Formula 1 starts its 73rd season on Sunday. And this time a lot is new: racing cars, rules, race directors. ABMS gives an overview of what you have to get used to in this Formula 1 year:
A German race director: Michael Masi is leaving, followed by three new chief supervisors over the GP races. The Australian lost his post in the wake of the controversial final in Abu Dhabi. From now on, former German DTM race director Niels Wittich and sports car World Championship race director Eduardo Freitas will alternate in the Race Control Tower. Working in the background as a senior advisor: Herbie Blash (73), deputy to Charlie Whiting from 1996 to 2016 and a real friend of Bernie Ecclestone. In addition, there should be some kind of video evidence from a remote race control at the FIA in Geneva in the future. The radio traffic between teams and race control, on the other hand, should no longer be broadcast on TV. A direct line between the team bosses and the race director was also cut to prevent the race director from being put under pressure.
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Upgraded Sprint Races: There will be three sprint races again in 2022, this time in Imola, Austria and Brazil. The sprints are even upgraded. There are now points for the first eight. The winner gets eight points, the eighth still one. For the statistics, pole position is again the fastest time from classic qualifying on Friday.
Instead of 13-inch balloon tires, 18-inch low-profile tires will be used in 2022.
Larger wheels and tires: Instead of 13-inch balloon tires, 18-inch low-profile tires will be used in 2022. This increases the outside diameter of the rollers from 670 to 725 millimeters. Hubcaps are also celebrating a comeback to prevent air turbulence. A kind of fender was even hinted at over the front tires. The tires continue to come from standard tire supplier Pirelli and are each delivered to the track in three compounds (soft, medium, hard).
Easier aerodynamics: The technical regulations have been completely revised for 2022. Goal: more overtaking manoeuvres. All unnecessary structures and wings that cause disruptive air turbulence have been banned. A large part of the downforce is now generated via two tunnels on the underbody. For the first time since the early 1980s, the so-called ground effect, which presses the cars onto the road with negative pressure, is making a comeback. This increases the speed in fast corners, but makes the cars more difficult to drive in slow corners. Overall, downforce is reduced by up to 20 percent. This should make the racing cars slower by up to three seconds. But the most important thing: the pursuer can better stay on the heels of the vehicle in front, as the “dirty air” behind the car is reduced.
Sustainable fuel: The 1.6-liter V6 turbo hybrid remains the same, but the proportion of biofuel is increased. Formula 1 will use E-10 petrol from 2022. That means: Ten percent must be obtained from regenerative resources. The V6 combustion engine had to be adapted for this. In theory, there is also a slight drop in horsepower, which the teams should have made up for by a long time ago.
Higher weight: The cars have increased! Actually, 43 kilos more than in the previous year were planned due to the around twelve kilos heavier tires and the revised engine as well as other standard parts. That would have increased the weight to 795 kilos. But for most teams, that wasn’t enough. They came to the first test overweight and asked to raise the minimum weight to 800 kilos. In the end, they agreed on 798 kilos. Alfa Romeo is now apparently the only team underweight.
Lower budget: Since 2021, the teams have had to stick to a budget limit. In the previous year, the limit was 145 million euros (based on 21 GP). Now the maximum budget drops to $140 million. For each race that exceeds 21 GP, an extra $1.2 million is allowed to be spent. Makes $141.2 million at 22 GP.
In 2022, the maximum budget drops to $140 million.
Customized safety car: The controversial Abu Dhabi 2021 season finale has consequences. In Article 55.13 of the sporting regulations, a crucial word has been changed. After a safety car deployment, “all” lapped cars should now return to their positions before the restart, previously it was said to be much less precise “any cars”. Spicy: The change is also an admission by the FIA that the rule could previously be interpreted individually, as race director Michael Masi did. A Mercedes AMG GT Black Series is used as the safety car. With 730 hp and a top speed of 325 km/h, it is the strongest and fastest safety car of all time.
Condensed weekend format: With 23 planned races, the burden on teams and employees increases. In return, Formula 1 has therefore trimmed the weekend format. On all GP weekends without a sprint, the media Thursday will be shortened. Instead, the pilots now have to speak to the press on Friday morning. Both training sessions then take place in the afternoon.
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Spectacular new race: The premier class goes America! In addition to Austin (Texas), there is now also a GP in Florida. On May 8th, Formula 1 races through Miami for the first time. The course will be 5.41 kilometers long and will loop around Hard Rock Stadium, home of American football team Miami Dolphins.
Chinese driver: Guanyu Zhou is the first Chinese driver to start as a regular driver in Formula 1. Zhou succeeds Antonio Giovinazzi at Alfa Romeo. In 2021, the 22-year-old from Shanghai took third place in Formula 2. His commitment is financed by a lavish dowry from Chinese sponsors. There is talk of up to 30 million dollars.
Formula 1 on TV
In 2022, Formula 1 will run on Sky. Last year, the broadcaster introduced a new TV channel especially for the premier class: Sky Formula 1. Here there is motorsport 24 hours a day. All practice sessions, all qualifying sessions, all races are always live and without commercial breaks. In addition, Sky also broadcasts the support races Formula 2, Formula 3 and the Porsche Supercup. The program also includes historic races and special programs.
