Formula 1 2022 Season Preview

New cars and closer racing, a new era of Formula 1 has arrived. As we stand on the brink of the most eagerly anticipated season in years here’s everything you need to know about the greatest race series on the planet.

Evolution

The cars are brand new and look red hot. Designed with cutting edge aerodynamics they’ve been created with the goal of allowing drivers to follow each other more closely which will hopefully make for more wheel to wheel action than ever before as the world’s best drivers battle for supremacy on the best tracks across the world.

The biggest regulation changes in a generation will see larger tyres with wheel covers added. Front and rear wing designs have also been completely rethought in order to provide closer racing for the fans and dissipate more energy in the event of an accident.

Still driven by 1.6 litre turbo hybrid power units the most advanced and thermally efficient engines on the planet 2022 will see a switch to E10 fuel as the sport powers its way to a more sustainable future.

Driver moves

The new season brings new dynamics. Former F2 champion George Russell finally gets his chance at a top team replacing Valtteri Bottas at Mercedes alongside Lewis Hamilton. Bottas has moved to Alfa Romeo where his experience will aid Guanyu Zhou’s quest to impress the world as China’s first F1 race driver.

Alex Albon returns to the grid with Williams while Haas also welcome back a familiar face. Kevin Magnussen rejoins the team to race alongside Mick Schumacher. The rest of the grid remains unchanged with new World Champion Max Verstappen carrying the coveted number 1 on his car and already committing his future to Red Bull all the way to 2028.

He’s not the only one with a new long term contract, Lando Norris has extended his deal with McLaren to the end of 2025.

The reset in the regulations means teams have a better chance than ever to improve their standing for the years ahead. Some have been planning their car for more than two years and some big names are hoping to mix it at the front.

Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team

Despite missing out on the drivers’ title in 2021 Mercedes still won a record eight straight Constructors’ Championship and remain the team to beat. The Silver Arrows are back in silver and looking ready to continue their success after a strong showing at the official pre-season test in Bahrain.

A technical reshuffle has seen James Allison move into a more strategic role with former technology director Mike Elliott stepping up to replace him as technical director.

Oracle Red Bull Racing

Red Bull will be aiming for a first Constructors’ title since 2013 after running Mercedes close last year and claiming the driver’s championship. They were fast out of the blocks in 2021 and their in-season development capabilities are impressive so Adrian Newey’s team’s aggressive new design should surely see them fighting near the front.

“We’re just focused on ourselves because that’s the only thing we can control and that’s how we have been operating and I think that’s what works best” said Verstappen at pre-season testing.

Scuderia Ferrari

Ferrari were both fast and reliable in pre-season testing, aspiring to achieve a record seventeenth Constructors’ Championship and sixteenth Drivers’ Championship in 2022. Power unit gains have been mirrored by infrastructure improvements at Maranello with the team’s state of the art simulator now online and ready to help Ferrari develop their new car.

“We’ve done all the tests that we wanted to do which was the most important thing and we did without any major problems. It is a positive test for this, in terms of performance nothing to say for now” was the comment from Charles Leclerc at the close of testing last week.

McLaren F1 Team

McLaren returned to winning ways in 2021 and have been low-key about talking up their winter gains but CEO Zak Brown and team principal Andreas Seidl have assembled a solid technical team including the highly regarded James Key and enjoyed a stable transition into the new era having retained their talent amid aggressive recruitment strategies from by the likes of Aston Martin and Red Bull. More success could be on the cards.

BWT Alpine F1 Team

It’s all change at Alpine where Otmar Szafnauer moves from Aston Martin to be the new team principal tasked with getting more out of last season’s fifth place finishers. But while Esteban Ocon took a win last season and Fernando Alonso added a podium the team struggled to keep up with the midfield leaders at times and finished a full 120 points behind McLaren.

CEO Laurent Rossi says Szafnauer’s first task will be to improve their development speed to make sure they don’t get left behind again.

Scuderia AlphaTauri

Can AlphaTauri finally finish P5 in the Constructors’ Championship? Team principal Franz Tost will certainly hope so, its been his goal for years and one Red Bull’s sister team came close to last year as Pierre Gasly had an outstanding season. But while they will continue to use parts from Red Bull technologies these will be current spec and therefore they won’t get them as far in advance as they have been used to as Red Bull push the limit on development before signing off on production. That could potentially make this year a challenge but with Gasly and the ever improving Yuki Tsunoda at the wheel don’t bet against them to keep punching above their weight.

Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team

Mike Krack takes over the reigns at Silverstone, the former BMW Motorsport boss having previously worked with Sebastian Vettel back in 2006 and now hoping to take Aston Martin to new heights. A new £200m factory is under construction and the team’s billionaire owner Lawrence Stroll has also invested heavily in talent.

Red Bull’s aero-chief Dan Fallows and Mercedes’ Eric Blandin two of his star technical signings. They’re into year two of their plan to get to the very top of Formula 1 and their 53 time Grand Prix winner Sebastian Vettel says 2022 would be the first true test for the team in green.

Williams Racing

Along with Aston Martin Williams have made the biggest changes over the last twelve months and leapt from tenth to eight in the standings last year. Their haul of 23 points was more than the previous three seasons combined and confidence is growing at Grove. Team boss Jost Capito’s organisational changes appear to be working and their new technical team headed by François-Xavier Demaiso are primed to attack but retaining eight now must be the minimum expectation and achieving that feat because of the high level of competition may be harder than getting there in the first place.

Much will depend on the quality of the car and how quickly Alex Albon can shake off the rust after a year on the sidelines.

Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN

Fielding two new drivers , a ten time Grand Prix winner in Valtteri Bottas and the first ever full time Chinese F1 driver Guanyu Zhou, Alfa Romero are hoping to bounce back from a 2021 campaign which saw them finish ninth overall. Bottas will have a wealth of responsibilities chiefly they need him to lead the team into the new era and beyond and maximise the development of their new chassis. Technical director Jan Monchaux has been aggressive with the design of the C42 but reliability issues in pre-season mean they haven’t shown its full potential.

Zhou will need to get up to speed quickly but has two of the best possible mentors on hand in the form of Bottas and team principal Frédéric Vasseur.

Haas F1 Team

Hass’ disrupted pre-season sees Kevin Magnussen return to the team where he spent four seasons previously. The Danish driver teaming up with Mick Schumacher in an effort to bring the team closer to the points following a torrid 2021. Reliability concerns in pre-season didn’t get them off to the best of starts, but the team have been developing their new VF22 for a long time and team boss Guenther Steiner will be hoping they reap the benefits of their early investment and recent influx of personnel from Ferrari over the opening rounds of the new season.

“I think we’re on a good path we’re starting to understand the car better and better and now it’s just about being I guess reliable trying to learn and put package together that we have and I believe that is strong right now. It’s just a matter of showing it” said Schumacher at the close of testing.

Tracks

A record breaking 23 race calendar stands before the world’s best drivers beginning under the lights of the Bahrain International Circuit in March and ending at twilight in Abu Dhabi in November. A brand new Grand Prix in Miami takes place in May around the Hard Rock Stadium while classic races in Australia, Canada, Japan and Singapore all return for the first time since 2019.

Full race calendar:

• Round 1:  Bahrain Grand Prix, March 18-20
• Round 2: Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, March 25-27
• Round 3: Australian Grand Prix, April 8-10
• Round 4: Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Imola, April 22-24
• Round 5: Miami Grand Prix, May 6-8
• Round 6: Spanish Grand Prix, May 20-22
• Round 7: Monaco Grand Prix, May 27-29
• Round 8: Azerbaijan Grand Prix, June 10-12
• Round 9: Canadian Grand Prix, June 17-19
• Round 10: British Grand Prix, July 1-3
• Round 11: Austrian Grand Prix, July 8-10
• Round 12: French Grand Prix, July 22-24
• Round 13: Hungary Grand Prix, July 29-31
• Round 14: Belgian Grand Prix, August 26-28
• Round 15: Dutch Grand Prix, September 2-4
• Round 16: Italian Grand Prix, September 9-11
• Round 17: Singapore Grand Prix, September 30 – October 2
• Round 18: Japanese Grand Prix, October 7-9
• Round 19: United States Grand Prix, October 21-23
• Round 20: Mexican Grand Prix, October 28-30
• Round 21: Brazilian Grand Prix, November 11-13
• Round 22: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, November 18-20

The replacement for the Russian Grand Prix has not yet been finalised but it is likely to be the Turkish Grand Prix.

New Rules

There are changes behind the scenes too. To assist the race director with decision making a new virtual race control facility is being setup very similar to the video assistant referee system or VAR used in football. Direct radio communications between teams and the race director during the race have been removed in order to protect them from any pressure and a new race management team has been put in place Niels Wittich and Eduardo Freitas will act alternatively as race director assisted by Herbie Blash as permanent senior advisor.

Unlapping procedures behind the safety car will also be sped up meaning that we should be able to get back to racing faster following an on track incident. The points system has also been overhauled in the event of a Grand Prix not going full distance meaning that ultra short races such as the one we saw at Spa-Francorchamps in 2021 wouldn’t contribute points to the championship overall.

There’s also no longer a requirement for teams to start races on their Q2 qualifying tyre following concerns that it disadvantaged those teams qualifying in the lower half of the top ten. Now all teams can choose their starting tyres freely and optimise their strategy for maximum attack.

Race Format 

Sprint is back, the format will return at Imola, the Red Bull Ring and Interlagos with eight points now available for the winner raising the stakes and creating even more drama. The Thursday pre-race press conference moves to Friday morning and sixty minute practise sessions remain in place from 2021.

History Makers

Lewis Hamilton is still seeking his eight Formula 1 World Championship if he takes it this year it will move him one clear of the immortal Michael Schumacher while his team Mercedes are looking to take their ninth consecutive Formula 1 World Constructors’ crown.

Kimi Raikkonen has retired from Formula 1 and the Finn’s record of 349 Grand Prix starts can be surpassed this year by his former teammate Fernando Alonso, who will hit the 350 mark sometime in September

Last season’s standings:

It’s set to be a stunning season of Formula 1 action and Marking The Spot will be here brining you full qualifying results, race reports and all the latest news as it happens.

There’ll be fights, tears, drama and excitement. A new era of Formula 1 is upon us with young drivers with something to prove and a few others with plenty more to give.

Drivers rested, cars tested, the lights go out for race one this Sunday in Bahrain.