The Formula 1 Grands Prix take place at the father-in-law’s. It’s Sunday, the family arrives, in full cure of electronic abstinence, voluntarily cut off from the world since the morning to avoid learning by accident, across time zones, the result of a race already finished. Someone took care of the quiche and salads, another baguettes, cold meats and cheeses. The centerpiece is made up of two Lego racing car models… All that’s missing is the champagne!
In fact, no, because Formula 1, probably to break with the most hackneyed cliché of the jet-set and get closer to the rednecks who drive in Subaru, exchanged last year the traditional jeroboam of Mumm against the bubbles of prosecco . But not in Bahrain, where, last Sunday, the three fastest runners had to settle for a shower of sparkling fruit juice.
Forget sparkling wine, the changes introduced in the Formula 1 regulations for the 2022 season are such that we can speak of a profound transformation. But before I get to that, I must first confess a “cognitive dissonance,” as they say now. The very idea of motorsport is an oxymoron to me.
I don’t think mountain biking and snowmobiling are outdoor sports. And if a debauchery of gas consumption and decibel production can be described as a sport, I, for my part, cannot believe in the future of such an activity.
But here it is: I close my eyes, see again Schumacher’s stock-car maneuver at the expense of our national Villeneuve, in Jerez in 1997, and the latter who resists, sends the German into the background and heads for the world title, and it comes to me like a shiver of adrenaline… And it wouldn’t take too long for me to relive, on YouTube, the epic clashes of the late 1980s between Ayrton Senna and “Professor” Prost.
Nostalgic ? Let’s say that the idea of a 300 kilometer-per-hour duel between human beings at the top of their game, when the gap between fair behavior and vicious swerving is calculated in fractions of a second, is not not to displease me. And that’s what had practically disappeared from Formula 1 for years.
The human seemed to have become a negligible quantity in this orgy of technology where the top teams paraded to offer us parades of mechanics where the only suspense consisted in guessing how many Grands Prix would remain to be played when Lewis Hamilton would have his championship in his pocket.
How do you stop the machines from stealing the show? An improvised attempt to circumvent this fundamental contradiction in motorsport caused the chaotic end of the Abu Dhabi race last December, when the desire to attend a summit explanation prompted the race director, Michael Masi, revolted by the prospect of winning the championship while purring behind the safety car, playing with the rulebook. On the final lap, with the crown on the line, the battle between F1’s top two drivers was breathtaking, but it cost Masi his job.
If the essence of a race is not to overtake others, one wonders where it resides, and with rear wings whose turbulence prevented the cars from following closely, the virtual absence of overtaking had become a problem that haunted the FIA (International Automobile Federation). Among the main changes announced this year — increase in tire size, spending cap for teams, etc. — we note the reduction in the surface area of the fins, the loss of grip being compensated for by “ground effect” floors. “.
Was the encouraging result of the wind tunnel tests going to be confirmed on the track? Brilliantly lit up for this nocturnal event, the Bahrain circuit was quick to offer us, in full view, a royal answer to this question. When Charles Leclerc, who left in pole on Ferrari, was racing down the straight, the Red Bull of defending champion Max Verstappen appeared in his mirror less than a second away, slipped in his wake as he approached the bend, then was walked past…
We already had plenty to get excited about, but it didn’t stop there. From the next bend, the pugnacious Leclerc took over the champion, who fought back a little further on, but the Ferrari again caught on and took the lead again!
We were told pilots deprived of benchmarks, forced to tame a new technology, we were treated to a singular combat of anthology. Two or three laps later, another battle between the red bull and the prancing horse. Verstappen takes over the polelost again… The race changed leaders six times in the space of six minutes!
After the cancellation of the Russian Grand Prix, there are 21 races left in this Formula 1 season. This weekend, the great circus set up its tents in Saudi Arabia, including the reactionary monarchy, considered to be frequentable by the organizers of F1 , continues to whip and put to death sinners of opinion. As they say over there: the dogs bark, the caravan passes.