This is how the Formula 1 teams stand after the Bahrain Grand Prix

As has often been the case in Formula 1, it's hard to make a prediction after the winter test. The top three of Ferrari, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes were obvious, but the midfield proved difficult to rank.

Unchanged top three

The picture of the top of Formula 1 is not much different after the Bahrain GP. Ferrari is the best team and Red Bull Racing is close behind, provided they can solve the reliability problems. Mercedes are the third best team, but the gap to Ferrari and Red Bull turned out to be larger than expected in Bahrain.

Behind this trio, the proportions have shifted dramatically. Haas and Alfa Romeo scored the most points and really seem to be the fourth and fifth teams in terms of speed in qualifying and the race. Valtteri Bottas was the fastest on Saturday, but give Kevin Magnussen some more time and he might get even more out of that Haas.

Alpine and AlphaTauri seem to be close to that, but fall just short. Pierre Gasly and Fernando Alonso mixed it in the top 10 in qualifying, while Esteban Ocon managed to make a good impression in the race.

McLaren in the rear

Remarkably, it is three big names that can be found at the bottom. McLaren, Williams and Aston Martin currently seem to be the rearguard of F1 in 2022. McLaren had hopes of competing at the front, but the car is simply not fast enough.

Williams completed a lot of laps in the winter tests and Alexander Albon was still reasonably competitive with his car. Nicholas Latifi, however, shows that Williams haven't made much progress yet. The other loser is Aston Martin, who flew out of Q1 with Lance Stroll and Nico Hulkenberg and were miles off the pace.

Ranking after the Bahrain Grand Prix

1. Ferrari

2. Red Bull Racing

3. Mercedes

4. Alfa Romeo

5. Haas

6. Alpine

7. AlphaTauri

8. McLaren

9. Williams

10. Aston Martin