The 2022 season can be said to start today. Bottas and Russell are testing for their new teams. In addition, a whole bunch of juniors (and some not so junior) are out driving:
Oscar Piastri (20), 2021 F2 champion, Alpine
Guanyu Zhou (22), 2021 F2 3rd place finisher, Alfa Romeo
Liam Lawson (19), 2021 DTM Runner-up and F2 9th place finisher, AlphaTauri
Nick Yelloly (31), 2018 Porsche Supercup Runner-up, Aston Martin
Robert Shwartzman (22), 2019 F3 champion and 2021 F2 Runner-up, Ferrari & Haas
Pietro Fittipaldi (25), 2017 World Series Formula V8 champion, Haas
Pato O'Ward (22), 2021 IndyCar 3rd place finisher and 2018 Indy Lights champion, McLaren
Nyck de Vries (26), 2021 Formula E Champion & 2019 F2 champion, Mercedes
Jüri Vips (21), 2021 F2 6th place finisher, Red Bull
Logan Sargeant (20), 2020 F3 3rd place finisher, Williams
Here is Bottas driving the Alfa Romeo for the first time, complete with 18" rims!
(https://www.racefans.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/racefansdotnet-21-12-14-11-49-48-42.jpg)
Tyres look fine to me, in fact I might go so far to say they look wheely good....
But Alfa doesn't have the wheel covers on.
Quote from: Matt on December 16, 2021, 12:00:59 AM
But Alfa doesn't have the wheel covers on.
Fine, here's a McLaren testing the LED wheel covers.
(https://www.racefans.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/racefansdotnet-21-12-15-08-08-38-15-1.jpg)
We're banning team communications to Race Director. The Race Director, who will not be Masi in 2022.
http://racefans.net/2022/02/17/fia-confirms-departure-of-masi-and-changes-to-race-control-after-abu-dhabi-row/
Masi will be replaced by both a football VAR style control room at FIA headquarters, and an alternating scheme of race directors Niels Wittich (unliked after the farcical DTM finish last year) and Eduardo Freitas (more liked, WEC race director). The two will be assisted by "senior adviser" Herbie Blash (deputy race director under Whiting for maybe twenty years in the mid-90s to 2016).
About time that teams were prevented from haranguing the Race Director.
Yes, certainly. There will be a "non-intrusive" method of reaching out to race directors, probably filtered through the VAR style room or Blash.
I guess they will alternate race directors because neither would commit to 23 weekends in a year, but it does give room for varying interpretations. We shall see how it goes. Having Blash back is very positive.
Talking of positives.... at least we finally see the back of the Q3 tyre rule, a well-intentioned but flawed attempt to inject variety into proceedings.
Yep. Free tyre choices will help teams split strategies more easily. Slap Perez on hards for the start, and Max on mediums? Sure, Perez could go long and benefit from a SC period. Why run on the same strategy when you don't have to sacrifice your Saturday performance? Good idea, dropping the Q2/Q3 rule
https://www.racefans.net/2022/02/25/formula-1-confirms-it-will-not-race-in-russia-this-year/
No Russian GP. I suppose Turkey will fill the slot.
Sainz reckons these new tyres can take more punishment: https://www.racefans.net/2022/02/28/racefans-round-up-28-02-5/
https://f1i.com/news/433330-red-bull-juniors-vips-and-lawson-to-make-fp1-debuts.html
Juri Vips will drive the Red Bull in two friday practice sessions, and Liam Lawson the same for AlphaTauri.
https://www.racefans.net/2022/03/06/will-f1s-rules-revolution-succeed-20-questions-for-the-2022-season/
Let's answer their 20 questions here, then:
1. Will the series hit its target of holding a record 23 races on the 2022 F1 calendar?
2. Will one team find a significant advantage over its rivals and win each of the opening three races?
3. By the end of the season, will F1's new aerodynamic regulations be generally considered a success in terms of the improvement they've made to the quality of racing?
4. Which team will finish ahead: Alpine or Aston Martin?
5. What will be the biggest political story during 2022?
6. How many different teams will win races over the course of the 2022 F1 season?
7. Who will be the first driver to retire from a race during 2022?
8. What will Valtteri Bottas's best result be?
9. Will last year's Formula 2 champion Oscar Piastri gain a race seat for 2023?
10. Will an 11th team be confirmed for an upcoming season?
11. Who will win the Monaco Grand Prix?
12. Which drivers will leave F1 at the end of the year?
13. Which driver will suffer the most retirements during 2022?
14. Which team will make the biggest improvement on its 2021 points haul?
15. Will Red Bull keep Sergio Perez on for the 2023 season?
16. Which driver will collect the most penalty points?
17. Which drivers, if any, will fail to score any championship points?
18. At which race will the drivers' championship be decided?
19. Who will win the constructors championship?
20. Who will win the drivers championship?
1. Will the series hit its target of holding a record 23 races on the 2022 F1 calendar? Yes, Malaysia or Turkey will replace Sochi and no other race will drop out
2. Will one team find a significant advantage over its rivals and win each of the opening three races? No
3. By the end of the season, will F1's new aerodynamic regulations be generally considered a success in terms of the improvement they've made to the quality of racing? Yes
4. Which team will finish ahead: Alpine or Aston Martin? Alpine
5. What will be the biggest political story during 2022? Flexi-floors
6. How many different teams will win races over the course of the 2022 F1 season? 4 - Red Bull, Mercedes, Ferrari, Alpine
7. Who will be the first driver to retire from a race during 2022? Valtteri Bottas (the Alfa was awfully unreliable in Barcelona)
8. What will Valtteri Bottas's best result be? 7th
9. Will last year's Formula 2 champion Oscar Piastri gain a race seat for 2023? Yes
10. Will an 11th team be confirmed for an upcoming season? No, Andretti will be rejected
11. Who will win the Monaco Grand Prix? Max Verstappen
12. Which drivers will leave F1 at the end of the year? Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso, Nicholas Latifi
13. Which driver will suffer the most retirements during 2022? Guanyu Zhou
14. Which team will make the biggest improvement on its 2021 points haul? Haas
15. Will Red Bull keep Sergio Perez on for the 2023 season? Yes
16. Which driver will collect the most penalty points? Lance Stroll
17. Which drivers, if any, will fail to score any championship points? Alexander Albon, Nicholas Latifi
18. At which race will the drivers' championship be decided? 2nd to last
19. Who will win the constructors championship? Mercedes
20. Who will win the drivers championship? Lewis Hamilton
Yes, this does not align with my other pre-season prediction of Carlos Sainz. It's fine.
My wife wanted to play too, so here are her bets.
1. Will the series hit its target of holding a record 23 races on the 2022 F1 calendar? Yes
2. Will one team find a significant advantage over its rivals and win each of the opening three races? No
3. By the end of the season, will F1's new aerodynamic regulations be generally considered a success in terms of the improvement they've made to the quality of racing? Yes
4. Which team will finish ahead: Alpine or Aston Martin? Alpine
5. What will be the biggest political story during 2022? Closing loopholes and new race director behaviour
6. How many different teams will win races over the course of the 2022 F1 season? 7 - all but Haas, Williams, and Alfa Romeo
7. Who will be the first driver to retire from a race during 2022? Sebastian Vettel
8. What will Valtteri Bottas's best result be? 4th
9. Will last year's Formula 2 champion Oscar Piastri gain a race seat for 2023? Yes
10. Will an 11th team be confirmed for an upcoming season? No
11. Who will win the Monaco Grand Prix? Sergio Perez
12. Which drivers will leave F1 at the end of the year? Nobody (she acknowledges this clashes with question 9 but whatever)
13. Which driver will suffer the most retirements during 2022? Guanyu Zhou
14. Which team will make the biggest improvement on its 2021 points haul? Alfa Romeo
15. Will Red Bull keep Sergio Perez on for the 2023 season? Yes
16. Which driver will collect the most penalty points? Fernando Alonso
17. Which drivers, if any, will fail to score any championship points? Mick Schumacher, and the 2nd driver of Haas
18. At which race will the drivers' championship be decided? 3rd to last
19. Who will win the constructors championship? Mercedes
20. Who will win the drivers championship? Lewis Hamilton
1. Will the series hit its target of holding a record 23 races on the 2022 F1 calendar? - No, one race will bugger off
2. Will one team find a significant advantage over its rivals and win each of the opening three races? - Williams! By which I mean no....
3. By the end of the season, will F1's new aerodynamic regulations be generally considered a success in terms of the improvement they've made to the quality of racing? - Yes
4. Which team will finish ahead: Alpine or Aston Martin? - Alpine
5. What will be the biggest political story during 2022? - Err, no clue.... lack of a Vegan alternative for Azerbaijan racegoers
6. How many different teams will win races over the course of the 2022 F1 season? - Five
7. Who will be the first driver to retire from a race during 2022? - Zhou
8. What will Valtteri Bottas's best result be? - Eighth
9. Will last year's Formula 2 champion Oscar Piastri gain a race seat for 2023? - Yes
10. Will an 11th team be confirmed for an upcoming season? - Yes. I'm an eternal optimist!
11. Who will win the Monaco Grand Prix? - Sainz
12. Which drivers will leave F1 at the end of the year? - one random guy
13. Which driver will suffer the most retirements during 2022? - Zhou
14. Which team will make the biggest improvement on its 2021 points haul? - Aston Martin
15. Will Red Bull keep Sergio Perez on for the 2023 season? - Yes
16. Which driver will collect the most penalty points? - Max
17. Which drivers, if any, will fail to score any championship points? Haas guys and Zhou
18. At which race will the drivers' championship be decided? - Last one
19. Who will win the Constructors' Championship - Ferrari
20. Who will win the Drivers' Championship - Max
https://www.racefans.net/2022/03/16/ricciardo-fit-to-race-in-bahrain-after-negative-covid-19-test/
Ricciardo, who missed the last F1 test in Bahrain, will be back in the car for this weekend's race.
Which is good, less good is the decision to keep the exact same DRS zones from last year.....
Hulkenberg, who missed all F1 tests this year, will be back in the car for this weekend's race:
https://www.racefans.net/2022/03/17/hulkenberg-race-return-in-bahrain-after-vettel-tests-positive-for-covid-19/
Vettel tested positive for covid-19. I really hope this doesn't come back to decide a championship. What if Lewis, Charles, Max, or someone else misses a race or two and ends up losing the title because of it?
Some clarity on track limits - Don't drive outside white lines, says Wittich: https://www.racefans.net/2022/03/17/wittich-simplifies-bahrain-track-limits-rules-in-first-event-as-f1-race-director/
Now that's a novel concept
I mean, it is almost as though it makes sense.
We'll see how wrong I am. Quali predictions:
1. VER
2. PER
3. LEC
4. RUS
5. SAI
6. HAM
7. BOT
8. ALO
9. MAG
10. GAS
---
11. SCH
12. OCO
13. ZHO
14. NOR
15. TSU
---
16. RIC
17. STR
18. HUL
19. LAT
20. ALB
Did everyone get their picks done? I'm watching qualifying and still haven't had my 2nd driver confirmed from the last e-mail that went out. I don't know who I'm supposed to cheer for lol.
Also, can F1 get with the program and understand there is no more pandemic and do away with the stupid masks?
Quote from: Linny on March 19, 2022, 09:46:30 AM
Also, can F1 get with the program and understand there is no more pandemic and do away with the stupid masks?
Sebastian Vettel is literally out with covid. And Ricciardo missed the entire test last week.
Maybe, just maybe, we want the championship to be decided by drivers competing, not getting sick. So I'll take the covid precautions any day!
At this point getting covid is like getting the flu. I might happen, it might not. Symptoms are not severe in most cases. In the past, we've had drivers who have been sick with flu-like symptoms and some have driven. At this point, it's mostly theater, and having them wear masks while being interviewed while the presenters aren't wearing them makes no sense, and the science on cloth masks is that they are ineffective, maybe blocking 10% of the germs. If they were serious everyone would be wearing N95 masks, but it is what it is.
Well after week 1 where all of my drivers finished out of the points, I bounced back in week 2 with all of my drivers in the top 10.
As a Ferrari fan, I am liking the Red Bull reliability this season. Also liking Leclerc's driving.
Weather reports at Imola indicate a wet Friday but a dry Saturday and Sunday. That could make it very interesting, since the Sprint thingie means there's only one proper hour of practice before qualifying. Which will all be wet.
Before going to a dry Saturday with a locked in setup. We could definitely see teams getting it wrong, trying to find a dry setup in the wet.
https://www.racefans.net/2022/05/18/f1-scraps-plan-to-replace-cancelled-russian-grand-prix/
That is a relief, frankly. Instead of double triple-headers, we will have one triple header followed by two weeks off before a more regular double header.
Vips will fulfil one of Red Bull's two mandated junior FP1 outings this year, as will De Vries for Williams. Kubica will also drive for Alfa Romeo, but this does not count toward their 2 junior outings since, well, he's a former Grand Prix driver.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.red-bull-to-run-junior-driver-vips-in-fp1-in-barcelona.6BT8YpZUWa9svXlPJLr1vV.html
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.williams-to-run-mercedes-reserve-de-vries-in-fp1-in-spain.6FVH4YyDPpbd0XjpkcdKdM.html
Being a Ferrari fan is really really painful. ;D
Nobody does shooting themself in the foot quite like Ferrari....
Quote from: Penfold on May 30, 2022, 01:22:43 AM
Nobody does shooting themself in the foot quite like Ferrari....
It's the national sport of Italy, coupled with electing playboys to high office.
Both can be entertaining for the detached spectator
Who knew actually caring about the championship battle was painful? Ferrari can't finish races, suddenly Red Bull is the reliable one.
Could be worse, could be a life-long McLaren fan! But yeah, after the first few races didn't expect the red cars to be leading the retirement charge - engine penalties already stacking up
Verstappen has more wins from Leclerc poles than Leclerc has from Leclerc poles. sooo.
Well, how do we sum that race up?
- I'm happy Zhou and Albon are fine. The Alfa Romeo crash was nasty, and it took really long to let us know he was fine. Videos emerging later showed marshals and nearby fans shouting "he's fine" within seconds, that should be communicated to us as soon as it can be verified (and verifying that shouldn't take 20 minutes)
- The roll hoop collapsing was scary, thank you halo for the second life spared in one day. Roy Nissany needed his halo too, or would have been decapitated in F2
- Those morons entering the track to protest... I'm extremely pro-"humans are causing it" point of view, I definitely believe we're causing global warming and climate change. But sitting down on a live F1 track is not only dangerous to yourself (I don't care for those idiots) but it endangers drivers, marshals and fans. Unacceptable.
- How could a broken Leclerc be faster than Sainz many times over, yet be shifted to the worse strategy and not allowed to win? Ferrari are actively trying to lose this championship
- Yay, Schumacher scored good points and perhaps should have finished ahead of Verstappen too!
- Really exciting to see 3 teams battling it out for the win at the end. The final SC definitely spiced up the race in a great way.
Grid penalties begin in earnest:
Verstappen, Leclerc, Norris, Ocon, Bottas, and Schumacher all with at least a 15 place grid drop for Spa
The Ferrari powered found a loophole. If you get a grid penalty of over 15 places, you're automatically on the back of the grid. So Ferrari simply got one 10-place demotion, followed by a separate 15-place demotion. This was done by replacing half the engine prior to P1, and the other half prior to P2. Essentially, they are moved down 25 places but not "back of the grid". Leclerc, Bottas, and Schumacher will all start ahead of Verstappen, Norris, Ocon (and now Zhou).
Funny, yes, but not funny "haha", funny "thats wrong".
De Vries will drive for Williams this weekend in place of Albon who has been hospitalized due to pain. Albon is getting his appendix removed apparently.
Great performance by de Vries, the race director not so much....
Can't believe they had SIX laps to restart, but used 3 of them just finding Verstappen on track. The safety car was almost 75% of a lap ahead of the leader which obviously prevented marshals from removing Ricciardo's car. We could easily have had at least 2 full laps of racing at the end even following correct restart procedure. Absurd.
McLaren jumped past Alpine by finishing 4th and 5th in Singapore (Ricciardo must be slowest P5 finisher ever, finishing half a minute down on Norris despite a Safety Car with 20 laps to go) as Alpine retired both cars.
Aston Martin jumped past Haas too, by finishing 6th and 8th. Schumacher was on course for points but Russell said no. Magnussen was on course for points but Verstappen said no.
Alfa Romeo Sauber was never on course for points, but Latifi said no anyway.
...and a terrible result for Merc allowed Ferrari to open a somewhat comfortable lead in the battle for second. Says a lot about the reliability and strategic cock-ups of the red team that the silver guys were only 40 adrift before Singapore.
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