The hour of five red lights and checkered flags is back. Formula 1 resumes its rights with the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday March 20. Excitement and expectations have rarely been so high for a recovery, due to the many changes in the discipline. A few days before the first start of the 2022 season, our consultant Cyril Abiteboul gives his feelings on the new F1 technical regulations, his favorites and his view of Lewis Hamilton. Find his analysis throughout the season on franceinfo: sport.
Franceinfo: sport: This season is marked by the implementation of new technical regulations in Formula 1. Is this the revolution that some imagined?
Cyril Abiteboul: There is only one objective: to make Formula 1 more spectacular by making the grid more competitive. We want more unpredictable races. The idea is to “industrialize” this unpredictability, this chaos, not by external facts, the weather or clashes, but by a regulation designed for surprise. F1 has been very strong, very rigorous in what it has developed to make the sport more spectacular without betraying its DNA. We’re going to see some surprising things this year, I can’t wait to see qualifying on Saturday and the race on Sunday to get a clear idea of what can happen.
There is the change in aerodynamic regulations, but it is also a broader change: the E10 fuel with 10% biofuel, the tires, but also the spending cap, which will limit the ability of the teams to develop, catch up with their delay or work on next year’s car. It will also change the face of Formula 1.
How do you explain such differences in interpretation of the regulations between the teams on the aerodynamics of the cars?
One of the big reasons why the cars all ended up looking alike was that they were visible to everyone. This was not the case with this regulation, before they were revealed this winter. This is the first time that Formula 1 has worked on a new “closed book” regulation for so long. We sometimes forget that we believe that F1 is real time, whereas today’s product is the result of discussions that date back to 2019, 2020. With Renault, we had started to have totally confidential from 2019. For two-three years, you take a direction, and each team has done so.
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There were also a lot of political and media posturing from technical directors, who were “crying” and warning about cars that would all be identical. As they are the knowers, they managed to get F1 management several reopenings of the regulations which led to more freedoms.
@MercedesAMGF1 vs. @ScuderiaFerrari #F1 pic.twitter.com/sZ7Ri9Cj2u
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 15, 2022
Who do you think these new features will benefit the most?
It’s hard to predict, like all winters. Three groups seem to emerge so far. Ferrari and Red Bull were impressive in terms of practice execution and lap times. Ferrari was also comfortable in Barcelona during pre-testing, and in Bahrain, which are circuits with very different characteristics. It is also good news for the partner teams of Ferrari, Alfa Romeo and Haas. Red Bull, unlike Ferrari, has evolved a lot over the winter and has done it the Red Bull way: at the last minute to hide its game, impress and reassure itself.
The Mercedes group seems to be struggling. If we compare the lap times compared to last season and this year’s tests, the four teams with the most negative development are those powered by Mercedes, with Williams, Aston Martin and McLaren. We will have to see over time if the Mercedes engine has trouble digesting the switch to E10 fuel. It’s a possibility. Alpine, Aston Martin and McLaren form the most difficult group to read with moments of glory and others much more complicated, especially in terms of reliability, during these tests.
Introducing the 2022 teams…
In order of who was fastest at #F1Testing ⏱️#F1 pic.twitter.com/9DQ6DIYglm
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 13, 2022
Mercedes slightly behind, what should we expect from Lewis Hamilton, fallen champion and who has remained very discreet since the end of the 2021 season?
It’s been a trap season for Lewis. He’s a pretty mystical person. He is no longer there for economic reasons or to build his notoriety, his image. He psychologically needs to have a very strong conviction.
“We see his positions around the Black Lives Matter movement. When he has convictions, he transforms them into very strong commitment. His injury at the end of the 2021 season may make him want to demonstrate something.”
Cyril Abiteboul, former boss of the Renault teamat franceinfo: sports
His new teammate, George Russell, is not in the same dynamic as Valtteri Bottas was. A new team-mate is a major change for any driver and any team, but especially for Mercedes, which operated around Hamilton, with Bottas as number two and an extremely clear hierarchy. This is not Russell’s career plan, and he has other abilities than Bottas.
But we must not forget the end of last season, when we gave Max Verstappen champion four to five races from the end. We saw what it took for Verstappen to win. We will see if the change of environment will allow him to have the same resilience. This will be one of the exciting issues to follow this season.