Sakhir (dpa) – New number 1, new cars, even more action: After a radical conversion, Formula 1 wants to top the drama finale of 2021 one more time. The race control has been replaced, a video referee installed and the main actors are ready for the next epic duels.
“If you think you saw the best of me at the end of last year, then wait this year,” said record world champion Lewis Hamilton. In 2022, the 37-year-old Mercedes superstar will start in the unusual role of the challenger.
Proudly wearing the champion’s number 1 instead of his personal starting number 33 on the Red Bull, Max Verstappen wants to defend his first world title. “I always want to win, but that desperate ‘I have to win’ is gone,” said the 24-year-old Dutchman, who had treated himself to a few days in Brazil and Miami after his debut triumph.
The three or four kilos he had gained over the winter days have long been worn off. With the best time in the last test drives, Verstappen got in the mood for the Grand Prix opener on Sunday in the Sakhir desert.
The world championship year, which was actually planned as a record season, starts on the course, which according to the fresh contract will welcome Formula 1 until at least 2036. However, there is still no replacement for the Russia race, which was canceled due to the war in Ukraine. There are currently 22 instead of 23 races on the calendar – Miami is new.
New touchstone for Schumacher and new team boss for Vettel
Germany is not there again – despite Sebastian Vettel and Mick Schumacher, both of whom are hoping for a significant boost. It’s about time for Vettel too: The Hessian will be 35 in the summer. His commitment to the environment, to human rights, to a better world is now more sustainable than his appearances in the Aston Martin. Vettel’s 53rd and last Grand Prix victory was a long time ago, he still won in the Ferrari on September 22, 2019 in Singapore.
More news from Formula 1
“It is clear that someone like Seb, who is a four-time world champion, does not want to drive around in P15, P12 or P8,” said Vettel’s new team boss Mike Krack – once his race engineer on Vettel’s first Formula 1 drives. Vettel finished twelfth in the World Championship last year, and that should get better with the new Aston Martin. “No one really knows where he stands,” Vettel said after the test drives.
In the end, Mick Schumacher turned the second-best lap there. “We have a good car, we have something to work with, so everyone can be really happy and proud of themselves that we’ve achieved that,” said the 22-year-old.
In the end, things were anything but going according to plan for the American Haas team. Separation from the Russian title sponsor, separation from the Russian pilot Nikita Masepin, transport problems, delays in the test drives, surprising return action by Kevin Magnussen as team partner for Mick Schumacher. The 29-year-old Dane is considered a tough stable rival and, with his experience, will be a difficult touchstone for Schumacher in his second Formula 1 year.
As striking as it is rare: sidepods from wide to narrow
The great hope of the teams from the second or third row: with the new design to new successes. It’s been a long time since the cars looked so different at first glance. You can’t tell that the racing cars, which are supposed to make overtaking easier, have become almost a hundredweight heavier. The hobbling during the test drives does. And especially the aerodynamic changes from the simplified front and rear wings, to the larger tires and the side boxes, on which the designers really let off steam.
In the already revised Silver Arrow W13, they are almost non-existent. In the new Ferrari, however, they are expansive and have a deep notch and gills for ventilation. The Scuderia car was the most popular during the test drives and has already made some Tifosi dream of returning to the top.
A Red Victory Goddess?
In 2007, Ferrari celebrated the last driver triumph to date thanks to Kimi Raikkonen. The Finn, now 42 years old, is no longer there this year. The first regular Chinese driver Guanyu Zhou and Valtteri Bottas are now driving for his last Alfa Romeo team, who in turn had to make room for George Russell at Mercedes.
The German factory team wants to continue its already historic team title series with a double British lead. Since 2014, Mercedes has won the constructors’ championship without interruption. And Hamilton and his team also want to prove to the competition that last season’s much-discussed finale, which led to the dismissal of race director Michael Masi, ultimately only made them stronger.