Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton (37, Great Britain)

George Russell (24, Great Britain)

Mercedes, of course from the German car company, build their own cars and engines and have dominated for almost a decade winning eight constructors championships in as many years. Six of those championships were with their current driver Lewis Hamilton. George Russell has been brought up through their academy, and after three years experience Formula One he has his chance to prove himself in a top team. George Russell is also one of the representatives for the Grand Prix Drivers Association.

Red Bull

Max Verstappen (24, Netherlands)

Sergio Perez (32, Mexico)

Red Bull have always been competitive since their entrance to the sport. Max Verstappen was the youngest ever race winner at the age of 18, and was the 2021 drivers champion. Sergio Perez has been in the sport eleven years, and has a race victory under his belt which is decent considering he has mainly been in midfield level teams. Now, he’s settled into the team, they will be hoping to see him up on the podium alongside Max more often.

Ferrari

Charles Leclerc (24, Monaco)

Carlos Sainz (27, Spain)

Ferrari are a quintessential team associated with the sport, recognisable by their scarlet red cars. Charles Leclerc has been with the team for three years already and was brought up through their academy. Carlos Sainz joined the team last season and quickly put in impressive performances and ended up narrowly beating Leclerc in the driver’s championship too. Whilst competitive, these racers are good friends off track, so hopefully that continues when competing for race wins.

Mclaren

Lando Norris (22, Great Britain)

Daniel Ricciardo (32, Australia)

Mclaren are a British team with a formidable history in the sport, but they have definitely kept up with the times as they led the charge with their social media presence and inclusion of the fans. Powered once more by Mercedes this year they will be aiming for third or even higher in the constructor’s championship. Lando Norris has been with them for three years already and has already signed on for a lot more. Daniel Ricciardo has been in the sport for eleven years now and whilst he came up through the Red Bull academy, he cut ties with them in 2018. He has eight race wins to his name, including the coveted Monaco Grand Prix. However, he did struggle last season in comparison to Lando so will want to demonstrate he’s still competitive.

Alpine

Fernando Alonso (40, Spain)

Esteban Ocon (25, France)

Alpine are the sporting brand of Renault and as such they provide their own engines. Fernando Alonso is a veteran of the sport (and a variety of racing categories) and won the championship in 2005 and 2006. He is a great aggressive driver in both defending and overtaking, so he will enjoy cars that can follow closely. Esteban Ocon has had a bit of a rocky time in the sport, and won his first race last season. The team will be hoping to continue their upward trajectory with this driver pairing. 

Alpha Tauri

Pierre Gasly (26, France)

Yuki Tsunoda (21, Japan)

Alpha Tauri are the ‘sister’ team to Red Bull. They share resources such as engines and facilities, and the team is used as a sort of training ground for those aiming for the senior Red Bull team, they have alumni of successful drivers such as Max Verstappen, Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo and Carlos Sainz to name a few. Pierre did make the step up, but when he didn’t perform on par with Verstappen he was put back into the Alpha Tauri team and hasn’t moved since, yet consistently outperforms the car placing it in the top ten in qualifying and often races. Yuki Tsunoda was a rookie last year and despite a successful debut race, he failed to follow this up the rest of the season. He is going to be under a lot of pressure to keep his seat because Red Bull have always got more junior drivers waiting and are not afraid to swap drivers mid-season.

Aston Martin

Sebastian Vettel (34, German)

Lance Stroll (23, Canada)

Aston Martin is a relatively new name to the grid, only entering under that name last year. They are very much looking towards the future as they build their new facility near Silverstone (UK). Sebastian Vettel is a four-time world champion from when he raced at Red Bull, and he has a fantastic understanding on the technical side of the sport as he is often seen analyzing other cars on the grid giving him the nickname ‘inspector Seb’. He is also known to impart his knowledge to the younger members of the grid, particularly Mick Schumacher. Lance Stroll is the son of the team’s owner, and has some podium finishes to his name, but outside of the chaotic or wet races he struggles to score points. The team will be hoping to move forward as planned from their seventh place in the constructor’s championship. 

Williams

Nicholas Latifi (26, Canada)

Alex Albon (26, Great Britain – races under Thai flag)

Williams are another successful British team powered by Mercedes engines. They have really struggled in recent years both in terms of finances and race results. Nichola Latifi was hired as a ‘pay driver’ in 2020 when his father made a huge investment in the team. He has had a few stand out moments, but nothing consistent and he was always outshone by his former teammate George Russell. Alex Albon, on the other hand is part of the Red Bull family, but after a year out of the sport, he is trying a new team (though still under Red Bull management) and there’s a lot of excitement around his return as it’s expected he will perform just as well as the person he took the sear from (George). 

Alfa Romeo

Valterri Bottas (32, Finland)

Zhou Guanyu (22, China)

Alfa Romeo are based in Switzerland and powered by Ferrari engines. This team (under whatever name it has) has always been a midfield team. This makes it the perfect testing ground for rookie driver Zhou Guanyu, as he tries to shirk the ‘pay driver’ label by putting in good, point-scoring performance. Valterri Bottas has moved to the team this year too, having more recently raced for Mercedes, this will be a change of pace, but now he has a chance to lead a team so we will see if he rises to that challenge.

Haas

Mick Schumacher (23, German)

Kevin Magnussen (29, Denmark)

This team is owned by American Gene Haas and powered by Ferrari engines. This team has struggled in recent years to score points. Last year they did have two rookies and put all their effort into building this season’s car so hopefully for them that decision pays off. Mick Schumacher, son of Michael Schumacher, had (as he often does) a bit of a weak season last year, but hopefully now he knows the sport and the team and has an experienced teammate to learn from, he will develop into a points scoring driver. Kevin Magnussen returns (last minute) after a year out of Formula One, but he knows the team and always got the maximum out of the car.