Formula 1 had the best season it has had in years in 2021. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen deservedly triumphed after an intense, bitter, and thrilling championship fight with seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton and his Mercedes team. It’s the first time the title fight has gone down to the wire since it was Hamilton vs Nico Rosberg in 2016. F1 has marketed it as “a season like no other” and it really was that, and it ended in a way that only the 2021 title battle could end. The 2021 season had it all.

All of this, though, has left us asking and gasping for more in 2022. F1 really has left us wanting! The 2022 season sees a massive upheaval in the rules package with new cars and a brave new era for the sport. For the first time, cars have been designed specifically for better racing. In this list, we are going to go through five things from 2021 that made it the greatest season ever and then list five things that we want from the sport in 2022.

10 F1 2021 – The Incredible Title Battle

The Verstappen vs Hamilton title fight captured the attention of fans new and old in the sport and propelled the sport to global levels it hasn't seen for many years prior.

The fact that it went down to the last lap, of the last race with the pair on equal points shows just how remarkable the 2021 championship fight was. It truly was one for the ages.

9 F1 2021 – McLaren Finally Wins Again

It took some nine years, but McLaren finally won a Grand Prix, and it was a 1-2 finish as well. Daniel Ricciardo led home teammate Lando Norris at the Italian Grand Prix to cap a brilliant weekend for the team, and earn McLaren their first win since the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix.

It was a long time coming, but it was certainly worth the wait.

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8 F1 2021 – The Williams Revival Began

Williams has had a tough few years, but 2021 looked like they were finally on the right track again. The FW43B was an improvement over the 2020 FW43, and Nicolas Latifi and George Russell scored a 7th and 8th place finish (respectively) at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Russell qualified second on the grid at Spa, and finished second after the race was canceled but took more points finishes in Italy and Russia, and Latifi scored another point in Spa too.

7 F1 2021 – Wheel To Wheel Action Galore

The wheel-to-wheel action in 2021 was perhaps the best it has been in the sport for some time.

This was highlighted by the fact that Verstappen and Hamilton went wheel-to-wheel at nearly every race across the season, which helped to make it one of the most intense battles in years. Plus, the action filtered down the rest of the grid, providing an intense midfield scrap.

6 F1 2021 – A Rags To Riches Winner

Esteban Ocon has not had it easy in F1 since he made his debut in 2016. And he had to work hard to get to the top, as he didn’t come from the privileged background that a lot of his rivals have done so. But he made it, and he took an emotional and brilliant win at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

This was perhaps the feel-good story of the 2021 season. And he held off four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel to boot as well.

5 F1 2022 – We Want Another Great Title Fight

Verstappen and Hamilton gave us an amazing fight this year, as did their respective Red Bull and Mercedes teams. But, that has just left us hankering after more in 2022. We want another battle that intense, that close, and maybe with more drivers involved, too.

F1 has longed for a fight like it had in 2021, so let's hope it doesn’t revert to the early conclusions it had from 2017-2020 again.

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4 F1 2022 – The New Cars To Actually Provide Better Racing

The biggest change for 2022, of course, are the new cars coming in, specifically designed to promote better racing. But following the 2021 season, a lot of us are left worried that perhaps the rules didn’t need such a big reset.

Hopefully, the new cars actually do what they say on the tin, and it's at least doubtful the problem will be any worse.

3 F1 2022 – More Teams Taking Victories

Alpine and McLaren winning races again is something we require and want more regularly in 2022. We saw further glimpses into what could be with Aston Martin and even Williams taking podiums in 2021. F1 does need more than just two teams regularly winning races.

Ideally, we'll have 3-4 teams regularly winning, and then on their day, a midfield team can sneak in, get it bang-on, and snatch a win, something like what Pierre Gasly did at Monza in 2020. Stories like that make the sport so special.

2 F1 2022 – More Consistency Regarding Penalties And Race Handling

We can’t hide the fact that the 2021 season ended under bizarre circumstances with the way Michael Masi and race control handled the last few laps in Abu Dhabi. Some stewarding decisions were bizarre too, such as Verstappen not getting a penalty for running Hamilton off the track in Brazil yet getting a penalty for a similar offense in Jeddah.

Consistency and decision-making, in general, need to be better in 2022, and it does not need Masi to be sacked either; it merely needs a better structure at the top.

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1 F1 2022 – The Upward Trend For The Sport Continuing

Overall, F1 is on an upward trend. The racing is fantastic. It's just had an amazing title fight, and its digital platform and overall outreach are the best it has ever been, mostly thanks to Liberty Media. Formula One has Drive to Survive, it regularly posts on YouTube and other social media channels, and is more open than it was even just a couple of years ago.

Plus, we have the cost cap and hopefully more raceable cars as well. This upward trend needs to continue.

Sources: Motorsport, Eurosport, Formula 1