Daniel Ricciardo drops further down rankings in latest F1 22 update

Sam Cooper
McLaren driver Daniel Ricciardo at the Monaco Grand Prix. Monte Carlo,May 2022.

McLaren's Daniel Ricciardo at the Monaco Grand Prix. Monte Carlo,May 2022.

The real-life performances of Daniel Ricciardo have been translated into the virtual world as he slips further down the rankings in F1 22.

It has been a rough time of late for Ricciardo. His departure from McLaren was confirmed, he has yet to secure a seat for 2023 and his on-track performances have continued to be not what we expect from the eight-time race winner.

As a result, his rating in the F1 22 video game has taken a hit as another former Red Bull driver moves above him.

The game, made by Codemasters and EA, released its latest update following the Italian Grand Prix and Ricciardo is one the drivers to have suffered the most.

A P15 at Spa then a P17 in Zandvoort was followed by a cruel late DNF at Monza which has seen his overall rating decrease by two to 82.

In particular, it is his pace and racecraft stats to have taken the brunt of the impact and they now stand at 81 and 84 respectively.

The last update for the game, which came in August, actually saw Ricciardo improve his overall rating to 84, his highest ranking of the season, but he has now slipped down to his lowest score so far.

As a result of the demotion, he finds himself falling behind Pierre Gasly in the rankings and is the 13th-highest ranked driver in the game.

Another on the grid to have seen his ranking taken a hit is Valtteri Bottas who has lost three overall points following a similarly dismal run of form. His awareness was the biggest individual statistic to have been reduced which saw him lose four points, presumably as a result of his attempt to get out of the way of Nicholas Latifi at Spa.

Max Verstappen continues to lead the way with an overall ranking of 96, a one-point improvement from his August rating. He is now two clear of Lewis Hamilton in the race to be the overall best ranked driver in the game.

As a sign of how dominant the Dutchman has been of late, his racecraft now stands at 99, the highest score a driver can achieve.

EA describes racecraft as “a driver’s ability to work their way through the pack to finish the race higher up than where they started.”, something Verstappen has done on two occasions with ease.

Hamilton’s rating remains at 92 while his team-mate George Russell’s has moved down one to 91. The Ferrari drivers have both improved by one with Charles Leclerc on 92 and Carlos Sainz on 89.

Zhou Gunayu is the single biggest improver having earned three overall points since the last update. It is his racecraft where he has most excelled having moved up six points.

Read more: Christian Horner would sign Daniel Ricciardo if he was Alpine boss

Daniel Ricciardo

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