RBR will be hoping this year’s car is another Newey masterstroke. Chief technical officer Adrian Newey is famous for coming out of the blocks flying whenever there’s a major technical reg shake-up. Red Bull Racing were concentrating on last year’s hard-fought championship battle to the very last lap of 2021, which may have cost them development time for 2022. A potential Hamilton versus Russell battle is a mouthwatering prospect. Three seasons at underperforming Williams make it tricky to judge just how quick he’ll be (although very nearly winning on his one super-sub appearance in a Mercedes in 2020 gives a good clue).
Lewis Hamilton has a new team-mate: George Russell. The new tyres are another 2022 challenge, with far slimmer and stiffer sidewalls than the balloon-like slicks they’ve become used to. McLaren bolted out of the gates with competitive times immediately, on both low and high fuel loads and over longer stints managing tyre wear. Prompted by a cyclical loss and then resumption of downforce, the key will be curing it without losing performance. You almost expect to see Prost and Mansell’s names on the lap chats rather than Leclerc and Sainz… Uglier was the porpoising many of the cars, the Ferrari included, battled throughout the test. ‘If you think last year was my best, wait until you see this year.’ Ferrari is backįerrari topped the time sheets on day two with a supremely handsome car that calls to mind the classic liveries of yesteryear. He withdrew from social media and Mercedes were unable to confirm until immediately pre-season that he would be back in the car.‘I like to think that while moments like this might define other people’s careers, I refuse to let this define mine,’ Hamilton told the media pre-season. There was doubt as to whether Lewis Hamilton would return at all after the off-season. With any luck it’ll banish for good any hangover from Abu Dhabi. Mercedes new boy George Russell even called it a safety concern, but F1 boss Ross Brawn said the teams will find a fix: ‘We had something similar when I was at Williams in the early ’80s we found a solution.’The new cars look fabulous, fast and an interesting challenge for the drivers. The cars have been porpoising (bouncing off the track surface at high speed), such is the level of suction created by the new venturi tunnels. To put that in perspective, he managed only 138 laps on the opening day of 2021 in a car that was 12 months old. Verstappen’s Red Bull managed 147 laps on the opening day, fresh out of the box. At the first test the level of reliability was also astonishing.
2022 f1 car drivers#
The drivers haven’t noticed any difference in speed to last year through quick corners and, while they’re slower through the twistier stuff, lap times are only two seconds off 2021’s. Despite the changes, the cars remain breathtakingly fast. The Ferrari has beautifully sculpted sidepods the Red Bull has a high nose the McLaren has trick front suspension and the Mercedes looks emaciated, its body-work shrink-wrapped around the power unit. Unsurprisingly, there are huge differences between the cars. Low-profile 18-inch tyres have been introduced to more closely mirror the cars we drive on the road the fuel is now 10 per cent ethanol and there’s a budget cap of $140 million ($5m lower than last year). ‘I’ve followed other cars and it does feel better you don’t get the understeer, or snaps of oversteer like in the past.’ Sebastien Buemi (Test and reserve) Aston Martinįind all our 2022 F1 drivers and teams articles.‘I think they’ve achieved that,’ says reigning champ Max Verstappen. Teams: Mercedes | Red Bull | Ferrari | McLaren | Alpine | AlphaTauri | Aston Martin | Williams | Alfa Romeo | Haas MercedesĪdvert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free
2022 f1 car driver#
Stay up-to-date on the 2022 F1 driver line-up with RaceFans: Nico Hulkenberg substituted for Sebastian Vettel at Aston Martin in the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian grands prix.
Max Verstappen has chosen to race using the number ‘1’ this season.
The reigning world champion has the option of adopting the number ‘1’ or continuing to use his career number. Each driver can choose their own racing number to use during their career.