Same cast, same places (or almost) and yet, it’s as if everything had changed in a few months for Formula 1. If the 2021 season were to be adapted to the cinema, it would be a Hollywood blockbuster, a breathtaking thriller until his last scene, led by two rivals at the top of their game. 2022 would be a feature film without much flavor, with an agreed scenario. Not everything is to be thrown away, but this year around the circuits will have been much less tasty than the previous one, one of the most exceptional that the discipline has known. But how could we go from one extreme to the other in such a short time, when the conclusion is the same? Here are some leads.
Ferrari scuttled the duel for the title
There were, however, the ingredients to offer new memorable duels. The first two Grands Prix of the season had hinted at a high-flying mano a mano between defending champion Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc. Red Bull’s reliability issues in early races allowed Ferrari a time back to the top. But the transalpine team made a series of mistakes – although it denies it – which deprived its Monegasque driver and all Formula 1 fans of real suspense.
Strategy error in Monaco, tire choice in Hungary, culpable blunder during pit stops in the Netherlands… The Scuderia collected bad points, preventing Leclerc from earning any in the championship. Exceptional this season, Max Verstappen did not expect so much to soar in the standings and never be caught again.
Verstappen-Leclerc, rivalry without electricity
If the 2021 opus has so much fascinated well beyond the purely sporting sphere, it is also because it told the story of two almost perfect antagonists, ready to do anything to finish in front of the other. Between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, as much as between Red Bull and Mercedes, the fight was fierce, sometimes almost beyond reason. This very spiciness had made the season tense in the extreme, until this last sultry Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi. The relationship between Verstappen and Charles Leclerc this season was quite different.
Between the Dutchman, intrepid on the track but increasingly calm in these words, and the Monegasque, a competitor yes, but clean in all respects, the tone never rose. The battles on the track, which mostly took place at the very beginning of the season, have always been correct. Without the salt of last season, the battle for leaders did not have the same flavor. The reigning world champion did not need to add more to take over. And his challenger was quickly resigned.
The hierarchy has narrowed from below
Formula 1 of the 2020s is shaping up for the moment like that of the 2010s, with two top teams for the win, and the rest of the field doing their best to win their own fight. This time, Ferrari took over colors, and replaced Mercedes. But the finding of a decline in performance of the “rest” of the paddock is obvious. Mercedes had its own radical interpretation of the technical regulations, but got it wrong. Its aerodynamic bet of a car almost devoid of sidewalls did not pay off and Lewis Hamilton’s team groped for a long time before finding performance.
Behind this Top 3, Alpine and McLaren, who had each won a race last season, saw the gap widen a little more compared to the leading teams. AlphaTauri and Pierre Gasly, regularly among the top six in 2021, have experienced a sharp decline. This is how only two teams have triumphed in 2022, and only four (Mercedes and a third place for McLaren with Lando Norris) have climbed onto the podium. “Unfortunately, Formula 1 remains very predictablesaid Fernando Alonso to the Dutch media NOS. It is dominated by Red Bull and Ferrari. Only Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz and Sergio Pérez can win. I don’t know of any other sport where it happens like this.”
The new technical regulations do not keep their promises
The management of F1 was formal, the spectacle would only be greater in 2022 thanks to regulatory changes to the aerodynamics of single-seaters. More possibility of staying in the wheels, less tire wear and therefore more battles: this new aesthetic could only be beneficial. The results are slow to materialize. Admittedly, overtaking is more numerous, +16.7% on the circuits present on the calendar in 2021 and 2022. But they are above all made possible by the downforce generated by the DRS, this appendage of the rear wing which unfolds when a driver is less than a second behind the one ahead of him.
2021 vs 2022 Season overtakes by circuit.
The 2022 #SingaporeGP had 16 overtakes, 11 were shown in the live broadcast.
In 2017, the only other wet race at this circuit also had 16 overtakes.#F1 #TracingInsights pic.twitter.com/Psckj1IL3U
— Tracing Insights – F1 Analytics (@TracingInsights) October 4, 2022
“These new single-seaters are less unpredictable when following another oneexplained Carlos Sainz after the Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia. They allow you to stay closer in the turns. But without the three or four tenths of a second that the DRS gives us in each straight line, it would be impossible to overtake because the suction effect is less important than last year.“
“This year, the big effort was to get the cars to overtake and follow each other much closer. But I don’t think there is a big difference with 2021estimated Sebastian Vettel to Motorsport.com on September 30th. We follow each other closer but there is less drag, so you have to be closer to overtake too.“For the show, as for the suspense, we will have to wait a little longer.
A confused and almost ridiculous title formalization
The 2022 season even missed its big moment, its final fireworks. At the arrival of a surreal Japanese Grand Prix, Max Verstappen thought, like a good part of the paddock, that the title race would once again be postponed. After a confused end of the race, a checkered flag waved a little too early, and doubts about the points scale, the Dutchman was ready to go back to training to bend the debates in Texas. But Charles Leclerc’s late penalty and the announcement that all points would be awarded finally propelled him to the top of the world.
The most bizarre world championship title announcement in history#JapaneseGP pic.twitter.com/9RRAk7MDeN
— CANAL+ F1® (@CanalplusF1) October 9, 2022
The Red Bull driver learned it himself at the microphone of the post-race interviews, at the foot of the podium, in a moment of hesitation, when he had just given his impression of the race. Surprised, Verstappen repeatedly asked his entourage for confirmation before finally climbing on the box. A great moment wasted, in the last weekends of a disappointing season concluded in confusion.