Max Verstappen is the top ranked driver following F1 22 ratings update

While in the midst of the 2022 Formula 1 season’s summer break, EA and Codemasters have decided to update the driver ratings for all drivers on the 2022 grid in their F1 22 release. These ratings utilizes data collected from the races so far in 2022 plus previous results before this season.

Most of the changes are just a few bumps up or down to the previous rating in the Experience, Racecraft, Awareness and Pace categories. These changes, however, have resulted in some movement in some drivers’ overall Rating.

Probably the most interesting aspect of these ratings is that 2021 World Champion Max Verstappen is now the sole leader in the driver ratings. Previously, Verstappen and the Seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton were tied atop the board. Verstappen got a bump up in both Awareness and Pace.

Hamilton also got some movement in the categories, moving up a point each in Experience, Racecraft and Awareness. It wasn’t enough, however, to warrant an overall rating increase. His Mercedes-AMG teammate George Russell, however, got more than enough of an update across all four categories to jump two points in the ratings, now sitting at a 92 overall.

Carlos Sainz Jr (+1), Daniel Ricciardo (+1), Mick Schumacher (+2) and Zhou Guanyu (+5!) were the other drivers on the list to have their ratings jump up positively. Schumacher overtakes Yuki Tsunoda in overall as Tsunoda was one of the drivers to lose rating. Guanyu had the biggest increase, moving up five whole rating points after 11 points were added to his Pace.

On the downside, while a multitude of drivers all lost some sort of rating in some sort of category, six drivers managed to lose overall rating score. The highest rated driver with a negative update is Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Leclerc launched with a 92 overall rating, but after an up and down season to date, plus losing three Pace points, his overall now sits at a 91.

Valtteri Bottas (-2), Esteban Ocon (-1), Pierre Gasly (-2), Tsunoda (-2) and Nicholas Latifi (-1) were also downgraded in the overall. Besides Hamilton, Lando Norris, Fernando Alonso, Sergio Perez, Sebastian Vettel, Alexander Albon, Kevin Magnussen and Lance Stroll all remain unchanged in overall rating.

These updated ratings come alongside the 1.09 update which will also bring cross-platform online play into the equation. Check out the table below with all the values from today’s reveal. Do you agree with these scores? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!