Just over three months after a historic season finale, Formula One returns this weekend. With new regulations, the mood has reset among the grid. The prior eight seasons are not tossed out the window, but the past will not dictate our future expectations as we have become accustomed to doing.
For the first time since 2014, we have a new defending World Drivers' Champion, but the constructors' crown remains squarely in the hands of one manufacture. All ten teams are back on the grid from the 2021 season, but there have been plenty of changes on the grid. Some veterans have changed teams. There are a few new drivers on the grid. Two drivers are even returning after a year away.
With how 2021 ended, everyone is focused on the fireworks to continue in 2022.
Schedule
With 22 rounds on the schedule, Bahrain hosts the season opener on March 20 ahead of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix the following week, only a little over three and a half months after the inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Formula One will have an easy period, but one that will see the series hit three continents in three consecutive races. After a week off, Australia hosts the third round on April 10. Two weeks later, Imola hosts the first European round of the season. On May 8, the inaugural Miami Grand Prix takes place. After Miami, every following race will occur in a back-to-back with another round.
The first European back-to-back will be the Spanish Grand Prix on May 22 before the Monaco Grand Prix. The next back-to-back is a cross-global trek from Baku on June 12 and Montreal on June 19.
Silverstone hosts the first round of July with the Austrian Grand Prix falling the following weekend on July 10. The French Grand Prix falls back to July 24 with Hungary closing out the month on July 31, and that will bring Formula One to its summer break.
Everyone will return to the only back-to-back-to-back, starting with the Belgian Grand Prix on August 28 before heading north to Zandvoort on September 4. Monza will be the final European round of the season on September 11.
October hopefully brings a return to the Asia-Pacific region. Singapore is scheduled for October 2 with Suzuka set for October 9. From Asia will be the Americas. The United States Grand Prix is slated for October 23 ahead of the Mexican Grand Pix on October 30.
There will be a week off before Interlagos on November 13, the penultimate round of the season. Abu Dhabi will host the finale seven days later on November 20.
Constructors:
Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team
Lewis Hamilton: #44 Mercedes W13
What did he do in 2021: Hamilton won eight races, including his 100th victory in the Russian Grand Prix. He was on the podium 17 times, matching what was the record prior to the 2022 season. He scored points in 20 of 22 races with a 15th at Azerbaijan and retirement at Monza. Hamilton lost the championship by eight points with a second-place result in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after entering the final race level on points. He concluded the season on 387.5 points.
What to expect in 2022: History tells us Hamilton is going to win many races and compete for the championship, but Hamilton has expressed concerns with the Mercedes. This isn't the first time Mercedes has left a preseason saying it is not the fastest in the last few seasons. But this year feels different.
It might not be a drastic decline for Mercedes, falling from World Constructors' Champions to seventh, but I think there is a strong chance Mercedes is not the best team. That doesn't mean Mercedes will not be a good team. There is a good chance Mercedes starts on the wrong foot but gathers itself midseason and is competitive.
For the last eight seasons we have seen Mercedes figure it out when it has gone bad. Even if Mercedes is only the third best team through the first few races, I expect the German outfit to find a solution and have a few races where it is on top. As for Hamilton, I expect he will have his fewest number of victories since 2013. That is not crazy when you consider he has won at least eight races in each of the last eight seasons.
Can he win an eighth world championship with fewer than eight victories? It depends on how level the grid is. There was once a day where five victories was enough to take a world championship. In recent years, five victories doesn't even keep the championship alive into the finale. There will be some frustrating days, but Hamilton and Mercedes will figure it out and have multiple victories.
George Russell: #63 Mercedes W13
What did he do in 2021: Driving for Williams, Russell scored an eighth-place finish in changing conditions at the Hungary Grand Prix before being credited with a runner-up result at Spa-Francorchamps after a memorable qualifying effort to get him second on the grid. He also scored points at Monza and Sochi, finishing the year with 16 points, 15th in the championship.
What to expect in 2022: After spending the last three seasons driving a difficult car, Russell finds himself in another challenging machine, but at least it is quicker.
Russell is remembered for his Mercedes debut in the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix when Hamilton was forced out of the car due to COVID-19. Russell qualified second and led 59 of 87 laps, but a botched pit stop and then a tire puncture kept him from his maiden grand prix victory and knocked him down to ninth. The talent is there, but he is joining Mercedes right when the team faces its greatest adversity since 2013.
It is more likely Hamilton breaks through first. If Hamilton can breakthrough, win races and be a driver to beat, it is more likely Russell will find his way up the order and position himself for podium finishes and possibly victories. If Hamilton is still struggling, Russell will likely be around his fellow Brit.
Regardless of whether Mercedes develops the car into a world champion or not, this is set to be Russell's best Formula One season. He scored points in four races, one of which was runner-up in the infamous Belgian Grand Prix, last year. He should be regularly scoring points even if Mercedes is not contending for race victories. There should be a few bright days, possibly a race victory, but definitely a proper trip to the podium.
Oracle Red Bull Racing
Max Verstappen: #1 Red Bull RB18
What did he do in 2021: Verstappen won ten races and stood on a record-setting 18 podium finishes. Verstappen's victory in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix earned him his first World Drivers' championship with 395.5 points. A few of the other tracks he won at were Imola, Monaco, Zandvoort, Austin and Mexico City. He closed the season with eight consecutive podium finishes. He was in the points for 19 of 22 races with the only time he scored points but was not on the podium being a ninth-place result in Hungary.
What to expect in 2022: Red Bull has been the most confident of the teams from testing and Verstappen was on top in the Bahrain test last weekend. He won ten races and set the podium record. Do not expect a hangover for Verstappen, but there is a chance he will not be as prolific. He was on the podium for all but four races. No one reached 18 podium finishes before Verstappen last year. He could take a step back and still be on the rostrum 16 times. That would not be a bad year.
Red Bull could knock it out of the park and show from day one no one is going to top it. If everyone else is battling the porpoising issue with the ground effect at the rear and Red Bull has it squared away, Verstappen could open the season with four or five victories on the spin and really have the title locked up before we hit summer.
Verstappen is the driver to beat. We know how he and Hamilton raced each other last year, but if there is another driver in the mix, it will be intriguing to see how that driver treats Verstappen and vice versa. Verstappen has been through the championship battle before. He knows what it takes. Besides Hamilton and Sebastien Vettel, no one else has been in a championship fight like this one. Verstappen could prove to have the advantage mentally on the field as well as on the racetrack.
Sergio Pérez: #11 Red Bull RB18
What did he do in 2021: Pérez won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after his teammate Verstappen blew a tire while leading with only a handful of laps to go and Lewis Hamilton botched the restart with two laps to go. Pérez had only four other podium finishes all season and never finished second. He was in the top five for 13 of 22 races and finished fourth in the championship on 190 points.
What to expect in 2022: Pérez will be second fiddle to Verstappen, and his goal will be to secure Red Bull its first constructors' championship since 2013.
Last year, Pérez's inability to keep up with Verstappen and beat Valtteri Bottas cost Red Bull doubling up on its silverware. The only race Pérez won was after Verstappen blew a tire while leading. He only led in six races. He never led the most laps in a race and his only front row start was the second race of the season at Imola. He started off one of the first two rows in 12 of 22 races.
Pérez is not going to challenge Verstappen for top in the team, but he can increase his podium total, be a little better of a wingman, and get Red Bull its fifth World Constructors' Championship.
Scuderia Ferrari
Charles Leclerc: #16 Ferrari F1-75
What did he do in 2021: Leclerc did not get a podium finish in his first nine starts of the season, and infamously was not able to start his home Monaco Grand Prix from pole position after having a broken left driveshaft from a qualifying shunt the day prior. He would finish second at Silverstone, his only podium result of the season, but he had ten top five finishes, including four in the final seven races and six in the final ten races. He was seventh in the championship on 159 points.
What to expect in 2022: Hamilton believed Ferrari would be 1-2 in the Bahrain Grand Prix during testing. Leclerc was quick, and he is already a race winner. Last year was a struggle, and though he came close to victory at Silverstone, there weren't many days where he was close, and he was second in the team last year.
Ferrari will be better this year. Leclerc has already shown his capability in a respectable car. I expect him to win a race this season. Ferrari should probably win multiple races. Ferrari's biggest problem is inconsistency and that cost the Scuderia a chance to defeat Mercedes in 2018. We have not seen clinical Ferrari since 2008 when Felipe Massa fell short of the world championship a year after Kimi Räikkönen won the title.
Is Ferrari on a level where it will not slip against the likes of Red Bull and possibly also Mercedes? If Ferrari comes out more buttoned up than it has been for the last decade, it will put up a fight. But, if Ferrari repeats its recent mistakes, it will have a few good days, but not be in the fight every race weekend.
Carlos Sainz, Jr.: #55 Ferrari F1-75
What did he do in 2021: Sainz, Jr. scored a runner-up finish in the Monaco Grand Prix, his first of four podium results in the season. The Spaniard scored points in 20 of 22 races and he was running at the finish of every event. With 15 consecutive points finishes, Sainz, Jr. ended up fifth in the championship with 164.5 points.
What to expect in 2022: Sainz was arguably the best of the rest last year. He provided the consistency Ferrari has been lacking, though that consistency was mostly in the middle of the points and not fighting for podium positions.
Sainz has made 140 starts and is still looking for his first career victory. All six of his podium finishes have come in his last 40 starts. He is trending in the right direction, but he has not been in a winning position in Formula One. He has only led 17 laps in his career out of 7,496 circuits completed. If the car is there, Sainz will figure it out and pull out victories, but with a better car, Leclerc could be primed to regain the lead in the team and be another barrier to Sainz's long-awaited victory.
I sense Leclerc can return to leading the Ferrari duo, but Sainz could stay up there. Both Ferrari drivers ending up in the top five of the championship is conceivable.
McLaren F1 Team
Daniel Ricciardo: #3 McLaren MCL36
What did he do in 2021: Ricciardo scored his first victory since 2018 when he was first across the line at Monza, McLaren's first triumph since the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix. However, Ricciardo spent much of the 2022 season maligned, and his Monza result was his only podium of the season. He did have six top five finishes but failed to score points in seven of the final 12 races, leaving the Australian on 115 points in eighth.
What to expect in 2022: McLaren has shown speed but is still weary of its car. Ricciardo missed Bahrain testing due to COVD-19, but he is cleared for the opening race of the season. It is not the start he could afford considering how 2021 went and where this car is out of the box.
A bad start could derail any breakthrough for Ricciardo at McLaren. There are already enough people thinking he is on the hottest and could be booted after this season even though he has a contract through 2023. Things were trending in the right way at the end of the year and Ricciardo had a better second season at Renault than his first.
Ricciardo cannot start this season being regularly beaten in house. He needs to be level with Norris early on. There is a season where these two are near equals and trading top honors in the team each race. If they can do that, McLaren could get back into the top three of the constructors' championship. If McLaren can settle its car, it could be competing for podium finishes and possibly even victories.
Lando Norris: #3 McLaren MCL36
What did he do in 2021: Opening the season with three podium finishes and nine top five finishes in the first ten races, Norris was third in the championship after the British Grand Prix. He had only one podium finish in the final 12 races and mistiming the change in weather in Sochi cost Norris what should have been his first career victory. With zero top five finishes in the final eight races, Norris ended up sixth in the final championship standing on 160 points, but a seventh in Abu Dhabi actually saved him a spot in the championship.
What to expect in 2022: Considering he was on his own in the Bahrain test, ninth was respectable for Norris. He topped the first day of the Barcelona test. There are reasons for encouragement in this car even if there are concerns.
Norris is coming off a career year and should have won at least one race. His results did dip in the final third of the season, but there were a few races where Ricciardo made up for Norris' decline. I think Norris can win a race if the car is there. I think the Formula One grid is already broken up with the top four separated from the other six teams.
McLaren looks ready to win races. Both drivers are capable of it. Both drivers need it. There was a moment where it looked like Norris could end up in the top three of the championship. If McLaren produces its best car in over a decade, I don't think third is crazy, but championship top five is more likely.
BWT Alpine F1 Team
Fernando Alonso: #14 Alpine A522
What did he do in 2021: Alonso took a popular podium finish in the inaugural Qatar Grand Prix in third, but it was one of two top five finishes he had all season. He was also fourth at Hungary. He scored points in 15 races and ended up tenth in the championship.
What to expect in 2022: Alpine was split in testing. Alonso was fourth in Bahrain. Esteban Ocon was 17th. These two drivers were tenth and 11th in the championship last year with 81 points to Alonso and 74 points to Ocon.
I really do not see much changing for Alpine. It doesn't feel like it has made up any ground, but it doesn't feel like the team has fallen off either. However, it is more likely stagnation will lead to other teams overtaking Alpine.
There is nothing to suggest Alonso will be the Alonso of old, winning races and being one of the best in the world, but he will still be far from McLaren-Honda Alonso, a driver shackled with a slow and unreliable car. If anything, Alonso is at taking over the "why is he still here role?" that once belonged to Kimi Räikkönen.
Esteban Ocon: #31 Alpine A522
What did he do in 2021: Pit position aided Ocon at the Hungaroring, as the Frenchman was able to switch to slick tires prior to a restart early in the race and emerge in the lead. Ocon held on and scored his first career victory without much pressure. However, it was one of three top five finishes he had all season and he failed to score in eight races. Ocon ended up 11th, seven points behind his teammate Alonso.
What to expect in 2022: I don't have a gauge on either Alpine driver. I don't expect Ocon to be Force India Ocon that we all think is Mercedes' future, but I don't think he is going to be poor and think he is destined to fall off the Formula One grid never to be seen from again after this season.
Ocon is going to score some points, he will have good days, he will have bad days and he might break into the top ten of the championship or he will not, and the world will be no different either way.
Scuderia AlphaTauri
Pierre Gasly: #10 AlphaTauri AT03
What did he do in 2021: Off of a third in Azerbaijan, and another four top five finishes, Gasly wound up ninth in the championship on 110 points. He scored in 15 of 22 races and ten picked up a fastest lap in the Hungarian Grand Prix.
What to expect in 2022: AlphaTauri might be good, or it might be further stuck in the middle. Gasly carried Alpha Tauri last year, responsible for 77.4% of the team's points. He was a consistent points scorer, something he has been over the last three seasons. However, compared to Red Bull, AlphaTauri was not as quick as one would have expected in testing.
I feel like the middle of the field will be tighter than ever before. AlphaTauri could end up fifth in the constructors' championship. It could be ninth if every other team hits it out of the park. I think AlphaTauri will score fewer points, Gasly will score fewer points, but neither will fall far from their 2021 positions if either fall at all.
Yuki Tsunoda: #22 AlphaTauri AT03
What did he do in 2021: Despite opening the season with a ninth at the Bahrain Grand Prix, Tsunoda only scored points in seven of 22 races, but he did get a sixth in the changing conditions at Hungary and pulled out a fourth-place result in the season finale at Abu Dhabi. However, he only totaled 32 points at the end of the season, leaving him 14th in the championship.
What to expect in 2022: Tsunoda had one of the more discouraging seasons last year. While Gasly was scoring points, Tsunoda wasn't a factor or making mistakes most of the time. Testing started well for him. Tsunoda was seventh at the Bahrain test.
The talent is there, but it is still questionable whether he was getting comfortable toward the end of last season. His points production down in the later portion of the season compared to the first part. Red Bull does not hold on to wayward drivers for long. If he doesn't produce more early in the season, Tsunoda could be removed from the team.
I do not see that happening. I think Tsunoda will do better than his 2021 results. I still do not believe he will be challenging Gasly for best in team. A 50-60 point season will be where he should aim to be.
Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team
Sebastian Vettel: #4 Aston Martin AMR22
What did he do in 2021: Vettel started the year with zero points through the first four races, but a fifth at Monaco and a second at Baku followed. He looked to be heading in the right direction when he was second on the road at Budapest, but he run out of fuel on the cool down lap and was unable to supply a viable fuel sample leading to a disqualification. The German scored only four points-paying finishes in the final 11 races, ending up 12th on 43 points.
What to expect in 2022: Aston Martin never was flashy in testing. Outside of Williams, there doesn't appear to be a team with less excitement behind it than Aston Martin. Vettel was 12th at the Bahrain test, and he was a flashy driver in 2021.
He scored no points in the first four races and then was fifth and second in the next two events. Tire strategy was in his favor at Budapest, but he had a strong run and deserved that runner-up spot. If he had stopped at pit out after taking the checkered flag, he would have scored 18 points and had another podium finish to his name. Then the season ended on a whimper.
I am not sure Aston Martin can have those same home run results in 2022 like we saw with Vettel last year. It can likely still pull out the low points-paying finishes, but without those chunk points day and with the grid growing more competitive, I fear a step back for Aston Martin.
Lance Stroll: #16 Aston Martin AMR22
What did he do in 2021: Stroll had zero top five finishes,but scored points in nine races. He was 13th on 34 points.
What to expect in 2022: Stroll won the head-to-head battle over Vettel, 13-9, but seven of his nine points finishers were in the bottom three points positions. In five seasons, his one year with the Racing Point RP20, a near copy of the Mercedes from the prior season, is the only time he has looked remotely competitive outside a few races with strange chain of events, such as Azerbaijan 2017 and Germany 2019.
I cannot see Stroll beating Vettel, or at least not beating him by much. Stroll was 15th at the Bahrain test. He scored nine points fewer than Vettel. If he beats Vettel, neither driver will have scored many points and Aston Martin will likely have taken a step back. I do not see Stroll matching his 2021 output.
Williams Racing
Nicholas Latifi: #6 Williams FW44
What did he do in 2021: Latifi scored his first career points with a seventh-place finish in the Hungarian Grand Prix. He followed it with a ninth-place classification in Belgium. Those were his only points paying finishes of the season, but he finished 17 of 22 races.
What to expect in 2022: With Russell gone, it appears Williams is back to square one, and square one is the rear of the field. Both cars were at the bottom of the timesheet in Bahrain. It does not appear the team will be a regular points scorer. It could have its day, but those will be few and far between.
Will Latifi be the driver leading the way for Williams? That seems unlikely. Latifi has been good getting a car to the finish of the race. He does not get in many accidents nor go off course often. But keeping his nose clean will not be enough to finish in the top ten. He will need to show some pace, and I do not think the stars will align for that one day where Latifi has the pace and keeps his nose clean when other falter to allow him a finish in ninth or tenth.
Alexander Albon: #23 Williams FW44
What did he do in 2021: While still a Red Bull/AlphaTauri reserve driver, Albon did not compete in Formula One. He contested seven of eight Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters rounds driving a Ferrari for AF Corse. He won at the Nürburgring and had four podium finishes from 14 starts. He wound up sixth in the final DTM championship standings with 130 points.
What to expect in 2022: After losing his ride for the 2021 season, Albon finds a second chance at Williams to replace the outgoing George Russell.
Though falling out of favor with the Red Bull program, Albon had plenty of impressive performances for both Scuderia Toro Rosso and Red Bull programs. He should be leading this team, but it will be the greatest challenge he has experienced in his Formula One career.
Albon could be a big winner of the season. Strong results and challenging up the order could get him a move to a larger team. If Albon can score on pace, it may have Red Bull reconsider. He should be ahead of Latifi regularly and is the team's best shot for points, but points are difficult to imagine for this bunch. Williams benefited considerably from notable wet races. That is the team's best hope again in 2022.
Alfa Romeo F1 Team Orlen
Guanyu Zhou: #24 Alfa Romeo C42
What did he do in 2021: In his third Formula Two season, Zhou won four races with nine podium results in 24 races to take third in the championship on 183 points. He was nine points off Robert Shwartzman in second and 69.5 points behind champion Oscar Piastri. Zhou also run the F3 Asian Championship in January and February 2021. He won that championship with four victories and 11 podium finishes in 15 starts.
What to expect in 2022: After three years growing in Formula Two, Zhou is making the leap into Formula One. His Formula Two results improved each season. Last year was definitely his best, but we never saw that ruthlessness we have seen in other two junior drivers before making it to Formula One.
In 2020, there were plenty of occasions where Zhou was quick, but he threw away results. He was sixth in the championship, but he could have been fourth with a few cleaner races. That is kind of the one thing following Zhou across his entire career. His Formula Three results are not earth-shattering. They really never pointed to a driver strong enough for Formula One. This is a great challenge for him.
In testing, he was off his senior teammate, which isn't a surprise, but I am not sure he will come close to take the top spot in the team. He should score a few points, but I sense points finishes will not be a regular thing.
Valtteri Bottas: #77 Alfa Romeo C42
What did he do in 2021: Bottas had one victory at the Turkish Grand Prix while he stood on the podium 11 times for Mercedes. He scored points in 15 races, and he won two of the three sprint qualifying races. Though respectable results and aiding in Mercedes' eighth consecutive World Constructors' Championship, Bottas was a distant third, 169.5 behind the champion Verstappen.
What to expect in 2022: Bottas had a stellar Bahrain test ending up sixth in the combined results. All the Ferrari's look good. Bottas is the clear leader in this team, something he really hasn't had in his Formula One career. He is a race winner and did an esteeming job for Mercedes. It is pretty clear he grew frustrated with his role. This should rejuvenate his career, and if the Alfa Romeo is competitive for points, Bottas might not be winning races, but he could still be earning praise at the end of race weekends.
The concern for the constructors' championship is Bottas could be carrying too much water. This could be a case where one driver is responsible for 80% of the points haul, and while one driver has a respectable drivers' championship finish, the team is about two spots off in the constructors' championship.
Haas F1 Team
Kevin Magnussen: #20 Haas VF-22
What did he do in 2021: After leaving Haas at the conclusion of the 2020 Formula One season, he joined Chip Ganassi Racing in the IMS SportsCar Championship driving the #01 Cadillac DPi-V.R. In nine starts, Magnussen won at Belle Isle with co-driver Renger van der Zande and had four other podium finishes. Magnussen also ran the IndyCar race at Road America substituting for an injured Felix Rosenqvist and led seven laps but retired due to a mechanical issue and was classified in 24th.
What to expect in 2022: A better season than when Magnussen last drove for Haas in 2020. That would not be hard to top, but Haas had both cars in the top ten at the Bahrain test. Things should be better across the board for Haas. After two woeful seasons, the team should be competing for points occasionally. It will be an improvement, but the team will still be in the midfield.
For Magnussen, it should be better than one point in 2020, but I am not sure it can get back to his 2018 heights of a handful of top six finishes and scoring points in nearly half the race and cracking the championship top ten. But I think it can be better than 20 points, which he scored in 2019. Thirty points with two or three inspiring results will be a successful return for Magnussen.
Mick Schumacher: #47 Haas VF-22
What did he do in 2021: Schumacher's rookie Formula One season saw his best finish be 12th at the Hungarian Grand Prix. He was running at the finish of 19 of 22 races with all three of his retirements coming in the eight races of the season.
What to expect in 2022: Schumacher should score points, and he should be leading his senior teammate. Schumacher had the rookie season he needed. He completed laps, kept the car on the track and there were a few races he got exceptional results all things considered.
Between the two Haas drivers, it is more likely Schumacher is the one getting the rousing result no one sees coming, the stunning qualifying performance that sees him make Q3 and turn it into a top five result. That isn't guaranteed for Haas, but the team is much closer to it than it has been the prior two seasons. Schumacher needs to at least keep up with Magnussen. He cannot be outscored or at least not outscored by a significant margin. If both driver finish around 30-35 points, that is brilliant season for the team. It would be preferred if Schumacher could probably outscore Magnussen by ten points or so with a handful more points scoring finishes.
Haas should be aiming for seventh in the constructors' championship. Aston Martin was seventh last year with 77 points. Williams will be behind Haas and likely be at the bottom. Aston Martin does not appear to have taken a step forward. Alfa Romeo was also competitive in testing and has strong leader in Valtteri Bottas. It should be a tight fight for second-best Ferrari-powered team.
First practice from Bahrain will be at 8:00 a.m. ET on Friday March 18 with second practice following at 11:00 a.m. Third practice will be at 8:00 a.m. ET on Saturday March 19 with qualifying later that day at 11:00 a.m. The 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix will be held at 11:00 a.m. ET on Sunday March 20.
