Can Ferrari Hit the Groudn Running As F1's New Era Gets Under Way?

With the 2022 Formula 1 season – complete with revolutionary new cars – almost upon us, we’re looking at the two key questions facing each team. Next on the list: Ferrari.

Will Ferrari shake off their chequered ‘new regulation’ history?

Two of F1’s biggest regulation overhauls in recent years – namely 2009 and 2014 – did not got well for Ferrari.

In 2009, fresh from winning the 2008 constructors’ and coming agonisingly close in the drivers’, F1’s move to ‘skinny’ aero rules for 2009 seemed to catch Ferrari on the hop.

The F60 didn’t achieve a top-10 finish in its first three races, and would win only once that year, compared to the eight victories of its predecessor – although Felipe Massa’s terrible Hungary crash, and Kimi Raikkonen’s ice cream-flavoured ennui, didn’t help matters.

Ferrari would finish fourth in the constructors’ in 2009, a finishing position they matched in 2014, when F1 switched to V6 turbo-hybrid power units and Ferrari produced the uncompetitive F14 T – the first Prancing Horse to fail to win a race since 1993.

That was despite Ferrari boasting a crack technical team, featuring the likes of James Allison, Rory Byrne and Pat Fry, and an all-champion driver pairing of Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso.

Now, there’s no doubt that Ferrari have been steadily improving since their recent 2020 nadir, and there’s a tangible mood of positivity in Maranello. But Ferrari False Dawns are not unheard of – and after a strong end to 2021, the Scuderia will be hoping that there are no signs of regression when the rules change dramatically for 2022.

Can the Scuderia return to their form of 2019?

Let’s be positive for a minute though. Yes, Ferrari made gains in 2021. But importantly, those gains were linked in large part to advancements in the power unit, advancements that can also be carried through into 2022. That’s a sturdy rock for the Scuderia to build their 2022-shaped house on.

Singapore 2019 was the last time a Ferrari took a victory in Formula 1, the team enjoying a purple 'post-summer break' patch that year that saw them take six poles on the bounce, and win three races. Getting back to that level of performance – of the red cars turning up at a race weekend and being counted among the favourites – is where Ferrari would dearly love to find themselves in 2022.

Power unit gains have been mirrored by infrastructure improvements at Maranello, with the team’s state-of-the-art simulator now online and ready to help Ferrari develop their new car.

Add to that a driver line-up of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc that Team Principal Mattia Binotto, with some justification, has called the best in the business, and the hope is that, after a difficult couple of years, Ferrari are finally, properly, back.

Let’s see where those red cars – which will be launched on February 17 – find themselves when we get to Bahrain for the opening Grand Prix on March 20, eh?

Seven Key Rule Changes For the 2022 Season

Brand new cars have been an area of major focus for the teams over the past 12 months, and we’ll soon see them in action when pre-season testing gets underway. But that’s not the only thing that is different this year compared to last season, and there is plenty more to look out for when it comes to changes in 2022.

1. Frozen power units

The current hybrid power units have now been part of Formula 1 for eight years, and in that time some incredible development has taken place. But with a new set of power unit regulations currently being finalised by the different manufacturers – for a 2026 hybrid engine that will be sustainably fuelled – an agreement was reached to freeze power units from 2022 onwards as focus moves to the future.

Such a restriction will limit the resources needed to chase what are increasingly small gains, keeping costs down for customers at the same time as allowing work on the next generation of power unit to begin in earnest.

That’s not to say that any reliability problems that may occur will be locked in for the next four seasons, as manufacturers are allowed to apply to the FIA to carry out modifications “for the sole purposes of reliability, safety, cost saving, or minimal incidental changes”, while a number of smaller components are also excluded from the homologation restrictions.

2. A return to a two-part pre-season test

Last year saw the shortest pre-season in F1 history as largely frozen technical regulations meant teams only needed three days of testing ahead of the opening race, with all three taking place in Bahrain.

With such a major change of technical regulations to deal with and brand-new cars to try and get on top of, that schedule has been doubled for 2022, with a lower-key first test in Barcelona from February 23-25, before the Official Pre-Season Test in Bahrain ahead of the first race on March 10-12.

It’s still only three days per driver to get to grips with their new machines, however, so everyone on the grid will be hoping for smooth running, as any issues could leave them on the back foot heading to the opening round.

3. A tightening of aerodynamic testing restrictions

Another new regulation that came into effect last season was the sliding scale of aerodynamic testing – a combination of both wind tunnel time and CFD – based on where a team were sitting in the constructors’ championship.

The restrictions are worked out at two points during each year, taking the previous season’s finishing positions (so Mercedes will have the least amount of time for the first six months of 2022 and Haas the most) and then the positions on June 30.

And this year, things get even more strict.

The 2021 rules benchmarked the team finishing fifth in the championship as having the normal – or 100% – amount of aerodynamic testing time allowed by the regulations, and from there the other teams either got more (if they finished lower in the standings) or less (if they finished higher). On that scale, first place in the constructors’ championship got 90% of the normal amount, and the team in last place got 112.5%.

Those differences are much bigger from 2022 onwards, with the benchmark team who get 100% of the allocated time now the team in seventh place. From there, the teams are split in five percent intervals, meaning first place gets only 70% of the aerodynamic testing time, compared to 10th place getting 115%.

4. A lower budget cap level

One of the conditions of the budget cap being introduced in Formula 1 was for there to be a glide path that would make it more feasible for the bigger teams to reduce their budgets to the correct level as required. So while the initial baseline figure was $145 million in 2021, that will continue to drop over the coming seasons.

This year, the figure has reduced to $140m, although there are some technicalities that mean the final figure stands at more than that. Given the impact of extra races on a team’s resources – not only financially but in terms of parts required too – there is a concession that every race over 21 in a season allows an increase of $1.2m to the cap, meaning that this season – when we’re set to have 23 races – the cap will officially sit at $142.4m.

5. A new weekend format

It’s not a massive change, but in order to try and reduce the amount of time teams are away from home, the weekend format has been tweaked for non-Sprint weekends to ensure practice is later on a Friday.

The two one-hour practice sessions will remain, but they will now take place on Friday afternoon, with teams carrying out media duties in the morning. The intention is that it eliminates Thursday as a full day at the track for all of the teams and drivers, and cuts what was a four-day race weekend featuring three days of track action into a three-day race weekend, but still featuring running on all three days.

6. Mandatory practice outings for rookies

One of the biggest challenges for young drivers in recent years has been a lack of opportunities to drive F1 cars in order to try and prove themselves worthy of a seat, with strict limits on testing in between the race calendar.

While teams had the ability to run different drivers during Friday practice sessions if they wanted, it rarely happened with the biggest outfits, as they focused on race preparations.

So, to increase chances for rookies, it is now mandatory for a team to give them an outing in FP1 on at least two occasions. That means each team must use a driver who has started no more than two Grands Prix, and they can either use the same driver twice, or two different drivers for one session each if they’d prefer.

It is up to the teams when they choose to use their mandatory sessions, so keep an eye out for changes ahead of each race weekend as the different rookie outings are likely to be spread out throughout the year.

7. New tyre regulations

As part of the new technical regulations, the tyre size has changed from 13 inches to 18 inches, but that has also gone hand-in-hand with new rules regarding their use.

The first change is a rule that relates to the tyre blankets that teams use to heat the tyres when in the garage. Previously, the front tyres could be heated to 100 degrees Celsius but that drops to 70C from 2022 onwards, while the rears were at 80C but now also drop to 70C.

The upshot is a colder tyre when leaving the pits, and a different approach needed from drivers on their out-laps, as well as a new approach to the tyre compounds from Pirelli. This is part of F1’s ongoing sustainability programme, with less heating meaning a lower carbon footprint.

The running tyre pressures are also likely to be lower because the smaller sidewall on the 18-inch tyre makes it more robust, so teams have a whole new set of parameters to deal with – on top of the physical differences in the tyres themselves.

Can Ricciardo and Norris Return McLaren to Glory in 2022?

Fourth in the 2021 constructors’ standings, this outfit aims to fight their way back to the very front of the grid and emulate the results that cemented their place in Formula 1 legacy, with Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo at the wheel. The next team in our series are McLaren.

Can Ricciardo get on terms with Norris in 2022?

Daniel Ricciardo made the switch from Renault to McLaren last season, swayed by the grunt and dependability of their Mercedes power unit and the opportunity to return to the winning ways he displayed over five years with Red Bull.

Last season didn’t begin exactly as planned, however, the Australian rating his own year a “six” out of 10, as he finished a middling eighth in the table – 45 points behind team mate Lando Norris – and wound up out of the points on eight occasions.

The consolation, and it was admittedly a whopping one, was that Ricciardo pulled off a stunning Italian Grand Prix win. Set aside the fact that the leaders collided; Monza 2021 was a deserved result for the Honey Badger given his stellar pace all weekend.

The fact remains that there was a gulf between the two McLaren drivers last season and the Woking squad need the Australian to match his British team mate’s performances in 2022 if they are to compete with Ferrari, let alone Red Bull and Mercedes.

There is no doubt that Ricciardo is a top racer, given he took two podiums with Renault in 2020 and won seven Grands Prix with Red Bull; the pressure might begin to loom if he doesn’t find that form again.

Can McLaren challenge for wins and podiums consistently in 2022?

Under the (quite possibly papaya) bodywork of the MCL36 will lie the aforementioned Mercedes power unit which propelled the Silver Arrows to an eighth consecutive championship in 2021. So there’s probably no need for McLaren to worry about power struggles.

There is the underlying question as to whether they can keep up with Ferrari. The Scuderia are bullish about their chances in 2022 and it wouldn’t be far-fetched to expect them to trouble the top two teams.

McLaren have been more reserved about their winter gains, but that shouldn’t detract from their potential; CEO Zak Brown and Team Principal Andreas Seidl have assembled a solid technical team, including the highly-regarded James Key, who joined as Executive Director of Technical in 2019.

Moreover, the 12-time constructors’ champions will enjoy a stable transition into the new era, having retained their talent amid aggressive recruitment strategies by the likes of Aston Martin and Red Bull.

The ingredients are therefore in abundance down at the McLaren Technology Centre. Now it’s time for them to deliver.

The MCL36 will be unveiled to the world on February 11.

Can Alonso Boost Alpine Up the Grid?

The 2022 Formula 1 season is just around the corner, so, for each team on the grid we have two key questions ahead of the 23-race campaign that sees a new era of cars hit the track. Today it’s Alpine’s turn, the squad heading for their second year in F1 with Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon at the wheel.

Will Alonso’s experience pay dividends as new regulations come on song?

Now the oldest driver on the grid, Fernando Alonso returned to F1 in 2021 after two years away. The two-time champion put in some crucial performances last season, most notably his staunch defence against Lewis Hamilton in Hungary, which ensured team mate Esteban Ocon would go on to win the race – and followed that up with a podium finish in Qatar.

Alonso has clearly lost none of the trademark qualities that make him such a prized asset to Alpine, but his experience will prove invaluable to the team in 2022.

Not only will the Spaniard’s influence in developing the car be a crucial factor – he’s competed through a number of big F1 rules changes, including the massive overhaul in 2009 and the dawn of the turbo-hybrid era in 2014 – but his own experience in adapting to those rules changes will help him hit the ground running.

And if Alonso does begin the season at a sprint while others struggle to keep up, he could net a few results that could propel Alpine up the order.

Can Alpine become consistent frontrunners?

Of course, Alpine’s aspirations lie higher than the fifth place they finished in 2021, and Alonso joined with the same aim in mind. They want to become World Championship contenders again.

There’s a long way to go; while Ocon took a win last season and Alonso added a podium, the team struggled to keep up with the midfield leaders in a few races (including Bahrain, Spain, Monaco and Turkey) and finished 2021 a full 120 points behind P4 constructors McLaren.

The Enstone/Viry team began 2022 with a couple of huge changes: Executive Director Marcin Budkowski departed the squad, his replacement yet to be announced – CEO Laurent Rossi continuing to oversee operations – while four-time champion Alain Prost is no longer Non-Executive Director. The consequences of those departures might not be realised until later in the season, as Alpine have already fired up their 2022 car.

They won’t be left wanting in the driver department, that’s for sure: Alonso is back to his fighting best; Ocon is now an experienced and dependable racer who hit rich veins of form in 2021; and Oscar Piastri will continue to thrive in his role as understudy in 2022.

Alpine have most of the ingredients to become frontrunners and it should be a question of when they will break out of their P5 status, rather than if. Perhaps it's too big an ask for them to challenge at the very front in 2022, but there's no doubt they can make significant steps towards that goal.

How McLaren Became Race Winners Again In 2021

When Team Principal Andreas Seidl started work at McLaren, the Woking-based team were in the midst of a restructure, as CEO Zak Brown looked to end the team’s miserable run of form and lay the foundations for a return to F1’s top table. Two-and-a-half years later and the fightback is most certainly on, with Daniel Ricciardo giving McLaren their first victory in a decade with his win at Monza last year.

The orange cars ended the year fourth overall, a place lower than in 2020, but with their highest end-of-season points tally since 2012. Their haul of five podiums – including that victory, the only one-two by any team in 2021 as Lando Norris took second – was their best since 2012, too. The championship position was lower, but their overall gains, relative to the leaders Mercedes and Red Bull, were higher.

“So far, so good,” said Seidl when we chatted outside the team’s hospitality unit last year. “If you look back at the last two and half years and what we have achieved, I’m happy with the steps we could make but also know we still have a long way to go. The objective we have is getting back to the front and being a position to fight for race wins every single weekend. But I’m definitely happy with what we have achieved so far.”

McLaren had the third-best car for much of the season but fell behind rivals Ferrari when the Italian team introduced a new spec hybrid system, eight races ahead of schedule. With their focus already on 2022, McLaren didn’t respond – but that was the sensible move.

The MCL35M was an improvement on the previous model, which proved that the technical team, under James Key’s lead, was working well – and that means the team were meeting their targets of consistent improvement, always moving forward, while preparing in the best way for the opportunity that new rules in 2022 offer.

“When we look at this car, it’s great to see we made a good step forward again, which is a result of even better working together between all the different departments back home under the leadership of James Key,” says Seidl. “A huge part in this is the entire operation back at the factory led by Piers [Thynne, Production Director], and then the cooperation we have put in place between Andrea Stella’s team and James’ team. This has resulted in the step forward we could make [last] year and it gives us confidence we could make another step forward [this year].

“New regulations are always a good opportunity, but they present a good opportunity for every team in the paddock! We know about the deficits we are still having. We still have big deficits on the infrastructure side, mainly the wind tunnel which still needs more than a year until we have it up and running. There is a reason why Red Bull and Mercedes are in front of us. They do a better job. They will also do a better job going into this year. But the most important thing is to make these steps as it gives us confidence we are heading in the right direction.”

Perhaps what’s most impressive about McLaren’s achievements last year is not only did they change engine supplier again – they moved from Honda to Renault for 2018 and then to Mercedes for 2021 – but they did so when the regulations remained stable, making fitting a new engine architecture into an existing concept even tricker – and yet they hit the ground running. Reliability was very impressive and they made the very most of what is the class-leading PU. “It’s something I’m happy with,” said Seidl.

“Despite difficulties we had over the winter in doing this integration job, with limitations we had on the car side because of the token system, and then doing this during a pandemic with pretty much everything being done remotely from a home office, it is impressive how the team pulled it off together with our colleagues from Mercedes.

“At the same time, I’m not totally surprised as we have some experience with McLaren with changing power units in the last years! And Mercedes is the benchmark in this paddock in terms of hybrid era. Still, it’s impressive how the team pulled it off. From the first run onwards, the car was performing and was reliable.”

Key to McLaren’s success has been their formidable driver line-up of Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo. Norris, in his third season with the team and in F1, stepped up to the plate following the departure of his friend and the more experienced Carlos Sainz, and delivered an impressive run of results, including three podiums in the first nine races – while he would have had a first F1 win in Russia had it not been for a spot of rain.

He scored 63 more points than the previous year, finished a career-best sixth in the standings – ahead of Ricciardo – and scored in every race bar two. He’s come into his own as a leader in the team, has a fantastic relationship with his colleagues, and is maturing into a formidable driver.

“It’s very impressive to see the steps Lando has made the last two years,” said Seidl. “It’s great to see how he’s pulling it off inside the car and outside the car weekend by weekend. It’s great to see how he interacts with the team, how he helps me also in order to push the team forward. I think that everything that we have seen so far with him, he has everything he needs to become a top, top guy in this sport.

“At the same time, it’s important to not get carried away with the results he’s had so far together with us. We set our objectives quite high, but I’m confident if we keep working hard together in the next years, we can achieve these objectives.”

While Ricciardo treated himself to a first victory shoey since the 2018 Monaco Grand Prix last year in Italy, that was the highlight of what was a largely frustrating season for the Honey Badger. The Australian puts a lot of pressure on himself and sets his targets very high – and so it irritated him that it took so long to get comfortable with his new cockpit.

There were signs that he had turned a corner in Belgium – but he lacked consistency thereafter. Positively, he was able to go home to Australia for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic began over the winter. Family is hugely important to him, and spending time with them is a key part of his pre-season prep. The chance to do so after so long will almost certainly put him in a better place ahead of his second campaign with McLaren.

“It took more time than he expected, and we expected, to let’s say get more familiar with our car and more comfortable in our car, especially when having to push it to the absolute maximum in qualifying. But it was good to see how he approached the situation with the team,” said Seidl of Ricciardo. “Both sides stayed positive and kept the trust in each other.

“After the summer break, you could see straight away he felt more comfortable, that results were coming, and to have a weekend like he had in Monza is great for him, for us as a team, great motivation to keep going. It’s just a question of a good break and good preparations going into next season until we see the Daniel again, weekend by weekend, that we all know from the past.”

Norris and Ricciardo are signed up at McLaren until at least the end of 2023, giving them stability through the early phase of the new technical regulations, and a line-up that has plenty of scope to just keep getting better.

“I’m definitely happy with the line-up we are having,” said Seidl. “We have a good mix of the youth Lando is having, and at the same time being experienced going into third year with us; and then we have Daniel who has shown in the past with all his experience he is a race winner; if he has the right material, he can win races. I’m happy we have these two guys with us for several more years and looking forward to celebrating a lot more success with them in the future.”

McLaren are on a much stronger footing now financially, too, having secured investment from a consortium of US sports investors MSP Sports Capital and sold their Woking headquarters and leased it back on a long-term deal to release money – with the team kicking on with a new wind tunnel on-site while also updating their CFD capabilities.

So, as their form and operational prowess improves, so does their technical ability – edging them closer to the teams at the front.

Pirelli Says F1 Teams Happy to Continue With Fixed Tyre Allocations For 2022

It’s not just the cars that are changing for 2022, but the tyres too, with Formula 1 suppliers Pirelli – who today celebrate their 150th anniversary – implementing larger 18-inch rubber for the season. What won’t change this year, however, is the ability to choose compounds for the weekend.

In 2019, teams were able to choose how many of each compound their drivers would receive over a weekend. For example, Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton both took one set of hard compounds, four mediums and eight softs apiece for the 2019 German Grand Prix, while Sebastian Vettel had one set of hards, three mediums and nine softs.

When the global pandemic hit in 2020, teams agreed that Pirelli would set the allocations for them instead, meaning every driver had the same number of each compound. The suppliers’ Head of F1 and Car Racing, Mario Isola, explained why that rule didn’t change for 2021.

He said: “We had to find this solution [of fixed tyre allocation] for the pandemic – to [have] a quicker reaction – but then the teams came back to us saying ‘actually this system is quite good, we want to keep it for the future.’

“It was not our decision at the end to continue with this fixed allocation; the teams told us if they have a fixed allocation and it is the same for everybody – so there is no advantage for one or the other – they can start planning on this fixed allocation.

“Instead of spending time and the resources and people to think about one set more of the mediums or one set less of the soft, they have that allocation, they have to work around this, and so in 2020 they said: ‘We want to continue for 2021.’”

Isola concluded that Pirelli will therefore continue deciding the allocation for teams in 2022 – with 18-inch tyres in play this season – but there is scope to change the rule next season.

“In 2021, with a new product for 2022, nobody was confident for deciding the compounds breakdown, and so they wanted to continue. I don’t know if in 2023 they want to change but, for the moment, this is the answer,” concluded Isola.

Isola recently took the wheel of a Kimera EVO37 during shakedown at the Monte Carlo Rally in the build-up to Pirelli’s 150th anniversary, while on Friday the suppliers released a graphic novel, a new logo, and a special online retrospective to celebrate ahead of an event at Milan's Piccolo Teatro.

And soon, 18-inch tyres will make their debut on the new breed of F1 machines – with car launches just around the corner.

Will AT03 See AlphaTauri Continue to Climb?

With the 2022 Formula 1 season complete with revolutionary new cars almost upon us, we’re looking at the two key questions facing each team. Next on the list are: AlphaTauri.

Will Red Bull’s faith in Yuki Tsunoda come good in 2022?

Yuki Tsunoda is something of an anomaly, in that he has tested Red Bull’s patience in his rookie year and retained a grip on his seat for a second season. Ask Franz Tost what he thinks of the Japanese driver and the AlphaTauri team boss will spend as much time as you have telling you why Tsunoda has what it takes to succeed in F1, so sure is he of his ability.

That faith was rewarded in the closing stages of the season, with Tsunoda making it into Q3 in six of the last seven races and topping the year off with a fine career-best fourth in Abu Dhabi.

The 21-year-old still has much to learn, particularly in refining his approach in wheel-to-wheel combat, but he’s cutting down the mistakes and that end-of-season form gave him a great basis to hit the winter hard in terms of training and pre-season preparations.

Can AlphaTauri finally finish P5 in the constructors’?

Tost will certainly hope so. It’s been his goal for years. Make no mistake, it’s been an ambitious one, given the level of competition his little Faenza-based operation has been up against, but one they have come close to, most recently last year.

The AT02 was a cracking little race car that the engineers quickly got a good understanding of and which, for the most part last year, they were able to extract the maximum from.

It’s all change this year with the new regulations though, and while they will continue to use parts from Red Bull Technologies, these will be current spec and therefore they won’t get them as far in advance as Red Bull push the limit on development before signing off on production.

In recent years, they’ve used older spec – such as a year-old gearbox – and thus had plenty of time to accommodate those parts into their car concept.

AlphaTauri are a very efficient race team and they will do the best they can with the time and resources that they have, but this year is set to be their toughest one for years because of the rule change, and thus a tilt at the coveted P5 may well be a step too far.

Formula 1 Announces Seven-Year Singapore Grand Prix Extension

The Singapore Grand Prix will continue to be held at the glittering Marina Bay Street Circuit for another seven years, following an extension of the race's contract.

F1 will therefore continue to visit the city of Singapore from 2022 to 2028 inclusive, after a multi-year extension was agreed between Singapore GP Pte Ltd (SGP), the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), and Formula 1.

Although it's been two years since the Singapore Grand Prix, first held in 2008, has taken place – due to the global pandemic – the event will return in 2022 as part of this 23-race season.

Sustainability will feature prominently in future races, meanwhile, with the STB and SGP working together to reduce the carbon footprint of the Singapore race as part of a transition to more sustainable business models and to be in line with the sustainability goals of Formula 1 – with initiatives including increasing recycling efforts and using sustainable materials to reduce the carbon emissions of the event.

"I am delighted that Formula 1 will continue to race in Singapore for another seven years," said Formula 1 President and CEO Stefano Domenicali.

"The Marina Bay Street Circuit hosted the first night race in F1 history in 2008, and Singapore has continued to thrill fans, teams, and drivers ever since. Singapore holds a special place on the F1 calendar, and this extension is part of our long-term commitment to continue to grow the sport in Asia.

"The plans that are in place to reduce the carbon footprint of the event are impressive and align with our plans to be Net Zero Carbon as a sport by 2030 and I look forward to continuing our successful relationship with Singapore GP and the Singapore Tourism Board as Formula 1 returns to this incredible city."

Singapore GP's Chairman Mr Ong Beng Seng added: "We are very pleased that the night race will continue for seven more years. After more than a decade of celebrating this spectacular event on the racing calendar, we are looking forward to building on its success and working with Formula 1 as well as its partners to take the night race to greater heights. We are delighted that this marquee event will demonstrate how Singapore is open for business.

"We look forward to welcoming both local and overseas fans and visitors to the Marina Bay Street Circuit once again."

The 2022 Singapore Grand Prix is set to take place on October 2.

Will Stroll's Masterplan Start to Pay Off For Aston Martin in 2022?

Aston Martin launch their 2022 Formula 1 car on February 10, with Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel set for a second season as team mates – while owner Lawrence Stroll continues his masterplan.

The team finished seventh in 2021 – Vettel having taken one podium – and fell well short of their P3 target. Here are two key questions before Aston Martin undertake their 2022 campaign.

Will Lawrence Stroll’s Aston Martin investments begin to show fruit in 2022?

Work began on Aston Martin’s £200 million factory and campus at Silverstone last September, and that in itself shows that the squad formerly known as Force India and Racing Point are serious about making progress.

Billionaire owner Stroll has also invested heavily in talent – Red Bull’s aero chief Dan Fallows and Mercedes’ Eric Blandin two of his star technical signings – while new Team Principal Johnny McDonald takes over from Otmar Szafnauer. Combined with the new facilities, those hires are a sign that Aston Martin are here to win.

However, these investments will take time to yield dividends. Gardening leave, onboarding issues, and of course the actual time it takes to build the new factory, are three factors that mean they won’t see immediate returns.

In the short-term, Aston Martin will be looking to hit the ground running with the new cars in 2022, but the development wars are set to continue throughout the season. Perhaps only later in the campaign will we begin to see Stroll’s investments really start to pay off.

If and when they do, the key question won't be whether they can replicate Force India and Racing Point’s midfield-topping bang-for-buck days – but whether Aston Martin can begin to trouble the frontrunners.

Can Sebastian Vettel get back to his best in 2022?

Four-time F1 champion Sebastian Vettel left the 2021 season with unfinished business, as he admitted: “The whole team and myself, we were hoping for more. I think we got hurt quite badly by the regulation changes as the team had a great car [in 2020] but not [in 2021]…”

The German racer showed glimpses of pace after a disappointing start to last season, taking a podium in Round 6 (Azerbaijan). But disqualification from P2 in Hungary set him up for a difficult second half of 2021, and he just couldn’t tap into a consistent run of points.

On-track issues didn't help – a strategy error seeing him fall down the order in Turkey, while a collision hurt him in Saudi Arabia after a poor qualifying performance.

It will be crucial for Aston Martin to have Vettel, a 53-time winner carrying invaluable experience, back to his best, if they are to work their way back towards the top of the midfield.

We know he’s capable, we know the competitive fire is still there, but the 34-year-old needs to get off on the front foot in this new breed of F1 cars and build up some momentum in 2022.

Alpine Name Date For Launch of 2022 Car, the A522

Alpine have become the latest team to name the launch date for their 2022 car – set to be called the A522.

Alpine will pull the covers off the new car on February 21, two days before the first pre-season track session of the year at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya begins on February 23.

The A522 will be raced this year by Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon, who’ll team up for a second season at Alpine.

Ocon got the honour of taking the first victory for the Alpine outfit – as Renault were renamed for 2021 – at last year’s Hungarian Grand Prix, while F1 returnee Alonso claimed an impressive podium at the Qatar race later in the year.

Alpine will be seeking to improve on their P5 in the constructors’ standings from 2021, following organisational changes over the winter that have seen Executive Director Marcin Budkowski and four-time champion Alain Prost depart the team.

AlphaTauri Pick Valentine's Day to Unleash Their 2022-Spec AT03

AlphaTauri have announced the launch date for their all-new 2022-spec car, the AT03.

The car, set to be piloted by Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda, will break cover on February 14.

AlphaTauri are the fifth team to have confirmed the launch date for the car that will take them into F1’s exciting new era of regulations, following on from announcements from Aston Martin, Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren.

2022 will see AlphaTauri use power units from Red Bull Powertrains for the first time, with Honda having announced their departure from the sport at the end of 2021 – with the newly-formed Red Bull Powertrains division having taken over the Japanese firm’s intellectual property.

It will be an important year for their drivers too, with Gasly coming off the back of an impressive 2021 season that he called his “most consistent” in F1 – and which saw him score over 100 points in a season for the first time in his career – while Tsunoda will look to build on the positives from an up-and-down rookie campaign that was capped by a season-best P4 at the final race of 2021 in Abu Dhabi.

2022 Pre-Season Testing Dates in Barcelona and Bahrain Confirmed

Pre-season testing dates have been confirmed for 2022, with three days of track running in Spain, before the brand-new cars head to Bahrain in March for the Official Pre-Season Test.

Two sessions of three days each will take place ahead of the 23-race Formula 1 campaign to ring in the new era.

Barcelona – February 23-25

The first outing is a lower key, pre-testing track session at Barcelona on February 23-25, allowing the teams to shake down their all-new-for-'22 cars for the first time in the same place.

However, as is traditional with teams’ pre-testing-type events, the running at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya won’t feature live, race-style coverage or live timing, but will include content and best lap times at the end of each day

Bahrain – March 10-12

The Official Pre-Season Test will then take place in Bahrain on March 10-12, ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix on the weekend of March 18-20. Fans will be in attendance, while there will also be live TV coverage and timing.

Can Albon Help Maintain Williams' Upward Trajectory?

With the 2022 Formula 1 season complete with revolutionary new cars almost upon us, we’re looking at the two key questions facing each team this year. Next on the list are Williams.

Can Williams build on their strong 2021 foundations?

Considering 2020 was the first point-less season in Williams’ long and illustrious history, and that they did little development over the winter ahead of 2021 thanks to Covid-19 and resource limitations, even a solitary top-10 finish would have made 2021 a step forward.

But they did significantly better than that, overperforming – as boss Jost Capito said – with six points finishes, including a shock podium in Belgium) to finish eighth in the constructors’ championship.

Their haul of 23 points was more than the previous three seasons combined. Confidence is growing inside Grove, with the investment pumped in by owners Dorilton starting to show results, while Capito’s organisational changes appear to be working.

But the real test is 2022, when Williams have settled their new technical team, headed by Francois-Xavier Demaison, ready to attack a new set of regulations. Retaining eighth now must be the minimum expectation for the boys and girls in blue but achieving that feat – because of the high level of competition – will be harder than getting there in the first place.

Will Alex Albon shake off his bittersweet Red Bull history with fresh start at Williams?

Alex Albon looks like a racing driver reborn. His trademark smile is back and the Thai driver is genuinely loving life again with a new lease of life at Williams, following a difficult public demotion by Red Bull.

Williams are the ideal team for his second chance. They retain the family feel instilled by the squad’s founding Williams family and will create an environment where Albon can spread his wings without pressure, and out of the shadow of a superstar driver like Max Verstappen.

Part of the reason Williams recruited him is that, alongside his raw speed, he brings with him experience of working with Red Bull, who became a World Championship-winning team again in 2021. He also gets on well with new team mate Nicholas Latifi, having partnered him at DAMS in F2 in 2018, which bodes well for the team dynamic.

And his good friend George Russell – who pushed for Albon to step in, having sorted a Mercedes move for himself – has given him plenty of advice and tips, too, to help with the transition. Much, though, will depend on the quality of the car Williams deliver – and how quickly he can shake off the rust from a year on the sidelines as Red Bull’s reserve.

Will New Blood Spark a Renaissance at Alfa Romeo?

Fielding a 10-time Grand Prix winner in Valtteri Bottas and the first-ever full-time Chinese F1 driver, Zhou Guanyu, Alfa Romeo are hoping to bounce back from a 2021 campaign that saw them finish ninth overall. Here are two pertinent questions for the Hinwil-headquartered team.

Will Bottas’s arrival revive Alfa Romeo’s mojo?

The winds of change have swept through the squad once known as Sauber: Alfa Romeo F1 Team (as they are now officially known, having ditched the ‘Racing’ part from their name) have Bottas on their books for 2022.

The Finn, who raced alongside Lewis Hamilton for the last five seasons and helped deliver as many constructors’ championships for Mercedes, brings with him a wealth of experience fighting at the front.

This is a long-term project for the 32-year-old – signed on a multi-year deal, where he’d only enjoyed one-year contract extensions previously at Mercedes – who wants to see his new team work their way back into the midfield fray and take the reins in the new era of F1. He is fast, he is proven, and he is, as Team Principal Frederic Vasseur asserted, a “huge asset” for Alfa Romeo.

While he’s left behind a team used to winning titles, Bottas will have a wealth of responsibilities with Alfa Romeo. Chiefly, they want him to lead the team into the new era and beyond and, as one of the most experienced winners on the grid, Bottas is definitely capable of that.

The chance to be the Alfa Romeo’s talisman, after five seasons competing for the limelight at Mercedes against Hamilton, could allow the Finn to thrive.

How will 2022’s only rookie, Zhou Guanyu, fare in 2022?

Also benefitting from the eminent experience of Bottas this season is Zhou Guanyu, who will make history in Bahrain when he begins his rookie season as his country’s first full-time F1 driver.

It won’t be easy. We saw back in 2021 that the three rookies – Yuki Tsunoda, Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin – had their struggles. Now, the latter two were in a Haas almost destined to be at the back of the grid, but AlphaTauri’s Tsunoda struggled with consistency and had his fair share of scrapes throughout the season.

So it’s reasonable to expect Zhou to need some time at the wheel. The four-time F2 race winner completed nearly 270 laps at the end-of-season Abu Dhabi test and will have to eke out every minute and every lap of pre-season testing when it rolls around.

It’s a tough ask, but the 22-year-old won’t be the only driver under the spotlight, as others may also have trouble getting to grips with their new hardware.

Furthermore, he has the expertise of Vasseur – a man well-versed in nurturing talent on the road to F1, given he formed the ART Grand Prix junior squad – to lean on.

Look out for a launch date to follow, as Alfa Romeo have yet to announce when the successor to the C41 will be shown off to the world.

Mercedes Tech Chief Allison Says 2022 Rules 'An Opportunity to Show We Haven't Just Been Lucky'

Mercedes’ Technical Director James Allison has been a pivotal part of the team’s journey to a record eight consecutive constructors’ championships. But now he’s looking forward to what he calls an “enormous” set of rules changes this season – and another opportunity to prove the Silver Arrows’ doubters wrong.

In a YouTube video outlining how Mercedes have tackled the 2022 regulations, with brand-new cars on the horizon ahead of a 23-race season, Allison said he and his record-breaking squad have approached this era with great anticipation. He explained that it’s a chance for them to show they can transcend the first turbo-hybrid era of F1 that began in 2014.

“It’s not unique to Mercedes to be excited about a regulation set, but it is something I can speak of with the personal experience of having been a part of this team, that we do love it when new regulations come along.

“We see it as an opportunity to show that we haven’t just been lucky over the years, we haven’t merely stumbled into a formula that is often talked about as the turbo-hybrid era, as if we sort of stumbled into some god-given right to have been dominant all these last seasons.”

The new-for-2022 cars sport re-profiled front and rear wings, a lack of bargeboards and 3D floors among a number of other features. Enhanced safety, Pirelli's 18-inch tyres and a higher proportion of biofuels see F1 forge a new path.

“We see every single regulation change as an opportunity to pit our wits against them and see whether we actually deserve still to be competitive, to see whether or not we can show afresh that we’ve understood the physics behind the car, that we’ve tried to translate that into designs and concepts that we then realise in manufacturing and then deliver to the track in a way that allows us to be competitive once more,” asserted Allison.

The technical chief, who started his F1 journey in 1991 at Benetton – where Michael Schumacher would clinch his first title three years later – before later joining Ferrari as trackside aerodynamicist in 1999 as a key part of their stunning six-year run of championship triumphs, said he had never seen such a gigantic set of changes to the Formula 1 rulebook.

“I’ve been working in the sport for over 20 years and they dwarf anything else I’ve ever seen,” explained Allison of the new rules. “I suspect if I were to dig out Wikipedia, go through every season of the sport that there’s ever been, there would be nothing to match the scale of the change that comes with 2022.

“The ruleset is not only enormous; the regulations are twice the size of what’s preceded them. But they’re all almost entirely different from what came before them and that has meant we’ve had to reinvent the car, tip to toe. Everywhere you look, it’s completely new – not just new as in new parts but new as in a completely new philosophy…

“Even… the engine or the power unit has to be prepared so it can be frozen for three years: all the goodness you can possibly pack into it has to be packed into it now, or forever hold your peace! Because, after that, changes will be very, very difficult to make,” said Allison.

Mercedes unveil the W13, in which Lewis Hamilton and George Russell aim to defend their constructors’ championship and fight for the drivers’ title, on February 18.

Binnoto Reveals Sainz's Best Quality After First Year With Ferrari

Carlos Sainz impressed not just the tifosi in 2021, but Ferrari Team Principal Mattia Binotto too. And the Scuderia boss revealed exactly which quality of Sainz’s was the most impressive last season – and why it’s encouraging for 2022.

The 27-year-old was Ferrari’s new signing last year and he helped the Scuderia achieve P3 in the championship alongside Charles Leclerc, while Sainz also finished a stellar fifth in the standings ahead of former team mate Lando Norris and Leclerc. Asked how Sainz had integrated so effectively into his new team, Binotto said it was all about preparation.

“Everything was put in place to try to help Carlos for his integration,” said Binotto. “Certainly, he has been very good on his side as well. He has been doing good because he is a good learner.

“He is studying, he’s trying to learn, trying to understand and I think he has been consistent in his integration and development in terms of performance through the season as well,” explained the Ferrari boss.

Binotto added that learning the ins and outs of a new engine – Sainz having used mostly Renault power units in previous seasons – was one of his greatest concerns. But the Spaniard’s adaptability again helped him start 2021 on the front foot.

“Learning the power units is certainly one of the points that needs to be done and the energy management, the way the drivability of the engine [works], certainly gives a side that is difficult,” he continued.

“And I think it’s something, yes it takes time, but it’s not impossible. But you need a good driver, and the better the driver the quicker the process, and I think that Carlos in that respect, he has been very strong. We knew he was a good driver and [in 2021 he was] simply demonstrating it as well.”

With a driver line-up he has declared the “best in F1”, Binotto's squad sports two formidable drivers at the wheel for a 2022 season that could see Ferrari further close the gap to the frontrunners with all-new hardware.

The team principal therefore reasoned that Leclerc and Sainz are in a prime position to extract the maximum out of Ferrari’s 2022 contender, which will be revealed on February 17.

“So, if I look at the ways he has been integrated, the way he has delivered all through the season, that has been great,” continued Binotto. “And having two drivers so close, finally, pushing [each other], I think is a good benchmark.

“You can see that one is a good example and mentor for the other and they are pushing themselves. Even at the last race, they had two overtaking opportunities, swapping the positions but it’s great to see and something that is encouraging for the future. I like to see those two guys fighting together and being so close,” he concluded.

Leclerc, Sainz and Shwartzman to Test Last Year's Ferrari at Fiorano This Week

Ferrari's duo of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc will return to the wheel this week as they drive last year's SF21 at Fiorano alongside test driver Robert Shwartzman.

Sainz and Leclerc, who combined to help the Italian team hit P3 in the championship last season, will take part in a four-day session starting on Tuesday (January 25) at the Ferrari-owned circuit in Italy.

The full-time racers will be joined by Shwartzman, Ferrari's official test driver for 2022, the Russian having split duties for Haas and Ferrari in the end-of-2021 Abu Dhabi session. Shwartzman will open Ferrari's pre-season running on Tuesday and take the final day, Friday.

Leclerc will be on track on Wednesday with Sainz driving on Thursday, both having driven a mule car fitted with 18-inch tyres in the end-of-season Abu Dhabi test.

Ferrari's as-yet unnamed 2022 car, which they have internally coded '674', will be unveiled to the public on February 17.

8 Reasons the Pecking Order Could Be Shaken Up In 2022

Driver line-ups change, cars evolve and rules get tweaked all the time in Formula 1, but when at least one of those areas undergo a major overhaul, that’s when the term ‘a new era’ starts to appear.

And 2022 is a new era for Formula 1.

With significant change in the sport comes the added potential for the competitive order to be disrupted, and it doesn’t all come down to the technical regulations. So we thought we’d take a look at the main reasons why the pecking order in 2022 could look very different to how things ended last year.

1. A whole new car for teams to get on top of

While there are multiple reasons the order could be shaken up this year, the most obvious one comes from the cars themselves. After years of development and research between both the FIA and Formula 1, new technical regulations come into force that will provide a very different type of car.

Delayed by a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the new rules have been designed to increase the ability for cars to follow each other more closely (more on how in a bit) but regardless of the intentions there is a brand new machine for teams to work with. That means fresh aerodynamic philosophies, new mechanical solutions and unknown handling traits.

Inevitably, some teams will come up with ideas that deliver more performance than others, while getting the car to do respond as they want will also take time. The quickest teams of the recent past have been so for a reason, so it’s a big ask to expect the grid to be inverted, but with so little carry over of parts, previous form can go largely out of the window.

2. Closer on-track racing

The main target of the new cars is to generate downforce in a different way, in order to ensure any following car sees less of an impact on its performance when close behind. That has led to a lot of focus on the floor – essentially leading to ground effect solutions – that is not so affected by the ‘wake’ of the car in front.

While the actual field spread is a major unknown, the intention is that a driver won’t need a massive performance advantage to be able to try and overtake another car, and can at the very least push hard in close proximity rather than have to drop back to get out of dirty air.

Should that aim be achieved, there’s the potential for plenty of exciting battles and fresh strategies, with slightly less importance on having to stay out of traffic.

3. A fierce development battle that could see order change dramatically throughout the season

Another by-product of a new set of regulations is a much steeper development curve in the first season, as teams have new areas of development to exploit.

Even without nine other rivals to learn from, teams should be making big strides as they learn more about their respective cars and their characteristics, with certain concepts providing a lot of potential for future gains and others more limited in how much more they can offer over time.

But the teams also look closely at what all of the others are doing in order to see interesting solutions that they might want to apply on their own cars. Quite often there is a specific concept that proves particularly effective for some teams and is quickly copied by others, which can lead to major performance swings during the year.

Think back to the significant aerodynamic concept change of 2009, when Brawn started the season as the dominant team while Ferrari and McLaren – and defending champion Lewis Hamilton – were off the pace after fighting for the title the previous season.

Just beyond the halfway point, five straight races without a point left Hamilton well out of contention, but he finished with two wins and three further podiums from the final eight rounds, crashing out chasing a podium in Monza and retiring from the lead in the final race in Abu Dhabi.

Don’t rule out a team just because they start the season on the back foot.

4. Experience and adaptability will be key attributes for drivers

It’s not just the cars that will develop quickly during the season, but drivers too will be getting their heads around a new car concept and finding out how they need to adapt their driving styles to get the most out of the machinery.

The 2022 car will generate its downforce in a very different way from the previous generation, so working out how to extract performance from both the car and the new 18-inch tyres will be a fresh challenge.

At times like these, experience can play a key part. The likes of Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel have driven cars from multiple different eras, and so have had to adapt before but also have more prior knowledge that they can lean on when it comes to the way F1 teams work with and develop a new type of car.

5. The bigger impact of the budget cap

Although the budget cap was in place a year ago, much of the 2021 cars were frozen from the previous year in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Teams were focusing at the time on adjusting their operations to comply with the cap, but its main impact was not seen, as it in some ways cemented the previous pecking order.

This year, however, the new cars have had to be designed and manufactured under the budget cap constraints, limiting areas that teams could spend their resources. That could mean teams having to prioritise certain ideas over others, and even considering holding back development spend until later in the season once they’ve been able to see more solutions from others on the grid.

6. A new driver pairing dynamic at Mercedes

Not every potential differentiator comes from the new regulations, however. At defending champions Mercedes, a new driver line-up is in place for the first time since Valtteri Bottas replaced the retiring Nico Rosberg five years ago. Out goes Bottas, and in comes 2018 Formula 2 champion George Russell.

While Bottas was the ultimate team player, Russell is more in the future team leader mould, and that creates an interesting scenario alongside seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton. The 37-year-old is set to chase an eighth drivers’ championship, while Russell goes after a first victory and attempts to balance learning from Hamilton with showing himself to be a driver Mercedes can bank on moving forward.

It’s not quite McLaren 2007 vibes, but the young prospect being paired with the proven world champion can sometimes lead to fireworks.

7. Red Bull now in charge of their own engines

Red Bull will certainly be hoping there are no fireworks where they are concerned as they become a power unit manufacturer for the first time. Christian Horner’s team took over the IP from Honda at the end of last season as the Japanese suppliers left the sport, and it proved to be a package strong enough to power Max Verstappen to his first world championship.

So they’re starting from a good basis, but Mercedes and Renault had 2022 in mind to a greater extent than Honda due to the timing of their departure, so it remains to be seen just how competitive each power unit is.

Wherever they start the season, however, Red Bull will face the challenge of trying to run a power unit department for the first time this year, on top of attempting to develop areas of weakness. It’s a massive task.

8. 18-inch tyres

Among the very obvious visual differences that the 2022 cars have, the wheels will stand out when launches take place. That’s because Pirelli are now providing 18-inch tyres – much more in-line with their other racing programmes and road car offerings – and wheel rim covers are permitted.

The larger tyres provide different characteristics, with Pirelli keen to allow drivers to push harder for longer without overheating and degradation. There is less bulk to regulate the temperature of, and also a smaller sidewall, which means there is less shock absorption from the tyre itself over bumps and kerbs.

As the only parts of a car that are actually in contact with the track, tyres have always been a crucial performance differentiator, and a whole new philosophy is likely to be required to get the most out of the 18-inch compounds, opening up opportunities for all of the teams to get it right or wrong.

Can Schumacher and Mazepin Take Haas Back to the Midfield in 2022?

With the 2022 Formula 1 season, complete with revolutionary new cars, almost upon us, we’re looking at the two key questions facing each team this year. Let’s kick off with the team who finished 10th in the standings in 2021: Haas.

Will greater Ferrari involvement transform Haas’ fortunes?

2021 was the first time in Haas’ six-year existence that they failed to score a single point, with a combination of a – deliberately – undeveloped Haas VF-21 and an all-new, all-rookie line-up contributing to their painful nul points finish. But Haas knew 2022 was the prize, and were seemingly happy to bite the bullet and sacrifice their season to concentrate on the new regulations.

One big change that could signal a revival in their fortunes this season is the ongoing effects of the cost cap. That change – which last year meant teams had to operate to a baseline cap of $145m – meant the bigger F1 teams had no choice but to slim down.

Part of Ferrari’s solution was to send a crop of staff over to join Haas at the team’s Maranello-based technical hub, part of a “long-term relationship… for both parties to benefit from any possible synergy, consistent with what is defined in the FIA regulations”, according to Ferrari Team Principal Mattia Binotto.

Chief among those who moved over was the highly-rated Simone Resta, who was announced as Haas’ first ever Technical Director at the end of 2020. With that influx of Ferrari talent working on the team’s 2022 car – plus an all-new Ferrari power unit, elements of which debuted promisingly in 2021 – Haas Team Principal Guenther Steiner declared himself “cautiously optimistic” of the team returning to the midfield this season.

Can Schumacher and Mazepin work in harmony to move Haas up the order?

Any Haas improvements on-track in 2022, however, could still be kiboshed if a poisonous atmosphere becomes prevalent in the garage.

Last year, the team paired up 2020 Formula 2 champion Mick Schumacher with F2 race winner Nikita Mazepin. Yes, problems were to be expected with how long it would take the pair to get up to speed with the demands of F1. But perhaps more surprising were the occasional flashpoints of rancour out on track, as the pair sought to assert themselves in the team, despite scrapping outside of the points throughout the year.

Uncomfortable, and downright unpleasant, moments between the two drivers in Baku and Zandvoort, plus Mazepin spinning Schumacher around at Monza, made it clear that a difficult car wasn’t the only issue Haas were fighting in 2021.

And if improvements to Haas’ machinery in 2022 aren’t commensurate with improvements in their drivers’ behaviour out on track, then the prospect of ill feeling between Mazepin and Schumacher costing the team points this season could lead to some full and frank discussions with team boss Guenther Steiner…

20 of the Most Exciting Up-and-Coming Talents on the Road to F1

From karting sensations to Formula 1-ready racers, and all of the budding junior talent in between, we look at 20 of the hottest prospects striving to make it to F1, ranked in descending order according to their age – and detail why, and where, you should be watching them in 2022.

Jamie Chadwick

Age: 23

Nationality: British

2022 plans: TBC

Chadwick was the class of the field in the first two seasons of the W Series, while also serving as a Williams F1 development driver and debuting in the brand-new Extreme E series. A former British GT4 and MRF Challenge Formula 2000 champion, Chadwick also has experience in Formula Regional European, where she came ninth in 2020, as well as Euroformula Open and Asian F3.

Robert Shwartzman

Age: 22

Nationality: Russian

2022 plans: Scuderia Ferrari F1 test driver

Arguably the strongest overtaker on the official road to F1 in the past three seasons, Robert Shwartzman’s calculatedly aggressive style dominated F3 in 2019. Finishing fourth and second in two years of F2, it was only the Ferrari junior’s slow start to 2021 that stopped him from challenging champion Oscar Piastri more closely: all eight of his podiums, which included two wins, came in the final 17 races. Still hopeful of making the F1 grid in the coming years, Shwartzman will spend 2022 as an F1 test driver for Ferrari.

Juri Vips

Age: 21

Nationality: Estonian

2022 plans: FIA Formula 2 with Hitech Grand Prix

Recently seen as a frontrunner for a seat in F1 with AlphaTauri, Juri Vips was leapfrogged by Yuki Tsunoda in the Red Bull junior pecking order after a Covid-19-disrupted 2020 campaign, which saw him unable to compete in Japanese Super Formula as planned. Vips became the first F2 driver to win twice in a single weekend at Baku last year, but will need to improve on last year’s sixth place in the standings if he’s to finally make the step up to F1.

Arthur Leclerc

Age: 21

Nationality: Monegasque

2022 plans: FIA Formula 3 with PREMA Racing

Despite karting success, the younger Leclerc didn’t race competitively for nearly three years as his family focused on his brother Charles’ meteoric rise to F1. Since restarting his own racing career, Arthur Leclerc has enjoyed title challenges in ADAC F4 and Formula Regional European. After a slow start to life in F3 with PREMA, Leclerc ended the year with two wins and seven successive points finishes.

Sophia Floersch

Age: 21

Nationality: German

2022 plans: TBC

With experience in the European Le Mans Series, DTM, WEC, FIA F3, European F3 and Formula Regional European within the last four seasons alone, Sophia Floersch’s dedication and experience is undeniable. Enjoyed a solid 2021, ending her rookie year of DTM in 18th, while Floersch also notched up her first podium in European Le Mans at Portimao.

Logan Sargeant

Age: 21

Nationality: American

2022 plans: FIA Formula 2 with Carlin

Having signed to drive F2 with Carlin back in December, American Logan Sargeant admitted he’d had doubts over whether he’d ever get his shot in the category, following an uncertain period on the back of his 2020 F3 title challenge – one which left him questioning if he would even race again.

Had to remain in F3 for a year longer than he’d have wanted, but transformed the minnow Charouz outfit into race winners and led them to their best ever points tally, earning himself a spot in the Williams Driver Academy for his efforts.

Oscar Piastri

Age: 20

Nationality: Australian

2022 plans: Alpine F1 reserve driver

That Oscar Piastri doesn’t yet have an F1 seat is almost as remarkable as his achievements in the past three years. Not even Charles Leclerc or George Russell managed to win three single-seater titles in a row on their way up the ladder, but in 2021, Piastri followed up his 2019 Formula Renault and 2020 F3 successes with the F2 title.

Consistency is the greatest tool in the Alpine reserve driver’s armoury. Finishing outside of the points just four times in F2, he took 14 top-five finishes from 23 races, including a haul of six wins and five podiums.

Victor Martins

Age: 20

Nationality: French

2022 plans: TBC

Proved numerous times in F3 last year that he’s a fearless and effective overtaker, if a tad raw. Alpine junior Victor Martins is likely to remain in F3 for a second season, where he’ll look to add the F3 trophy to a cabinet that already includes the 2020 Formula Renault Eurocup title.

Frederik Vesti

Age: 20

Nationality: Danish

2022 plans: FIA Formula 2 with ART Grand Prix

Mercedes junior Frederik Vesti spent three years convincing Toto Wolff’s team to sign him and rewarded them with a title challenge in F3 last year. Finishing fourth overall, it was a solid effort, but the Dane will need to produce an even higher standard in F2 if he’s to convince the world champions to promote him.

Liam Lawson

Age: 19

Nationality: New Zealander

2022 plans: FIA Formula 2 with Carlin

As quick as anyone on his day, Liam Lawson only showed his potential on a handful of occasions in F2 last season amid plenty of bad luck, but shone in his rookie year of DTM. Often outperforming several more experienced competitors, including 2022 Williams F1 driver Alex Albon, the Red Bull junior finished as vice-champion, only missing out on the title in a controversial finale. Will be a hot pick for the F2 title in 2021, switching from Hitech to Carlin.

Caio Collet

Age: 19

Nationality: Brazilian

2022 plans: TBC

Runner-up to Martins in Formula Renault in 2020, Alpine prodigy Caio Collet showed on numerous occasions last year in F3 why he’s so highly rated by the French team. Scored both of his podiums in the first two rounds before finishing in the top five in six of the last seven races – although the Brazilian will want to add more silverware if he returns to F3 next year.

Jack Doohan

Age: 19

Nationality: Australian

2022 plans: FIA Formula 2 with Virtuosi

Struggled during his rookie season of F3 in 2020, failing to take any points, but was rejuvenated by a switch to Trident. Saying he “rebuilt” himself during the year, the Australian won four times and notched up seven podiums, pushing Dennis Hauger all the way in the title race. Son of five-time Moto GP world champion Mick Doohan, Jack will make the step up to F2 this season with vice-champions Virtuosi.

Dennis Hauger

Age: 18

Nationality: Norwegian

2022 plans: FIA Formula 2 with PREMA Racing

Norwegian Hauger overcame a difficult debut year in F3 to dominate in his sophomore season with PREMA. Stepping up to F2 as champion, following an impressive nine podiums and four wins, the Red Bull junior now has the daunting task of replacing Oscar Piastri at PREMA.

Théo Pourchaire

Age: 18

Nationality: French

2022 plans: FIA Formula 2 with ART Grand Prix

In the last 18 months alone, Théo Pourchaire has become F2 and F3’s youngest ever race winner, taken pole at Monaco and been linked with an F1 seat. Hailed as “one of the best” for the future by Alfa Romeo boss Frédéric Vasseur, the likeable Frenchman’s progression from 2019 ADAC F4 champion to 2022 F2 title favourite has all been done with an infectious smile. Expect to see his trademark lifting of the P1 board after victory on several occasions next season – and maybe even the title along with it.

Jonny Edgar

Age: 17

Nationality: British

2022 plans: FIA Formula 3 with Trident

Highly rated by Red Bull, Cumbrian-born British racer Jonny Edgar showed flashes of talent in his rookie year of F3 with Carlin, scoring five top-10 finishes. Switching to Trident for a second year of F3, the 2020 ADAC F4 title winner will be hoping for a similar shift of form to Doohan and Hauger.

Maya Weug

Age: 17

Nationality: Dutch

2022 plans: TBC

Made history last January as the first female member of the Ferrari Driver Academy, having won the FIA and Ferrari’s Girls on Track – Rising Stars initiative. Rewarded with a seat in Italian F4, the 17-year-old, who was born in Spain to a Belgian mother and a Dutch father, enjoyed an educational first year of single-seaters, which ended with an official FIA F3 test in France.

Jak Crawford

Age: 16

Nationality: American

2022 plans: FIA Formula 3 with PREMA Racing

Having raised eyebrows last year by testing F3 machinery at only 15, Red Bull junior Jak Crawford made the step up as ADAC F4 vice-champion just days after his 16th birthday. Enjoying a steady first year, with one podium, the American will remain in F3 and switch in 2022 to PREMA, who have won the last three drivers’ titles.

Oliver Bearman

Age: 16

Nationality: British

2022 plans: FIA Formula 3 with PREMA Racing

As a rookie, the pressure won’t be on Oliver Bearman at PREMA in the same way as it will be on the likes of Leclerc and Crawford. Even so, big things are expected of the British Ferrari junior after he became the first driver to win both ADAC and Italian F4 in the same year in 2021.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli

Age: 15

Nationality: Italian

2022 plans: TBC

A serial winner throughout karting, Mercedes snapped up the Italian back in 2019, when he was just 12 years old and still racing mini karts. Made his single-seater debut in Italian F4 last year, where he scored three podiums in his first nine races.

Ugo Ugochukwu

Age: 14

Nationality: American

2022 plans: TBC

Ugochukwu is an American karting sensation who penned a “long-term agreement” with the McLaren driver programme last March. Signed at the same age as Lewis Hamilton, Ugo Ugochukwu already has several karting titles in his native USA and in Europe under his belt, including the 2020 FIA OKJ European Championship. Hailing from New York, the 14-year-old spent 2021 in the OK junior classes, finishing second in WSK Euro Series.

Honourable mentions

Stepping up to F2 after a race-winning rookie year in F3, Red Bull and Honda junior Ayumu Iwasa could argue he warrants a place on this list. As could Swiss FRECA champion Gregoire Saucy, Barbadian Zane Maloney and French-Algerian Isack Hadjar, who will all be worth a watch in F3 next season.

British-Irish GB3 winner Zak O’Sullivan would be an entertaining addition to the F3 grid if he follows up his test with a full-time seat, while 18-year-old Briton Abbi Pulling impressed on her W Series debut last year, after switching from British F4.

Gastly Calls 2021 'Most Consistent' Year in F1 After Netting Highest Ever Points Tally

Pierre Gasly attracted much acclaim for his performances last season. And the AlphaTauri driver couldn’t help but acknowledge his own improvements after what he termed his “most consistent” F1 season.

2021 saw the Frenchman pick up a podium in Azerbaijan and score 110 points – his highest tally in F1 yet – helping his squad achieve sixth in the championship.

Asked where he thought he’d improved and what he’d learned in 2021, Gasly replied: “Obviously with Yuki [Tsunoda] coming as a rookie, I had a bit more responsibility in the direction we take, and I feel I’ve learned a lot technically from being more involved.

“I think our car generally is stronger in qualifying more than the race, and in terms of set-up and potential to extract the maximum from the weekend, I think I’ve made a step forward on that side.

“And yes, you get more experience and I think this year was my most consistent in Formula 1 in terms of [how] you always make mistakes but trying to reduce them and maximising all the opportunities you have – this year I feel I’ve made a step on that side, yes.”

The 25-year-old added that 2021 saw him embrace the stability that came with staying with AlphaTauri for a second consecutive full season, which is something that Gasly hadn’t previously experienced in F1, having been promoted to Red Bull for 2019 and demoted back to Toro Rosso in the middle of that campaign.

“For me, the key point this year was carrying one, or another, year with the same team, which was the first time it happened to me in Formula 1. We have a much better understanding of what we need from each other with the same group of engineers and also, I think a bit more impact in what I need from the car,” added the French driver.

Soon, Gasly will be embarking on his third full year with AlphaTauri and second alongside team mate Tsunoda, the team to use Red Bull-branded power as Honda have departed the sport.

The hard work continues for Gasly, meanwhile, as he prepares to race an all-new breed of F1 cars this season.

Mercedes Engine Head Hodgkinson to Join Red Bull in May After Teams Agree to Release Date

Red Bull’s new powertrain division has received a shot in the arm with news that the Milton Keynes-based squad have agreed a release date for Ben Hodgkinson to join them from Mercedes as their new Technical Director.

Hodgkinson was Red Bull’s first big signing to their all-new engine department, which was created following Honda’s decision to leave F1, with the news breaking last April.

He joins the team with almost 20 years of experience with Mercedes, whose power unit has dominated the turbo-hybrid era, and where he had risen to Head of Mechanical Engineering in their engine division.

Red Bull said at the time he will lead the power train group “with full integration into the chassis team to deliver future power units that enable Red Bull to compete for world championships”.

His key focus – when he starts on May 24 – will be on the engine Red Bull plan to introduce in 2025, when a new PU formula is set to be introduced.

“Mercedes F1 and Red Bull F1 today reached an agreement regarding the appointment of Ben Hodgkinson,” said the two teams in a joint statement on Friday.

“Under the terms of that agreement, Ben, who joined Mercedes in August 2001, will be free to join Red Bull Powertrains from 24 May 2022.”

It was announced last year that five other Mercedes engine personnel were set to join Red Bull, too.

Steve Blewett, who was Mercedes HPP’s Head of Manufacturing for more than a decade and Production Manager at Williams previously, will become Production Director, while Omid Mostaghimi swaps his role as Mercedes’ F1 electronics team leader to become Head of Powertrains Electronics and ERS.

Pip Clode, Mercedes’ F1 Power Unit Concept Team Leader, joins as Head of Mechanical Design ERS, while Steve Brodie leaves his role as Trackside and Final Inspection Manager to become Group Leader ICE Operations. Anton Mayo will be Head of PU Design ICE, having been Engineering Team Leader at Mercedes.