates were ahead of the Ferrari Spanish driver: Valtteri Bottas with -36, and Guanyu Zhou with -18. Moreover the Chinese was an equal footing with Lewis Hamilton. Zhou, a rookie this year, also holds the negative records of the highest number of positions lost in a race, equal to 12, and the lowest number of positions recovered in a single GP, 2.

Total positions gained / lost during the first lap