Preface

[René]

It will be another good month before we see the first pictures of the new cars and another 7 weeks before the first engines start in Barcelona for the first pre-season test. Still, the winter break is now very short with so many races on the calendar.

Anyway, until then we can already speculate and fantasize about how the new season will develop. The biggest rule change in years with a completely new design concept for all cars is going to make it interesting in any case. Despite the strict rules, will someone come up with a brilliant idea?

Pre season testing

Spain	Barcelona	23-25 February
Bahrain	Sakhir	10-12 March

Provisional calendar

20 March	Bahrain	Sakhir
27 March	Saudi Arabia	Jeddah
10 April	Australia	Melbourne
24 April	Emilia Romagna	Imola
8 May	USA	Miami
22 May	Spain	Barcelona
29 May	Monaco	Monaco
12 June	Azerbaijan	Baku
19 June	Canada	Montreal
3 July	United Kingdom	Silverstone
10 July	Austria	Spielberg
24 July	France	Le Castellet
31 July	Hungary	Budapest
28 August	Belgium	Spa
4 September	Netherlands	Zandvoort
11 September	Italy	Monza
25 September	Russia	Sochi
2 October	Singapore	Singapore
9 October	Japan	Suzuka
23 October	USA	Austin
30 October	Mexico	Mexico City
13 November	Brazil	Sao Paulo
20 November	Abu Dhabi	Abu Dhabi

[chrisb]

Rene, that is one very long season and one wonders if it is all too much, however the meetings between 28th August and 11th September look good,

Do we know the measurements of the new cars and how their size differs from last years cars?

I am guessing the Spanish tests will be interesting, however if history is a guide it is those teams with the best resources who start fastest - unless of course they are some real breakthroughs, unlikely as the rule book is a limiting exercise not an encouraging one.

[René]

Oh yes Chris, that is a very long season. Too long if you ask most fans or the mechanics or all the people working in the logistics. And even most drivers don’t like it. But the ones in power think it’s a great idea. It is what it is I guess. 

The latest I know about the size of the cars is that they will be, on average, between 10 to 20cm shorter which is good news. On the downside, they will be heavier again. The new 18” wheels are apparently heavier then the current wheels. 

But I’m an optimist so I have good hopes we will see better racing this year and a strong Ferrari! 

[charleselan]

Oh! Wait, yet again we see commercial interests taking preference over the lives of those who actual do the graft, and that of their families. This calendar is truly outrageous and actually demeans the sport.

Quality is what we want not quantity.

[chrisb]

Rene, I hope your optimism is realised, it is a very long time since I have had so much respect for the two Ferrari drivers [42 years?] and wished them victory, albeit quietly. I really do hope Ferrari and McLaren are winners this year - it would be so so good for everyone and everything

I Haven't checked but I think the MotoGP calendar is also far too excessive this year and as John quite rightly says, we need quality not quantity,

[René]

Jan 4, 2022 22:18:44 GMT chrisb said:

Rene, I hope your optimism is realised, it is a very long time since I have had so much respect for the two Ferrari drivers [42 years?] and wished them victory, albeit quietly. I really do hope Ferrari and McLaren are winners this year - it would be so so good for everyone and everything

I Haven't checked but I think the MotoGP calendar is also far too excessive this year and as John quite rightly says, we need quality not quantity,

Chris, I assume you mean Jody and Gilles. That was a brilliant combination and so is the current one with Charles and Carlos. They're going to bring the title back to Maranello, I know that.

I agree it would also be good to see McLaren back up front and how nice would it be if Williams could take a step forward with Alex Albon?

I looked at the MotoGP calendar which currently has 21 races…

[René]

An interesting comparison between the 2021 car and the new concept. To me it looks better.



As an aside, the Mission Winnow logos will go and be replaced by a familiar name, Santander.

[mikael]

The Formula One car of 2022 is still a large car; but I agree in that it looks better than its 2021 predecessor. Hopefully the regulations demand that the cars remain "clean" as in the illustration, that is, hopefully they won't be plastered up with winglets and vortex generators already by mid-season.

Apparently, the rear wing really breaks new ground. It will be interesting to see if some individual development will be possible.

[mikael]

By the way, that "Mission Winnow" has remained an enigma to me. I find it hard to figure what it is, exactly, other than a hidden tobacco promotion/sponsorship. But perhaps that is just what it is ...?

[René]

Jan 5, 2022 15:29:38 GMT mikael said:

The Formula One car of 2022 is still a large car; but I agree in that it looks better than its 2021 predecessor. Hopefully the regulations demand that the cars remain "clean" as in the illustration, that is, hopefully they won't be plastered up with winglets and vortex generators already by mid-season.

Apparently, the rear wing really breaks new ground. It will be interesting to see if some individual development will be possible.

Yes it's still quite large but at least the continuous growth has stopped. The new cars will be shorter.

As for winglets and bargeboards and other add-ons, I don't think that is allowed anymore. As I understand it, there are still a few areas where different shapes and concepts are allowed (nose, front wing and cockpit area I believe) so there should be room for different ideas. Mattia Binotto recently said there wiil be quite a few innovations on the new Ferrari so they obviously found room to play around.

I am very curious to what the cars will look like and what the individual teams come up with. And let's be honest, the cars all look the same for ages now. If the new cars are better race cars that is the best we can wish for.

[René]

Jan 6, 2022 8:55:26 GMT mikael said:

By the way, that "Mission Winnow" has remained an enigma to me. I find it hard to figure what it is, exactly, other than a hidden tobacco promotion/sponsorship. But perhaps that is just what it is ...?

Mikael, it's as vague as it sounds. But you're right of course, Mission Winnow is Philip Morris so basically a hidden tobacco sponsorship. How they still make money out of this is not entirely clear to me to be honest.

If you look at the Mission Winnow corporate website they explain what it's all about: "Mission Winnow is a change lab focused on reframing global conversations, sparking open debate, connecting people and supporting the realization of innovative ideas." I mean, how vague can you be?

The same nonsense by the way on the McLaren with their Vuse sponsorship which is in fact British American Tobacco.

[mikael]

Thank you for interesting info, René.

Yes, the (once) grand, old tobacco companies have fallen on hard times.

A company like "Japan Tobacco" (JT) has moved into new venues, like coffee-production.

JT canned coffee, for the home market.

[charleselan]

I have just read that Marko has said that Carlos Sainz has debunked the myth of Charles Leclerc and that the only other guy upon with Max and SLH is Lando Norris. What a complete imbecile the man is.

Can you imagine someone saying back in 1979 that Jody Scheckter had just debunked the myth of Gilles Villeneuve! maybe Marko should take a step back and consider that Carlos Sainz was the closest in team challenger to his wonder boy when they were at TR together, and that on ultimate pace Charles lacks nothing.

[René]

Jan 11, 2022 12:52:39 GMT charleselan said:

I have just read that Marko has said that Carlos Sainz has debunked the myth of Charles Leclerc and that the only other guy upon with Max and SLH is Lando Norris. What a complete imbecile the man is.

Can you imagine someone saying back in 1979 that Jody Scheckter had just debunked the myth of Gilles Villeneuve! maybe Marko should take a step back and consider that Carlos Sainz was the closest in team challenger to his wonder boy when they were at TR together, and that on ultimate pace Charles lacks nothing.

Marko is trying to unsettle Ferrari in a rather childish manner. Red Bull knows Ferrari could be very strong this season and have a formidable driver pairing. 

Carlos had a fantastic first season in red and shows time after time he is a top class driver and a great team player. Charles has been very unlucky on several occasions and should have scored at least 40 points more so would have finished higher up in the standings. 

It’s time for Dr. M. to retire.

[René]

Not much going on at the moment besides some staff changes here and there. And the positions of Michael Masi and Nicolas Tombazis are apparently unsure... yawn... and then there's of course the ungoing rumor that Sir Lewis could retire from F1. And an even bigger rumor claims that Seb will replace Lewis. Ah well, it's the off-season....