A new Formula 1 season is upon us and coming off the back of a highly controversial season end and with a bevy of new regulations for constructors to contend with, 2022 looks set to be a very interesting season of racing indeed.
At Scrap Car Comparison, motor racing is a big interest of ours. Not just because there’s often subplots of car reliability and crashes that would make F1 cars the most expensive scrap vehicles around, but because members of our team take part in racing themselves too! (Read about our Director Dan Gick taking part in the CALM All Porsche Trophy here).
With this in mind, we decided to take a closer look at the fledgling F1 2022 season to reveal which races fans are seemingly most excited for, in addition to using Instagram data to crown the most photographed race tracks of this season’s calendar.
The Most Anticipated Grand Prix of 2022
Some F1 race days simply garner more excitement than others. Whether it’s the history of Silverstone or the hair-raising speeds of Monza, certain dates stick out on the calendar, so we analysed Google search data from the first couple of months 2022, to see which races F1 fans were searching for the most, to crown the most anticipated race days of the season.
| Rank | Grand Prix | Race Date | Average Monthly Search Volume Jan-March 2022 (Worldwide) |
| 1 | Monaco Grand Prix | 29th May | 49,500 |
| 2 | Miami Grand Prix | 8th May | 27,100 |
| 3 | Abu Dhabi Grand Prix | 20th November | 22,000 |
| 4 | Bahrain Grand Prix | 20th March | 12,100 |
| 5 | Singapore Grand Prix | 2nd October | 9,900 |
| 6 | Australian Grand Prix | 10th April | 9,900 |
| 7 | French Grand Prix | 24th July | 8,100 |
| 8 | Saudi Arabian Grand Prix | 27th March | 6,600 |
| 9 | Hungarian Grand Prix | 31st July | 6,600 |
| 10 | Canadian Grand Prix | 19th June | 5,400 |
The famous street circuit in Monaco comes out on top as the most anticipated race of the 2022 F1 season. Falling on the 29th May, Monaco is always a Grand Prix that stands out, attracting the millionaires (and billionaires) of the world, who descend in their yachts to soak up the atmosphere of race weekend, and witness one of the many classics that has taken place over the years.
Interestingly, the Miami International Autodrome ranked second without having even hosted a race previously. Evidently, fans are excited to see this new track, which will host the 20 drivers on 8th May.
The Most Instagrammable Racetracks of the F1 2022 Season
If you’re lucky enough to actually go to a race, the next thing you’ll do alongside eagerly anticipating the action that will take place on track, is to snap some photos of the circuit itself. This has in turn made tracks around the world destinations in their own right, with the likes of the Circuit of the Americas star-spangled corners or Yas Marina’s lighting making for the perfect photo opp.
With Instagram now cemented as the place most people will share their favourite photos, we explored hashtag data on the platform to reveal the 10 most Instagrammable racetracks featured in this year’s F1 calendar.
| Rank | Race Track | Instagram Hashtags |
| 1 | Silverstone Circuit, UK | 730,695 |
| 2 | Circuit Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium | 258,410 |
| 3 | Suzuka Circuit, Japan | 222,047 |
| 4 | Hungaroring, Hungary | 138,818 |
| 5 | Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi | 119,503 |
| 6 | Red Bull Ring, Austria | 115,403 |
| 7 | Circuit of the America, USA | 111,896 |
| 8 | Circuit Paul Ricard, France | 66,163 |
| 9 | Bahrain International Circuit, Bahrain | 60,730 |
| 10 | Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, Mexico | 56,765 |
As one of the most famous racetracks in the world, and one that actually hosted the first ever F1 race back in 1950, Silverstone claims a deserved top spot as the most Instagrammable race track featured in the 2022 season.
Eclipsing the other tracks, the British Grand Prix weekend brings hundreds of thousands of spectators, so it’s no surprise that this translates to so many photos, especially with the circuit hosting multiple other events through the year.
Completing the podium are a close second and third, with Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium and Suzuka in Japan battling it out. A favourite with drivers and fans, Spa-Francorchamps touts itself as the ‘most beautiful circuit in the world’, while Suzuka is also a favourite from the history books, which this year enters its 60th year as a race track.
Has this made you more excited for some motorsport, or are you simply here to enquire about scrapping your car after too many trips to the pits? If so, find out more here!
Methodology
We took each race of the 2022 Formula 1 season calendar and used Google Keyword Planner to reveal the events that are being searched for the most in the lead up to the season. Google search volumes for terms such as ‘Miami Grand Prix’ between January 2022 and the end of February 2022 were detailed to reach the final rankings.
We also ranked the amount of Instagram hashtags used for each circuit (e.g. #spafrancorchamps) to rank the most Instagrammable racetracks featured in the 2022 F1 season calendar.
All data correct as of March 2022.
