F1 - 2022

[Andyg]

Well chaps, the new season will soon be upon us again, and this time we have a new WDC who will be defending his title. We will also see Russell driving for Mercedes and the first Chinese driver in F1 (which will be interesting). More importantly we will see new cars, sporting new aero packages and big 18” wheels. If we are lucky we might even see LED wheel covers, just to add to the show. Oh and closer racing if Ross Brawn is correct. We will even get to see a tracks not seen in the past 2 years.

What we might not see is Hamilton (albeit highly unlikely) and Micheal Masi (who hopefully we fall on his sword). It’s also very unlikely we will hear the communications between the FIA and the teams, which might be a good thing, but perhaps they will televise the pre-race drivers briefing which would actually be a good thing as it might educate some of the fans as to what is and what isn’t allowed.

As for the FIA detailed analysis and report into what happened in AD last season, I imagine we might get to see snippets, none of which will defame Masi, question the decisions made on the day or undermine Max’s championship. Hopefully it will force the FIA to draft some clear unambiguous rules and removes the “right” of the race director to do as he pleases.

As for predictions. Firstly Mercedes will once again be strong, but Ferrari, AM, Alpine, and McLaren will be the mix. Not sure about RBR because we know they focused most of their efforts on winning the WCC/WDC in 2021, so might struggle in 2022. Mercedes have already stated that they believe they have fixed the reliability issues they had in 2021, so should be very strong contenders. The big question is whether the other teams have closed the gap. Testing starts next month so we should get a better idea after this.

It should be interesting and hopefully without the interference of the FIA, Liberty and Netflix.

Anywhoo here is the Calendar for the season. Enjoy and try to be nice.

2022 Formula 1 calendar

Date	Grand Prix	Venue
20 March	Bahrain	Sakhir
27 March	Saudi Arabia	Jeddah
10 April	Australia	Melbourne
24 April	Emilia Romagna	Imola
8 May	Miami	Miami
22 May	Spain	Barcelona
29 May	Monaco	Monaco
12 June	Azerbaijan	Baku
19 June	Canada	Montreal
3 July	United Kingdom	Silverstone
10 July	Austria	Spielberg
24 July	France	Le Castellet
31 July	Hungary	Budapest
28 August	Belgium	Spa
4 September	Netherlands	Zandvoort
11 September	Italy	Monza
25 September	Russia	Sochi
2 October	Singapore	Singapore
9 October	Japan	Suzuka
23 October	USA	Austin
30 October	Mexico	Mexico City
13 November	Brazil	Sao Paulo
20 November	Abu Dhabi	Abu Dhabi

[Jeremy67]

What's the point, they'll fiddle the result so it matches the marketing departments script.

[gerard]

What's the point, they'll fiddle the result so it matches the marketing departments script.

Agreed. Lost interest they've got their work cut out to get me back.

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[Adge]

Well chaps, the new season will soon be upon us again, and this time we have a new WDC who will be defending his title. We will also see Russell driving for Mercedes and the first Chinese driver in F1 (which will be interesting). More importantly we will see new cars, sporting new aero packages and big 18” wheels. If we are lucky we might even see LED wheel covers, just to add to the show. Oh and closer racing if Ross Brawn is correct. We will even get to see a tracks not seen in the past 2 years.

What we might not see is Hamilton (albeit highly unlikely) and Micheal Masi (who hopefully we fall on his sword). It’s also very unlikely we will hear the communications between the FIA and the teams, which might be a good thing, but perhaps they will televise the pre-race drivers briefing which would actually be a good thing as it might educate some of the fans as to what is and what isn’t allowed.

As for the FIA detailed analysis and report into what happened in AD last season, I imagine we might get to see snippets, none of which will defame Masi, question the decisions made on the day or undermine Max’s championship. Hopefully it will force the FIA to draft some clear unambiguous rules and removes the “right” of the race director to do as he pleases.

As for predictions. Firstly Mercedes will once again be strong, but Ferrari, AM, Alpine, and McLaren will be the mix. Not sure about RBR because we know they focused most of their efforts on winning the WCC/WDC in 2021, so might struggle in 2022. Mercedes have already stated that they believe they have fixed the reliability issues they had in 2021, so should be very strong contenders. The big question is whether the other teams have closed the gap. Testing starts next month so we should get a better idea after this.

It should be interesting and hopefully without the interference of the FIA, Liberty and Netflix.

Anywhoo here is the Calendar for the season. Enjoy and try to be nice.

2022 Formula 1 calendar

Date	Grand Prix	Venue
20 March	Bahrain	Sakhir
27 March	Saudi Arabia	Jeddah
10 April	Australia	Melbourne
24 April	Emilia Romagna	Imola
8 May	Miami	Miami
22 May	Spain	Barcelona
29 May	Monaco	Monaco
12 June	Azerbaijan	Baku
19 June	Canada	Montreal
3 July	United Kingdom	Silverstone
10 July	Austria	Spielberg
24 July	France	Le Castellet
31 July	Hungary	Budapest
28 August	Belgium	Spa
4 September	Netherlands	Zandvoort
11 September	Italy	Monza
25 September	Russia	Sochi
2 October	Singapore	Singapore
9 October	Japan	Suzuka
23 October	USA	Austin
30 October	Mexico	Mexico City
13 November	Brazil	Sao Paulo
20 November	Abu Dhabi	Abu Dhabi

Ah yes, my favourite country.... Miami.

[RickS]

Ah yes, my favourite country.... Miami.

Presumably done to differentiate it from the USA GP, in Austin, on 23 October.

[~dadam02~]

When are the new car launches?

[Andyg]

When are the new car launches?

i think Ferrari are launching the first week of Feb followed by Mercedes (who have already released a YT of its engine on start up).

[~dadam02~]

Nice, not long to go then.

[Gareth-W]

When are the new car launches?

Aston Martin February 10th
McLaren February 11th
Ferrari February 17th
Mercedes February 18th

Rest are "TBA"

And the first pre-season test is 23/2/22

[Adge]

Presumably done to differentiate it from the USA GP, in Austin, on 23 October.

Good point. Double header I'm the US.. Liberty Media is really doing a good job getting the Americans on board including Netflix etc.

[snedboy]

Williams driver lineup ffs!

[Andyg]

In shocking news, Hamilton turned up for work at Mercedes F1 HQ on Monday.

It would appear that all of the media (including Crofty and Brundle) speculation regarding his impending retirement might have been rather exaggerated.

[snowman]

Ah yes, my favourite country.... Miami.

Like Europe or Styria.

M

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[Middo]

I wonder what the FIA are going to do. It’s grim reading the radio transcripts back today. Particularly the one from Wheatley.

It’s a blouse for the whole sport

[Andyg]

I wonder what the FIA are going to do. It’s grim reading the radio transcripts back today. Particularly the one from Wheatley.

It’s a blouse for the whole sport

For those who live in a cave https://youtu.be/HpO3xxv8a64

[tango]

These new car regulations make for some great racing this season, long may it continue.

[RS404]

These new car regulations make for some great racing this season, long may it continue.

Some bike racing tactics being employed between Max and Charles these last two races. Let the other guy through then draft back past him. The yellow flags spoilt it a bit at the end there, but it was almost a case of not wanting to lead going into the final lap. Should be a fascinating season ahead.

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[ryanb741]

I'd imagine surely they can't let the result stand for the final race. Else the sport is a total mockery.

[Andyg]

I'd imagine surely they can't let the result stand for the final race. Else the sport is a total mockery.

Hmm, I think they will, however possible options.

Void AD and award Max the WDC because he has more wins, but then this would introduce the non Spa race, at which Masi seemed happy to finish under safety car. Cue another dispute.

Void AD and Spa (as these were Masi influenced races) which means that Hamilton wins on gaining more 3rd places. Cue meltdown by the Orange Army.

Void the last lap in AD, which means Hamilton wins. Cue a meltdown by the Orange Army.

Give it the driver who lead the most laps - Max wins.

Give it to the driver to complete most races - Hamilton wins

Give it to the driver with the most likes/followers on Instagram, Farcebook, or Sh*tter - who cares!

Give it to the driver with the most penalty points - Max wins.

Personally I hope they void the WDC for 2021 all together, or simply have Max and Hamilton as joint winners. It would seem fair as both deserved to win, but it wouldn't go down well with some factions within the F1 community.

Alternatively, put both drivers in a Williams and let them have a sprint race over 10 laps. Now that would be quite interesting, but no doubt would end in a crash. A better option would be a pursuit race. Both start at each side of the track and hunt each other down. The first one to catch the other wins.

[tertius]

There is no way they will change the result in either Abu Dhabi or of the WDC.

They will move/fire Masi and quietly agree that something similar won’t happen again.

[Adge]

I don't think it's as simple as firing Massi or any others, because then they (FIA) would be admitting there was a mistake made or that the result was wrong, which would lead to further questions etc.

I think a possibility is that Massi stays on for a while longer and once it blows over a bit he will 'decide to retire of his own volition'.

[Andyg]

I don't think it's as simple as firing Massi or any others, because then they (FIA) would be admitting there was a mistake made or that the result was wrong, which would lead to further questions etc.

I think a possibility is that Massi stays on for a while longer and once it blows over a bit he will 'decide to retire of his own volition'.

I don’t think it will blow over until the end of this season and only if Hamilton wins his 8th, breaks Schumi record, etc, then perhaps. If not, this will simply fester and get worse.
When Schumi cleared out Hill in 95, fans were upset but didn’t have a voice. Now they have the internet and social media. Hence The FIA will need take some action in order to resurrect any shred of integrity left. This will mean new regs, removal of a clause which enables the Race Director to do as he feels fit, and the head of Masi.

[ViperStripes]

I would love to see it awarded jointly, think it’s the only fair outcome, But FIA won’t do that. They’ll simply change the rules for this season around communication with RD and move Masi into a different role, they’ll also not make the RD a single role, it will be like football with 2 assistant refs for particular rules e.g a safety car ref etc and a 4th ref that liaises with team managers.

[Andyg]

Masi has been sacked as Race Director, but will retain a role in the FIA looking after safety. His place will be taken by two new Race Directors. One chap from DTM the other from WEC. These will “direct” alternate races (thus ensuring even less consistency ).

The FIA are also setting up a dedicated VAR team to review incidents, thus ensuring major falling outs between them and the track side stewards. Hopefully overtime, they can remove the stewards all together and simply use a professional set of fully trained and consistent referees (like other sports).

Finally it seems that the great unwashed will be prevented from hearing radio traffic between teams and the Race Director. A good thing, except without this we would never had heard the discussion which took place between Wheatley and Masi in AD.

Hopefully the FIA are planning some more substantive changes to bring back some credibility into the sport, but the sacking of Masi proves without doubt that what happened in AD was a farce.

[Andyg]

For those interested the FIA have just published the latest version of the Sporting Code.

https://www.fia.com/sites/default/fi...2022-02-18.pdf

It’s actually quite interesting.

[Adge]

I don't think it's as simple as firing Massi or any others, because then they (FIA) would be admitting there was a mistake made or that the result was wrong, which would lead to further questions etc.

I think a possibility is that Massi stays on for a while longer and once it blows over a bit he will 'decide to retire of his own volition'.

Guess I was way off on this one!

In other news though, Drive to Survive must be coming out in the next couple of weeks, as the season starts soon

[reggie747]

In other news though, Drive to Survive must be coming out in the next couple of weeks, as the season starts soon

11th March IIRC

[Gareth-W]

11th March IIRC

Looking forward to that!

[tixntox]

Will drivers get "bounced" for not wanting to drive in Russia?

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/bPA6_NRa0Nw

[gerard]

Maizepan has been dropped.

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[tango]

What an absolutely unexpected end to the race today!

Looks like we may have at least three teams fighting this year, which will make a refreshing change.

[drmarkf]

Fernando would probably call it Double Karma…
Oh dear.
🤣

[tango]

Hamilton would not have expected a podium in his wildest dreams at the start of this weekend.

[mav112]

Working on my Phone ok


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[tango]

Schumacher had had one hell of an accident in qualifying.

Glad he is ok as they have just said, I feared the worst, watching it live it made me gasp.

[doebag]

“From GP247 - “Latifi commented: “Surviving the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix blooper was tough. But I can’t seem to stop crashing”…”

Why is Rosberg not driving this weekend instead of Latifi? And did Latifi really feel the need to underline his position as outgoing driver by crashing again? I suppose someone has to take Mazespin’s place as worst driver on track.

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[tango]

“From GP247 - “Latifi commented: “Surviving the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix blooper was tough. But I can’t seem to stop crashing”…”

Why is Rosberg not driving this weekend instead of Latifi? And did Latifi really feel the need to underline his position as outgoing driver by crashing again? I suppose someone has to take Mazespin’s place as worst driver on track.

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Ha ha ha so true.

Whats going on with Mercedes though they really do seem to well of the Red Bull and Ferraris this season and it's defo not mind games.

[jaytip]

“From GP247 - “Latifi commented: “Surviving the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix blooper was tough. But I can’t seem to stop crashing”…”

Why is Rosberg not driving this weekend instead of Latifi? And did Latifi really feel the need to underline his position as outgoing driver by crashing again? I suppose someone has to take Mazespin’s place as worst driver on track.

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While Latifi does crash a lot, that accident was absolutely Strolls fault. Stroll even seemed sheepish when interviewed in the pen.

[tango]

While Latifi does crash a lot, that accident was absolutely Strolls fault. Stroll even seemed sheepish when interviewed in the pen.

It's never Strolls fault, how could it be he's the son of a billionaire things can't ever possibly be their fault.

[doebag]

While Latifi does crash a lot, that accident was absolutely Strolls fault. Stroll even seemed sheepish when interviewed in the pen.

I’d say six of one, half a dozen etc

Stroll drifted over from the left which appears to be the racing line, Latifi shouldn’t have gunned it through the narrowing gap. I think they were both acting very sheepish because they were both at fault and didn’t want it to land on them.


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[jaytip]

I’d say six of one, half a dozen etc

Stroll drifted over from the left which appears to be the racing line, Latifi shouldn’t have gunned it through the narrowing gap. I think they were both acting very sheepish because they were both at fault and didn’t want it to land on them.


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Well it was stroll who got penalised for it.

[Phil Lee]

“From GP247 - “Latifi commented: “Surviving the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix blooper was tough. But I can’t seem to stop crashing”…”

Why is Rosberg not driving this weekend instead of Latifi? And did Latifi really feel the need to underline his position as outgoing driver by crashing again? I suppose someone has to take Mazespin’s place as worst driver on track.

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Because the Rosberg story was an April Fool's joke.

[doebag]

Because the Rosberg story was an April Fool's joke.

Ah darn it. Stupid stupid stupid. Although I’ll bet Williams were wishing it wasn’t.


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[Adge]

It's clear Stroll has no situational awareness And seems to consistently drive like he's the only one on the track. Today was another example of that, and not an isolated accident.

There was recently a compilation online somewhere(I'll try to find it and link it) of like 15(!) similar incidents caused by Stroll not paying attention.

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[Adge]

It's clear Stroll has no situational awareness And seems to consistently drive like he's the only one on the track. Today was another example of that, and not an isolated accident.

There was recently a compilation online somewhere(I'll try to find it and link it) of like 15(!) similar incidents caused by Stroll not paying attention.

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One of the best comments I heard today was from a Dutch commentator saying something like 'the only time Stroll looks in his mirrors is after getting out of the shower'.

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[Adge]

Otmar pushing FIA to investigate the link between Haas and Ferrari claiming 'Ferrari designed their [Haas] car'...

https://www.gpfans.com/en/f1-news/80...ari-haas-link/


Pretty ironic conning from Mr Otmar 'Pink Mercedes' Szafnaur himself!!

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[Saint-Just]

Hamilton was really unlucky though…

[jaytip]

Here is my prediction early on. Hamilton will retire at the end of this year.

[thieuster]

Here is my prediction early on. Hamilton will retire at the end of this year.

I'll go for mid-season. With a car that bad he should have kept up with Russell. I drove with a foot on the brake. Perhaps because he doesn't trust the Mercedes'? That would be a reason to step out in F1: when you don't trust your material. Or because he wants to make a point towards Wolf. They had a fall-out yesterday.

Normally there's a lot of radio conversation between LH and his engineer. In the past, it was often a lot of whining about the tyres (which proved to recover miraculously in the next rounds). But I haven't heard anything today. Which is rather odd.

[Andyg]

I'll go for mid-season. With a car that bad he should have kept up with Russell. I drove with a foot on the brake. Perhaps because he doesn't trust the Mercedes'? That would be a reason to step out in F1: when you don't trust your material. Or because he wants to make a point towards Wolf. They had a fall-out yesterday.

Normally there's a lot of radio conversation between LH and his engineer. In the past, it was often a lot of whining about the tyres (which proved to recover miraculously in the next rounds). But I haven't heard anything today. Which is rather odd.

It’s not going to happen. Hamilton will continue until such time as the possibility of winning another WDC completely evaporates. And that will not be this season. Remember he drove a dog of a McLaren for 4 years so understands these things take time. Plus he also knows that the lower Mercedes finish in the WCC the more wind tunnel time they will get. I doubt Mercedes will have a car as dominant as 2014-2016, but they will deliver a car that is competitive.