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Okay, I'll take a wild stab at constructor standings for the year...

1. Red Bull
2. Merc
3. Ferrari
4. Alpine
5. Aston - can see them being quicker that Alpine but minus one for Stroll being, well, Stroll
6. Alfa
7. McLaren - counting on good car development as testing pace looks horrid
8. Haas
9. Alpha
10. Williams

It is famously a two-day job....

Here be the new cars in all their angular splendour:





Front wing not the most pleasing but otherwise I rather like them

Well that's one way to approach Covid

Time to wake the thread from deep hibernation. New season soon with rejigged cars and a calendar that's all in the same year, what an idea!

1 Mexico City - Mexico - 14 January
2 Diriyah 1 - Saudi Arabia - 27 January
3 Diriyah 2 - Saudi Arabia - 28 January
4 Hyderabad - India - 11 February
5 Cape Town - South Africa - 25 February
6 Sao Paulo - Brazil - 25 March
7 Berlin 1 - Germany - 22 April
8 Berlin 2 - Germany - 23 April
9 Monaco - Monaco! - 06 May
10 Jakarta 1 - Indonesia - 03 June
11 Jakarta 2 - Indonesia - 04 June
12 Portland - United States - 24 June
13 Rome 1 - Italy   15 July
14 Rome 2 - Still in Italy - 16 July
15 London 1 - United Kingdom - 29 July
16 London 2 - United Kingdom - 30 July

Beginning as one does with the (partial) launch schedule:

6th Feb - Williams (livery)
11th Feb - AlphaTauri
13th Feb - Aston Martin
13th Feb - McLaren
14th Feb - Ferrari
15th Feb - Mercedes
16th Feb - Alpine

Less than two months to go so thought I'd better get a wriggle on. Calendar seems a sensible place to start:

March 5: Bahrain (Sakhir)
March 19: Saudi Arabia (Jeddah)
April 2: Australia (Melbourne)
April 16: China (Shanghai) - Covid dependent
April 30: Azerbaijan (Baku)*
May 7: Miami (Miami)
May 21: Emilia Romagna (Imola)
May 28: Monaco (Monaco)
June 4: Spain (Barcelona)
June 18: Canada (Montreal)
July 2: Austria (Spielberg)*
July 9: Great Britain (Silverstone)
July 23: Hungary (Budapest)
July 30: Belgium (Spa-Francorchamps)*
August 27: Netherlands (Zandvoort)
September 3: Italy (Monza)
September 17: Singapore (Marina Bay)
September 24: Japan (Suzuka)
October 8: Qatar (Losail)*
October 22: USA (Austin)*
October 29: Mexico (Mexico City)
November 5: Brazil (Sao Paulo)*
November 18: Las Vegas
November 26: Abu Dhabi (Yas Marina)

*unfortunately this little guy denotes Sprint rounds

Plus always interesting to see how drivers stack up against each other. Can he get outings in practice sessions or is he disqualified due to his time in f1?

Finally some more news on Andretti's F1 ambitions: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/andretti-and-cadillac-announce-formula-1-entry-plans-/10417491/

Would love to know the timescale Andretti has in mind... wait for the new engine regulations in '26?Does seem a long way off but would it be worth building an entry for the year before

And in sadder news, I see Patrick Tambay has died aged 73: https://www.racefans.net/2022/12/04/two-time-grand-prix-winner-tambay-dies-aged-73/

And on that subject...

Michael Andretti says that his team's efforts to secure a place on the F1 grid are making "pretty good progress".

The Andretti organisation, which runs teams in series such as IndyCar, Formula E and Extreme E, has been actively lobbying for a place onto the Formula 1 grid in future seasons – either by acquiring an existing team or as an entirely new, 11th entry. Speaking as the team introduced W Series champion Jamie Chadwick to their Indy Nxt programme for 2023, Andretti said his team was still committed to joining F1.

"We're still moving forward, still working hard," Andretti said. "I think we made pretty good progress the last couple of months. And we're not giving up."

Andretti announced in August it plans to build a new headquarters in Indiana at a cost of £170 million. "We actually have the groundbreaking next week for the new facility," he said in response to a question from RaceFans. "So we're really excited about that, it's going to be awesome."

Just the minor issue remains of getting other teams to agree to share the prize money....

Too bad there isn't a streets of Edinburgh race for a Jackie Stewart outing, although he is 83... okay, maybe Paul di Resta or Coulthard

Another almost certainly not new team for F1:

Lo, a 45-year-old Canadian businessman who has connections with Williams owners Dorilton Capital, sayshe is actively investigating the possibility of financing his own Formula 1 team, either by purchasing an existing team or setting up a new entry.

"In the last few years, I've been approached by many players in the F1 world, from teams to highly aspirational potential team owners or investors," Lo told the Daily Star. "We've been looking at a current team and that's how the idea of starting a new team came about. There are a lot of opportunities right now. I believe we're going into a new era of a younger audience, a newer fanbase. Accessibility seems easier than before.

"We would be very fortunate to be involved, in whatever capacity. With a current team, that would be faster. Realistically, to get the car on the grid [with a new team], it would be 2026. That's a short period of time, a very tight timeline."

And what happens next year when Ferrari finishes behind both Red Bull and Mercedes....

Ferrari holding a 19-point lead over Merc as we head to Abu Dhabi, should be safe unless they actively try to lose second place for that extra wind tunnel time

Hulk and Magnum, well that's two reasons I won't be rooting for Haas next year....