F1 PREVIEW: 7 things to watch in 2022

What the hell just happened? “It’s called a motor race, Toto.” This was race control’s Michael Masi’s radio return to Mercedes team boss, Toto Wolff, as the 2021 season ended – on track at least. As Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and reigning seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton wrestled for the title at the Yas Marina circuit, their team bosses did their best to influence the Safety Car procedure with a handful of crucial laps remaining. The pleas from both were played out, broadcast live to millions. Was one favoured over the other? It proved a perfect storm of controversy…

That wasn’t the end. Mercedes threatened legal action, before dropping the case. Sir Lewis Hamilton – who congratulated the new world champion Verstappen – was knighted after the season end, but has remained publicly silent, uncharacteristically skipping the FIA awards, Wolff then suggesting he may not return to the sport.

That’s the level of intensity and intrigue that presents a salivating 2022 F1 season, with off-track politicking adding a richness to the dogged win-at-all-costs track action. The genuine drama would be almost unbelievable if played out in Netflix’s Drive to Survive, part of the stronger promotion and fan engagement achieved by Liberty Media that has attracted a raft of new, young and passionately vocal F1 fans.

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Add a fresh set of technical regulations to the mix for 2022 which will bring vastly different cars, some significant personnel and driver changes, and we could see the pecking order change amidst the angst. Could we see a fresh team up front? Will Mercedes still be at the head of the pack, and will it be Hamilton or his new young team-mate leading? Can Ferrari win races, and will the new McLaren car suit Daniel Ricciardo any better?

These unknowns add to the intrigue from the fallout of last season’s finale. Abu Dhabi wasn’t the climax of the war expected, but instead a major battle in the ongoing conflict between Hamilton and Verstappen, Mercedes and Red Bull, with rivals looking to ambush both with the new regs, new driver line-ups and points to prove on track. The unfinished business from that final round will spill over into this season’s title chase, into the team garages, the boardrooms to the driver’s seat.

From the very first session at the 2022 opener in Bahrain in March, Hamilton will want to show he was robbed and take an unprecedented eighth title, with Verstappen determined to underline his status as the new champion. The stakes have never been higher.

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01 - FIA’s credibility on the line

New FIA director Mohammed Ben Sulayem faces a host of battles, the least of which is whether to punish Hamilton for skipping the 2021 awards gala.

More significantly, choosing March 18 for the Abu Dhabi ‘investigation’ announcement – the day of the first session at season-opening Bahrain – is seen by many as goading Hamilton, given rumours he’d quit the sport.

The 23-race calendar, the most in a season, includes the inaugural Miami GP, meaning two US Grands Prix for the first time since 1984. Critics suggest the packed schedule stretches teams’ resilience, needlessly criss-crossing the globe, contradicting the FIA’s 2030 zero-carbon footprint pledge.

Add fan frustrations about pre-season testing, hastily renamed a ‘shakedown’ with no public access, selective flyover bans, the ill-handled response to last year’s three-lap Belgium GP, and just which procedure the first Safety Car of 2022 will follow…

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02 - Max v Lewis: Regime Change?

It’s not over. The chequered flag at the 2021 championship decider wasn’t the end – it lit the powder keg loaded after collisions between the pair at Silverstone and Monza, a €50,000 fine for Verstappen touching Hamilton’s rear wing in Brazil amidst subtle hints of cheating, and multiple debates on driving standards. And that was before Abu Dhabi…

The phoney war between Mercedes boss Toto Wolff and Red Bull’s Christian Horner allowed the drivers to leave it in the cockpit, mainly.

Impressively, Hamilton showed no tantrum-like display on the podium, and is showing newfound determination after taking a well-deserved break. Did Verstappen win a plastic title? Some fans think so. It’s set for Max to underline that he is a bona-fide world champion, and for Lewis, it’s all about showing that he’s the true champion.

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03 - New rules, new drivers, new hierarchy?

Could we see another shock like Brawn in 2009? A new set of regulations for the cars themselves finally has the chance to shake Mercedes – who won the Constructors for an eighth consecutive time in 2021 – from the top of the tree. But who will it be?

The new rules prioritise cost reduction and race-ability. The switch to 18-inch BBS wheels with low profile Pirellis should enable drivers to push more often, but more significant are the aerodynamic changes designed to reduce the wake of air trailing a car.

For years, the large wake has made passing in such aero-sensitive cars near impossible. At some tracks, a performance advantage of a second a lap still wasn’t enough to pass a rival, even with DRS. That’s set to change if – and it’s a big if – the new regs achieve this goal.

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04 - Toss the boss

Significant talent swaps include four-time world champion Alain Prost’s public spat with Alpine. The Frenchman split with the team, accusing CEO Laurent Rossi of ‘no respect’ after he was gazumped by Rossi in making the news public – vindicating Prost’s decision to leave.

Prost’s exit followed that of Alpine Executive Director Marcin Budkowski, who had been linked to Aston Martin, where long-serving team principal, Otmar Szafnauer, departed in January. The much-loved Szafnauer’s replacement is ex-BMW Motorsport boss, Mike Krack.

Aston will also have a new technical director, Dan Fallows, who’ll start in April. Fallows comes from Red Bull, where he was chief aerodynamicist.

Over at Red Bull, Honda’s departure at the end of 2021 saw the Milton Keynes team boldly establish its own powertrain unit. Honda’s former F1 Managing Director, Masashi Yamamoto, heads up the new organisation and while Honda has prepared Red Bull’s 2022 powertrain, continued success will be an immense challenge.

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05 - Russell in a Mercedes

“Put anyone in that car and they’d win,” say Hamilton critics, despite clear evidence from departing team-mate, Alfa Romeo-bound Valtteri Bottas, and Nico Rosberg – who took the title over Lewis as teammate in 2016 – that it’s not so simple. Yet if there’s anyone in the field to be tested against, it’s the seven-time champion in the same car.

Brit George Russell, age 24, joins Hamilton at Mercedes after three seasons at Williams. He’ll be determined to show he’s better than his decorated team-mate, while Lewis will be out to stamp his authority over his new in-house rival. Unlike Bottas, Russell won’t settle as Lewis’ number two, both seeking to exploit any weakness in each other’s skillset in a fascinating contest.

Other young guns to watch include ex-Red Buller, Alex Albon, replacing Russell at Williams and seeking redemption; and China’s first F1 driver, Guanyu Zhou, who joins Bottas at Alfa Romeo.

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06 - Ricciardo v Norris: The Rematch

It’s now or never for 32-year-old Daniel Ricciardo. He was one of the hottest properties in F1, but it’s now going on four years since he stormed Monaco, crushing his rivals in a dominant victory as then team-mate Verstappen clumsily faltered.

The Western Australian’s 2021 switch to a freshly Mercedes-powered McLaren followed two impressive seasons at Renault, where he showed continuous progress. McLaren would potentially see the Ricciardo of old re-emerge in machinery potentially good enough to get back towards the front.

Instead, 21-year-old team-mate Lando Norris comprehensively dismantled Daniel, consistently faster in both qualifying and race trim. A historic win at Monza was still not enough to lift Riccardo’s falling stocks, such was the reputational damage.

Despite a McLaren contract for 2022 and ’23, many have written Our Dan off. With a new car and Honey Badger mentality, we know he won’t give up – but can he turn the tables?

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07 - Ferrari: fast at last?

Could Maranello finally have a contender worthy of its highly talented young drivers? Having not won a race since 2019, team boss Mattia Binotto missed several Grand Prix in 2021 to focus on this year’s car, as both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz pushed their red rockets to podiums that they simply shouldn’t have, knocking off McLaren for third in the Constructor’s title.

Spanish bank Santander (political advantage Sainz?) has become a partner sponsor, while there’s a newly developed, more compact V6 optimised for the new E10 fuel.

Also promising is the Scuderia’s refreshing approach in its quest for success. This includes keeping Binotto through tough times, even amidst allegations of illegal engines in 2019 that ended in a closed-door deal with the FIA – as well as having its youngest driver line-up since 1968, when Jacky Ickx, Andrea de Adamich and Chris Amon drove the 312-F1 68.

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The 2022 F1 season begins at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on March 18.