The Times - UK (2022-03-18)

2 Friday March 18 2022

the times

FORMULA ONE

2022

REBECCA CLANCY

MOTOR RACING

CORRESPONDENT

I

n recent years the question often

asked of Lewis Hamilton, who was

winning every championship and

breaking all manner of records, was

how he stayed motivated to keep

competing at the top of his game.

He has not been asked it this year, as

there is no need. Everyone knows what

motivates him.

Nearly 100 days have passed since that

race in Abu Dhabi, one of the most

controversial in Formula One history,

when Max Verstappen won his maiden

world championship and Hamilton was

denied an eighth.

Since then, Michael Masi, the race

director whose mistakes directly affected

the outcome of the championship, has

Advantage Max as rivalry

been sidelined. Supposedly offered

another job within the FIA, the sport’s

governing body, there is no word as to

what he is actually doing. There are now

two new race directors who will share

the role, with a deputy to help them, and

a virtual race control, similar to VAR in

football, to act as the third referee.

Wording has been changed in the

regulations to avoid any confusion

similar to that in Abu Dhabi. Now “all”

cars must unlap under a safety car, not

just “any”, which was one of the key

issues last year when only those drivers

between Verstappen and Hamilton were

told to get out of the way before the

final-lap fireworks.

Some things have not changed, such

as when to bring the safety car in: the lap

after those unlapped cars have passed;

not the same lap, which is what

happened in Abu Dhabi. Had it left the

track a lap later, as stated by the rules,

Hamilton would have been champion.

This is the understated way in which

the FIA has admitted that mistakes were

made, and yet Formula One can still not

move on from that race, as much as all

involved would wish to. The FIA said it

will publish the results of its

investigation into that race today, only

two days before the first race of the 2022

season, here in Bahrain. No one seems to

know how much will actually be

published, but whatever comes out will

overshadow this weekend’s action.

Mercedes and Hamilton have accepted

what happened but must move on, for

upon us is a new championship and

another shot at that eighth title —

another chance to move clear of Michael

Schumacher as the most decorated

driver in F1 history.

It will not be easy, with Hamilton and

his new team-mate George Russell

struggling with their Mercedes in

testing. Russell could also be a thorn in

Hamilton’s side. The 24-year-old has

been promoted and, despite protests to

the contrary, will need to act as

something of a wingman and bide his

time until Hamilton, 37, retires. That

said, he is fast and a proven winner and

will not give up a victory without a fight.

What is more, Verstappen looked

settled in the Red Bull. The team

brought upgrades on the final day of

testing, which appeared to do the job,

and the Dutchman went quickest over

the three days. Red Bull look like the

team to beat and there is talk in the

paddock that they could dominate the

early part of the season, at least until

Mercedes iron out their niggles. Almost

everyone has them as favourites to win

the constructors’ championship and end

eight years of dominance by Mercedes.

Verstappen is favourite to retain his title.

With huge regulation changes this

year — the biggest in a generation, if not

the history of the sport — the hope is for

a more level playing field. Of course,

that will not be achieved immediately.

These regulations had been due to

come in last year but were delayed

because of Covid, to help teams

manage their costs.

That means the bigger teams, with

huge resources, had been planning

their 2022 cars long before the

$145 million (about £110 million) budget

cap came in last year. That has been

reduced to $140 million this year, while

the most successful teams have also been

hampered by tougher aerodynamic

testing restrictions — as constructors’

champions, Mercedes are granted the

smallest wind tunnel and computational

fluid dynamics (CFD) allowance.

Ferrari’s dismal 2020 season, when

they finished sixth in the constructors’

championship, has played into their

hands, with more time in the wind

tunnel for this season, and they are

reaping the benefit. In 2017 and 2018, the

Scuderia dominated testing and

Hamilton needs no further motivation

after last season’s controversial finish

REAR WING

2022 2021

WEIGHT

790kg

WEIGHT

752kg

FORMULA ONE RINGS THE CHANGES

Rather than a relatively straight rear wing

which had straight end plates, the ends now roll.

The new design is to push the air up and over the

following car, rather than into it, which previously

made it hard to follow and therefore race

FRONT WING

The new shape is designed to create less

dirty air, which previously created turbulence

for the car behind — and meant it couldn’t get

close enough to overtake

WEIGHT

790 kg

F

WINGLETS

Winglets are new for this year. They should

prevent dirty air being pushed around the car

and into the path of the following car

2022 air flow

2021 air flow

Mercedes W13 Mercedes W12

F1 has introduced a number of radical changes to the car design to encourage racing. To highlight what has changed, we have melded

Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes from last season with the car he will be driving this year

BAHRAIN

GRAND PRIX

Qualifying Tomorrow, 3pm

Race Sunday, 3pm

TV Sky Sports F1

Highlights Channel 4