Formula 1 is barely recovering from its emotional shambles of 2021 when the new season is already stirring the paddock. Bahrain hosts the first Grand Prix on Sunday 20 March. The winter was particularly studious for the ten stables on the plateau, due to new regulations, presented by the organizers as a small revolution. Franceinfo: sport tells you more about what you need to know before departure.
A new regulation for more spectacle
The Covid-19 had postponed the deadline by a year. The new technical regulations finally come into force this season and announce a real upheaval. Aesthetically, the single-seaters have had the right to a substantial facelift: prominent rear fins, much wider wheels, or even redesigned sides. These new aerodynamics are intended to improve downforce of the car and the tracking of a single-seater. The organizers hope that there will be more overtaking and therefore a spectacle.
In addition, the cars will be more standardized, with identical parts for all teams in order to reduce performance gaps and limit the environmental impact of the race. Budgets are now capped. For even more suspense, the sprint qualifications introduced during three GPs in 2021 are now “sprint races” in their own right, again on three occasions (Emile-Romagna, Austria and Brazil). The first eight drivers will be credited with points at the finish of these shortened sessions which will also determine the starting grid.
Max Verstappen the driver to beat, Lewis Hamilton looking for revenge
They enlivened the 2021 season as rarely have two rivals done in the history of motorsport. The new world champion Max Verstappen (Red Bull) and Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) are back. Everything has to be redone or almost because of these considerably modified cars. “The favorite remains Red Bull“, assures Cyril Abiteboul, general manager of the Renault team between 2016 and 2020. “I feel them boosted by their title from last year. They are a team that runs on the thirst to win, the rage and the need to show their relevance in F1. They have their ability to execute and of control, and Honda which invested colossal sums in the engine.
>> From the Bahrain GP to the Abu Dhabi GP, the complete calendar for the 2022 season
For his part, Lewis Hamilton took a long time to digest the finish of 2021 and will do everything to recover his due. “There is probably a wound between him and the sport following what happened at the end of the season last, says Cyril Abiteboul. His car looks less dominating on first practice, and his new team-mate, George Russell, will be more of a threat than Valtteri Bottas has been in recent years. But I wouldn’t sell his skin so easily! He was just stunning at the end of last season, and he’s already shown his resilience.”
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Red Bull against Mercedes, we take the same in mind and we start again?
The cards reshuffled, a surprise competitor could interfere in the battle. McLaren or Aston Martin are among the outsiders. For its part, after two moribund seasons, Ferrari is betting a lot on the work undertaken on its 2022 model. The first pre-season tests seem to underline a return to grace for the Italian team. “This is the demonstration that stability paysbelieves Cyril Abiteboul. They had difficulties but chose to trust the directors in place. They were able to invest and sacrifice seasons to focus on this settlement.“
In this breath of fresh air, the teams have on the other hand bet on continuity with regard to the pilots. Six teams have thus extended their driving tandem (Red Bull, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Alpine, Alpha Tauri, McLaren). Only one beginner arrives in F1. At 22, Guanyu Zhou (Alfa Romeo) is the first Chinese to compete in the world championship. In addition, two men find a seat after a year’s break: Alex Albon, replacing Russell at Williams and Kevin Magnussen, recalled by his former creamery Haas following the ousting of Russian Nikita Mazepin against a backdrop of war in Ukraine.
De Gasly and Alpine, the best French chances
Alpine is one of the formations which hopes to find in this change of season the opportunity to get closer to the summits. The tricolor team has been relying on the development of its machine for a long time. “She worked a lot on her new engine and had decided for economic reasons to postpone its implementation from 2021 to 2022decrypts Cyril Abiteboul. On this side, there will be a progression. I find a succession of slow but controlled progressions more convincing than short-lived peaks.“
From there to making it a new force at the top of the plateau, the sum of unknowns remains large. For Cyril Abiteboul, “There is a stability of Renault’s presence in F1, a budgetary stability too, which means that Alpine will end up counting.”
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Pierre Gasly relies on these same ingredients to show off. The Norman pilot has firmly made his place among the strongest pilots on the grid. “This is a season that will reward drivers with intelligence and experiencepredicts Cyril Abiteboul. When the gaps are tight, it’s the drivers who make the difference, and Pierre Gasly has a keen eye.“His Alpha Tauri”seems well born“, specifies Abiteboul, and should be in the regular fight to slip into the Top 5 of the Grands Prix, as in the last two seasons.