The 73rd edition of the Formula One World Championship kicks off this weekend in the Persian Gulf with the Bahrain Grand Prix, the first of twenty-two races to be held in twenty different countries around the world through November 20th. It is the most awaited season for many years, because after the end of the so-called era of turbo hybrid engines that began in 2014, the introduction of the new technical regulations already marks the beginning of a new era for Formula 1 at the center of great Interest.
Furthermore, the regulatory changes come after a season finale, the last one, marked by the close and spectacular rivalry between Mercedes and Red Bull, and played out with goals and twists until the very last lap of the last race on the calendar. After seven years, the reigning world champion is no longer Lewis Hamilton, but Max Verstappen, whose victory over the course of the season – and especially in the last Grand Prix – was both celebrated and criticized for interference by race control.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Christian Horner (Mark Thompson/Getty Images)
Mercedes lost the drivers’ title but retained the constructors’ title. In this way, in the age of turbo-hybrid engines, it has at least maintained its undisputed dominance among manufacturers. But Red Bull’s ultimate victory did not go to Mercedes, as we could gather from the words of team boss Toto Wolff, who was very clear in the final episode of the Netflix series Drive to Survive: “Lewis did everything it took to win the World Cup. The title was stolen from them and they couldn’t have done a better job of motivating us. Everyone’s going to have a target on their back next year.” Many believe the recent dismissal of controversial race director Michael Masi was requested and obtained by Mercedes.
The main novelty
Compared to last season, the cars have changed a lot. The main innovation concerns the aerodynamic load, ie the ability to generate the force that increases grip on the asphalt during the race. The so-called ground effect – as it was used until the early 1980s – is exploited again through the use of grooved floors (the so-called Venturi channels), which act like “suckers” on the asphalt. The choice of ground effect was determined by the search for more competitive races, open to as many results as possible, with fewer interruptions and a higher level of safety.
Haas and Williams testing in Bahrain (Mark Thompson/Getty Images)
Ground effect has actually replaced the old way Formula 1 cars created aerodynamic load, i.e. superficially, with increasingly complex ailerons and appendages mounted on the bodywork that fixed the cars to the ground and created high currents of air” , in technical jargon). During the race, these currents disturbed the cars in line, reducing downforce by almost 50 percent and thus stability and, in the long term, also the set-up. All this made overtaking difficult, but not only: in the event of contact, they broke Attachments, particularly those on the front fenders, were common, causing damage to the cars and punctures, and therefore constant stoppages and often chaotic restarts (which helped affect last season’s result).
What else has changed
Other innovations include the use of a new fuel with 10 percent biocomponents (compared to 5.75 percent last year). The machines have to show more power and absorb 48 and 15 percent more energy in front and rear impacts respectively. The ailerons will be individual pieces, with the so-called flaps being inserted into the nose and no longer hooked in. The wheels are becoming less sensitive to temperature, larger and narrower – with 45 cm and no longer 33 cm rims – to improve aerodynamics and maneuverability.
McLaren tires in the colors of new sponsor Google (Clive Mason/Getty Images)
To make matters worse, there will also be spending limits: teams have an annual cap of $140 million, which will be gradually reduced to $135 million starting in 2023. Pilot salaries, marketing expenses and the salaries of the top three executives are not included in the calculation.
The impact of the changes
All teams have started designing the new cars from scratch, each following their own skills and resources, which will still make a difference, but probably in a less pronounced way than in the past. According to the regulations, some components must be the same for everyone, others, such as the aerodynamic parts – or the most innovative ones – were freely developed. As a result, the cars seen so far are all very different, they haven’t stopped changing their looks and will continue to do so late in the season, as Nikolas Tombazis, the Technical Director of the International Federation, explains: “With the new regulation it is inevitable that there are some areas that have not been properly foreseen in terms of flexibility and this may require improvement as the work progresses ».
Teams like Red Bull and Mercedes only announced their line-up for the start of the season on the last day of testing. And they changed it again in view of the first free practice session in Bahrain. Others, on the other hand, were able to “sacrifice” themselves last season to focus longer on new projects and presented tests with less disruptive cars.
(r / Formula1)
The first problems to be solved inevitably arose during the track tests carried out over the past few weeks. The changes have reduced the average speed of the cars by a few seconds per lap compared to last year, also due to the minimum weight allowed without fuel, which has increased from 740 kilos in 2019 to 798 kilos this season. Pilots also reported greater exposure to gusts of wind.
On the track, the problem that has required more intervention and in most cases has not yet been completely solved is the so-called aerodynamic rebound (or porpoising), one of the undesirable consequences of the return effect on the ground. Namely, the grooves on the underside of the machines bring the ground closer to the ground as speed increases. At speed spikes, cars can touch it, and in response they begin to rock uncomfortably up and down, so much so that many joke that teams may need dentists for their drivers.
Teams, Pilots, Colors
The teams participating in the World Cup remained ten with the usual two riders. The development of the engines has been frozen for the whole season and the manufacturers are the same as last year: there is only one major change. Red Bull and Alpha Tauri, the two stables of the Austrian energy drink multinational, will no longer use official Honda engines, but will instead produce them themselves, while continuing to use the Japanese company’s technologies.
However, there were some changes in the drivers. After four years at Mercedes, Finn Valtteri Bottas joined Sauber-Alfa Romeo, where he will partner with the first Chinese driver in the championship’s history, Zhou Guanyu. Bottas’ place at Mercedes was given to Britain’s George Russell, who worked at Williams until last year and was considered one of the most promising young drivers in Formula 1. Williams replaced him with former Red Bull driver Alexander Albon.
George Russell and Lewis Hamilton (Mark Thompson/Getty Images)
The other stables kept their leaders, only with some last minute changes. Haas terminated the contract of Russian driver Nikita Mazepin as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and replaced him with the recall of Denmark’s Kevin Magnussen, who will then team up with Mick Schumacher for the duration of the season. Aston Martin, on the other hand, had to temporarily replace the corona-positive Sebastian Vettel by bringing in the German Nico Hulkenberg for the first race of the season.
The sponsors continue to have an important weight in the prospects of each team and are looking with interest both at the new regulations and at the moment of global growth of Formula 1. A few days before the start of the world championship, for example, McLaren signed a multi-year contract with Google, whose colors are already present on the liveries of British cars. The American Oracle remains among the big tech companies and is the new main partner of Red Bull.
The British Aston Martin, owned by Canadian millionaire Lawrence Stroll, has as a new sponsor the Saudi national hydrocarbon company Saudi Aramco, which is already a sponsor of Formula 1 and was the company with the most profits in the world in 2018: 111 billion dollars, more than 98 billion euros. Finally, Mercedes has returned to its traditional gray color after using the black in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement for the past two years.
What was seen in the tests
Although what we’ve seen in recent testing gives only a vague indication of the balance of power between the teams – between laps with more or less empty tanks, empty tracks and different tires – it can be said that some teams will start the season at least better situations. , and Ferrari seems to be one of them.
Red Bull was among the best, if not among the first, in the Bahrain tests. It was consistent, it didn’t have any major problems and in fact it was among the teams that had fewer problems with aerodynamic rebound, a problem that Ferrari had to deal with instead. Still, it’s been one of the most consistent in Bahrain and signs so far suggest the gap to last season’s top two teams, Red Bull and Mercedes, may have narrowed further.
Charles Leclerc on track in Bahrain (Lars Baron / Getty Images)
Regarding Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton described the situation as follows: “At the moment I don’t think we can fight for victory. We’re not the fastest. I think it’s Ferrari, maybe Red Bull and then maybe us or McLaren, I don’t know ». Even in their latest updated version, the German cars showed some signs of trouble both in the corners with frequent lockups and understeer, and in the fast sections with the widespread problem of rebound.
Among the surprises instead was Alfa Romeo, who, despite some problems, managed to do it with rather low times, also thanks to the good impression made by the new drivers. A lot of attention is also being paid to Haas, the small American-owned team, powered and backed by Ferrari, who after a disastrous 2021 season is looking to do much better in 2022 thanks to a car they’ve been working on for a long time. However, among those who have faced the greatest difficulties are Williams, Aston Martin and McLaren. The latter had major problems with brake cooling, which limited their ability to stay on track. In addition, of his two drivers, only Lando Norris drove in Bahrain: Daniel Ricciardo tested positive for the corona virus and will run almost blind at the first Grand Prix of the season.
The calendar
Like last season, 22 races will be held in 20 different countries. It will be racing again in Japan, Australia, Canada and Singapore after a two-year absence due to complications related to the pandemic. China was again excluded for the same reasons. Compared to the last World Cup, it will not take place in Portugal, Turkey and Qatar. Formula 1 will not even return to Russia after terminating its contract with the Sochi circuit in response to the invasion of Ukraine. Instead, the Miami Grand Prix will make its debut. Italy will be the only country along with the United States to host two races: on April 24th in Imola and on September 11th in Monza.
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