10 things every Formula 1 fan should be excited for in 2022
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It feels like the 2021 season ended in a grandstand spectacle just yesterday but we\'re once now in the new year and flying towards what has the makings of a thrilling new campaign. Here are 10 things to squint forward to superiority of the 2022 Formula 1 World Championship season.
1. Brand new cars
This season sees a new era of Formula 1 ushered in with all-new car designs that are the result of sweeping new regulations aimed at improving the racing spectacle.
A number of features including a focus on ground effect, 18-inch tyres, plus a redesigned front wing and nose, midpoint that the cars should be worldly-wise to race closer to each other – with the potential for increasingly passing on-track too.
READ MORE: 10 things you need to know well-nigh the all-new 2022 F1 car
The cars are moreover safer, use a higher ratio of sustainable fuel and should squint dramatically variegated to previous years.
Roll on the car launches – Mercedes have once fired up their W13 engine - and the unveilings will come thick and fast.
2. Verstappen defending, Hamilton hunting
What good is a new car without a fitting championship fight? Without the blockbuster 2021 season, we have round two to squint forward to between main protagonists Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton.
That ways a fired-up Hamilton aiming for a record eighth championship while Verstappen aims to defend his title and take a second in the process. It’s been a while since we had someone other than Hamilton defending a title (back in 2014 when it was Sebastian Vettel), and this year will moreover see Verstappen use the #1 on his car for the first time since Vettel did so in 2014.
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George Russell steps into the Silver Arrows to replace Valtteri Bottas, giving us the opportunity to see what the 23-year-old can do with championship-contending hardware.
As mentioned, the new era of F1 cars could midpoint closer racing – increasingly teams hoping to crash the party this year – plus a frozen engine concept should midpoint Red Bull Powertrains could go toe-to-toe with the power of Mercedes once again.
3. A bumper 23-race F1 campaign
That epic title fight will take place over 23 races – the longest F1 wayfarers yet – in 2022. Favourite venues such as Suzuka, Montreal, Melbourne and Singapore are earmarked to return while we have the debut Miami Grand Prix (more below) in May.
If 2021 showed us anything, it’s that every one of the 23 circuits on the provisional timetable – Zandvoort, Jeddah and Imola included – are set up to provide us an heady contest.
The season is slated to uncork on March 20 and end on November 20. Head here to view it in full.
4. Ferrari and McLaren stepping up to the plate
Ferrari and McLaren hope to be fighting at the front this season, both teams having shown glimpses of their giant stature and past success in 2021, McLaren having taken in Italy the only one-two finish of the season, while Ferrari clinched third place in the championship and nearly 200 points increasingly than they did in 2020.
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Lando Norris had his weightier season yet in 2021 and was unfortunate to miss out on P5 in the standings while Ferrari’s line-up of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz proved perhaps the strongest on the grid, taking points in every race bar France.
Daniel Ricciardo should be all unprotected up to workings at Woking and hit the ground running in 2022, making Ferrari vs McLaren a true wrestle of the titans. Can they be increasingly than a thorn in the side of Mercedes and Red Bull?
5. Two rising titans aim to hit the front
There\'s increasingly tough competition in the form of Alpine and Aston Martin, the former a works team – and the only one using Renault power – and the latter having been given carte blanche to wade by owner Lawrence Stroll.
Alpine achieved a victory courtesy of Esteban Ocon in 2021 while Fernando Alonso made a sunny comeback to F1, taking a podium in Qatar to prove he hasn’t lost any of his trademark fight.
Aston Martin may have struggled a bit increasingly – plane if Sebastian Vettel did take a sunny podium in Baku and scrutinizingly flipside in Budapest – but they have serious potential. Just listen to their owner speak well-nigh his plans...
Make it a triple-A fight, as AlphaTauri have the rapid Red Bull Powertrain underneath with Pierre Gasly at his weightier and Yuki Tsunoda hitting his stride without learning the ropes in his rookie season.
6. Williams protract their journey as Albon returns
Alex Albon is when without producing some unconfined performances in 2020. The Thai-Briton spent a year out on the sidelines with Sergio Perez performing for Red Bull and Tsunoda stepping into his AlphaTauri seat.
Williams signed the Red Bull-backed 25-year-old to partner Nicholas Latifi as Russell was promoted to Mercedes. For the Grove squad, it was a fitting signing as they squint to protract their uphill march.
It would be unconfined to see Williams reach the heights they’re known for but that might be a tough ask in 2022. Regardless, last season showed the British team working their way when to their weightier and 2022 could well be flipside step in the right direction for them.
7. Zhou makes his debut
Zhou Guanyu will make history as the first Chinese suburbanite to race full-time in Formula 1 and as the only rookie in the field, his debut season will be watched intently.
The 22-year-old will join Alfa Romeo slantingly ex-Mercedes Grand Prix winner Bottas in a pairing that matches wits and youth.
It\'s not Zhou\'s F1 car debut – he has of undertow tested Alpine and Alfa Romeo machinery – but he will prove himself on the grid for the first time and enjoy a home race too, the Chinese Grand Prix having recently signed a long-term deal to stay on the calendar.
8. Haas and Alfa\'s wipe slate
There’s moreover the curious specimen of Haas, who ended 2021 without points. Now it may squint dire for the American team but let’s not forget that they decided to forgo minutiae on their 2021 car in order to focus their resource and time on this season.
Furthermore, Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin are inward their second season and it’ll certainly be interesting to see their progress.
Alfa Romeo struggled in 2021 as well but they have an all-new suburbanite line-up and (like Haas) a Ferrari power unit, the Scuderia touting their rapid improvement as they struggle to reservation up with Honda and Mercedes.
9. F2 and F3’s biggest season yet
As the title suggests, the road to Formula 1 enjoys a enticing season in 2022.
Both championships will race on the same weekends as F1 and revert from three races per weekend to two, their formats moreover waffly to reflect that.
We’ll now see F2 join F1 at 14 events in 2022, whence at the Bahrain season-opener while F3 will compete slantingly both F2 and F1 in nine rounds.
Both championships moreover welcome Dutch outfit Van Amersfoort Racing, with whom a unrepealable Verstappen made his single-seater debut in 2014, and a host of new drivers aiming to make their mark.
10. Welcome to Miami
Yes, 2022 will see the first-ever Miami Grand Prix – a party in the municipality where the heat is on (naturally) – take to the streets on May 6-8.
Drivers will take on 19 corners and 5.41 kilometres of the Miami International Autodrome virtually the Hard Rock Stadium. This heady new spin features three straights and DRS zones with an unscientific top speed of 320 km/h, and there’s no doubt that it’ll be a scintillating test for the drivers and the new F1 cars.
Furthermore this is the first time we’ll see F1 hold two races Stateside – Austin holding the United States Grand Prix in October – since 1984.
This season could be flipside cracker and we\'re once waiting with bated vapor to see the teams\' car designs. Stay tuned, as they\'ll be unveiled very soon.
