The 2022 season

[Chrill]

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

[Penfold]

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

[Chrill]

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.

[Penfold]

Which is good, less good is the decision to keep the exact same DRS zones from last year.....

[Chrill]

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?

[Penfold]

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

[Chrill]

I mean, it is almost as though it makes sense.

[Chrill]

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

[Linny]

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.

[Linny]

Also, can F1 get with the program and understand there is no more pandemic and do away with the stupid masks?

[Chrill]

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!

[Linny]

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.

[Linny]

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.

[Chrill]

As a Ferrari fan, I am liking the Red Bull reliability this season. Also liking Leclerc's driving.

[Chrill]

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.