F1 2022 Season

[Tyrion]

Honestly I think Mercedes will compete for a championship before Ferrari do. Imo, they'll catch up next year or 2024 and it'll be like last year; them and Red Bull, neck and neck. As it is Ferrari can't win anything.

Binotto needs firing. He's ruining a fantastic Ferrari season! So many no driving related mistakes!

Binotto said before the break that they don't have to change anything about their strategy. If he seriously believes that, then Ferrari won't win anything with him in charge. Every week they screw up. "Pit now and you'll be 1 second ahead of Alonso". Yeah but what about the rest of the lap with LeClerc on cold tyres? I could have warned them about that.

 

[redshaw]

Was a hasty move by Lewis, he could've passed Alonso cleanly while reading a book with DRS a couple of laps later and took a podium, there was just no need to do a late move on a tricky corner that early on a slower car at this ample sized track. Reminds me when he was a lot younger and smashed his front suspension into Massa with hasty move at Monza. He honed a lot of those errors out.

 

[RoadTrip]

Was a hasty move by Lewis, he could've passed Alonso cleanly while reading a book with DRS a couple of laps later and took a podium, there was just no need to do a late move on a tricky corner that early on a slower car at this ample sized track. Reminds me when he was a lot younger and smashed his front suspension into Massa with hasty move at Monza. He honed a lot of those errors out.

There was absolutely nothing wrong with making that move there, and indeed plenty others were side my side through that corner. He just missed Alonso who was in his blind spot. His fault and a silly mistake. Doesn’t mean it wasn’t the right place to make a move.

 

[elmo]

Ferrari has broken Leclerc

 

[dinostar77]

Honestly I think Mercedes will compete for a championship before Ferrari do. Imo, they'll catch up next year or 2024 and it'll be like last year; them and Red Bull, neck and neck. As it is Ferrari can't win anything.

We really do need a competitive Mercedes and round 2, over a season of lewis v max.

Unfortunately i think RB will go off into the distance again and it will be a one horse race. Unless Mercedes figure out how this years car works, next years design is massively compromised already. They have to abandon the slim sidepod design. Too difficult to get in the right window.

Still 9 races to go this season and its been over for awhile. Hope the racing improves till end of season. We really could do will leclerc winning next 5-6 races and max getting some dnf's just to spice it up again.

 

[pauldyson1uk]

Nice interviews from Lewis and Alonso about Lewis' mistake. Silly mistake. Own up. Move on like adults.
These cars seem a bit flippier than previous years. Glad nobody was hurt.

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I agree nice interviews, both respectful of each other, Lewis admitted his mistake, Alonso's radio message was born out of frustration and understandable.

 

[dinostar77]

I agree nice interviews, both respectful of each other, Lewis admitted his mistake, Alonso's radio message was born out of frustration and understandable.

Mature, seasoned multiple world champions. Would have been very different responses if they were competing for a wdc.

 

[spiriticon]

Such a shit season. Thank god I'm only watching highlights.

Ferrari are hopeless as challengers and Max should just forgo qualifying on Sat to save engines. He'll still win from 20th place.

 

[Krits]

I preferred last year when Ferrari had a shit car so I could enjoy the racing. Now we had the chance to be fighting for WDC and it’s just frustrating watching the capitulation.

 

[pauldyson1uk]

Mature, seasoned multiple world champions. Would have been very different responses if they were competing for a wdc.

Cant argue there.

 

[Buster15]

I agree nice interviews, both respectful of each other, Lewis admitted his mistake, Alonso's radio message was born out of frustration and understandable.

I thought it was very refreshing to hear both Lewis Hamilton admit that it was his mistake and not looking for excuses and Fernando Alonso also being adult about his radio comments.

Both are proper racers who will always try to take a risk or two while normally racing fairly.
Shame for Hamilton but these things happen and he paid the price.

 

[Buster15]

We really do need a competitive Mercedes and round 2, over a season of lewis v max.

Unfortunately i think RB will go off into the distance again and it will be a one horse race. Unless Mercedes figure out how this years car works, next years design is massively compromised already. They have to abandon the slim sidepod design. Too difficult to get in the right window.

Still 9 races to go this season and its been over for awhile. Hope the racing improves till end of season. We really could do will leclerc winning next 5-6 races and max getting some dnf's just to spice it up again.

I think we all know that Max and the RB team are away and gone and deserve to be where they are.
If Mercedes were going to find some magic bullet to make their car less draggy and difficult to drive, they would have found it by now.
In terms of competitive racing, not this year I am afraid.

 

[dinostar77]

I think we all know that Max and the RB team are away and gone and deserve to be where they are.
If Mercedes were going to find some magic bullet to make their car less draggy and difficult to drive, they would have found it by now.
In terms of competitive racing, not this year I am afraid.

I was talking about next season. This season is finished

 

[dinostar77]

Porsche/RB deal not happen. Not a suprise that porsche would want alot of control.

https://www.gpblog.com/en/news/1299...che-faltering-honda-possible-alternative.html

 

[dinostar77]

Binotto, alluding to sme creative financing by RedBull. This is in relation to RB introducing a new 5kg lighter chassis later this season. Which is one of the most expenaive parts of the car outside of the PU.

Ferrari wants budget cap to be strictly controlled
The Ferrari team boss says: "We could never afford to develop a kilo lighter chassis - or any chassis - during the season because the budget does not allow it. I would be very surprised if that were possible for other teams. You have to wonder if the control is sufficient," the Italian said.

According to Binotto, the FIA should do more to ensure that all teams and their expenses are properly monitored and approved. "Unfortunately only a few people at the FIA keep an eye on it. That has to improve in the future. It would be very bad if the championship is decided by the financial rules."

 

[KirkDuyt]

I can watch it again, since the premier league is now behind the same paywall as this is, but meh, it's boring now. Why can't there be more competitive cars in 1 season. Someone starting 15th and cruising to first place seemingly unchallenged makes it less of a race and more of a, I dunno, time trial with slow moving obstacles.

 

[Gringo]

It's just the way it is. Got to take the great races with the bad ones. The midfield is pretty competitive this year. But Spa was just a DRS overtake highlight package this year.

 

[dinostar77]

I can watch it again, since the premier league is now behind the same paywall as this is, but meh, it's boring now. Why can't there be more competitive cars in 1 season. Someone starting 15th and cruising to first place seemingly unchallenged makes it less of a race and more of a, I dunno, time trial with slow moving obstacles.

In theory it should get more competitive within the next few seasons. Mercedes type domination shouldnt be possible, however if FIA dont police the finances properly then creative accounting could undo the whole philosophy of a more competitive f1.

Last season was box office viewing, this season has been pretty average, more due to ferrari incompetence and Mercedes falling for the siren call of legendary downforce and designing a crap car (by their standards).

 

[laughtersassassin]

Binotto, alluding to sme creative financing by RedBull. This is in relation to RB introducing a new 5kg lighter chassis later this season. Which is one of the most expenaive parts of the car outside of the PU.

Ferrari wants budget cap to be strictly controlled
The Ferrari team boss says: "We could never afford to develop a kilo lighter chassis - or any chassis - during the season because the budget does not allow it. I would be very surprised if that were possible for other teams. You have to wonder if the control is sufficient," the Italian said.

According to Binotto, the FIA should do more to ensure that all teams and their expenses are properly monitored and approved. "Unfortunately only a few people at the FIA keep an eye on it. That has to improve in the future. It would be very bad if the championship is decided by the financial rules."

Binotto likes to talk big regarding the budget but for instance Ferrari have designed and developed Six different spec rear wings while Red bull only have 3 different specs.

So maybe just maybe they just waste more money and aren't very efficient.

Also fairly sure Ferrari have had to spend more money fixing damaged cars this season while also starting development earlier.

It's not unbelievable to think Red bull would have a bigger budget left.

 

[hobbers]

Ferrari complaining about budgets when they've had 4 engines literally blow up is quite funny.

 

[The Firestarter]

Ferrari complaining about budgets when they've had 4 engines literally blow up is quite funny.

They have to blame something other than their comical incompetentence. Which makes it even more funny.

 

[Ayoba]

I thought this season was going to be different with the supposed rules changes? Apart from a few overtakes between max and leclerc at the start of the season, it's been utter shite. I mean look at Max, it doesnt really matter where he starts the race, he will end up winning it anyway. I'm not a die hard fan of any team, I am a fan of motor racing and what I want to see is exciting races and close championships. What we're seeing now is taking me back to the schumi years in the mid 2000's where the championship was practically over before it even started.

At the moment I feel the only solution is if they water the track before the race starts as lets be honest, the only time there is some excitement is when it rains.

 

[The Firestarter]

I thought this season was going to be different with the supposed rules changes? Apart from a few overtakes between max and leclerc at the start of the season, it's been utter shite. I mean look at Max, it doesnt really matter where he starts the race, he will end up winning it anyway. I'm not a die hard fan of any team, I am a fan of motor racing and what I want to see is exciting races and close championships. What we're seeing now is taking me back to the schumi years in the mid 2000's where the championship was practically over before it even started.

At the moment I feel the only solution is if they water the track before the race starts as lets be honest, the only time there is some excitement is when it rains.

You are focusing on the front row too much, the midfield has seen plenty of action and overtakes. The new rules made overtakes easier, that is a demonstrated fact. Their purpose was not to make everyone use the same chassis and engine. If you want pure skill competiton perhaps you can look at the other available racing championships.

 

[dinostar77]

I thought this season was going to be different with the supposed rules changes? Apart from a few overtakes between max and leclerc at the start of the season, it's been utter shite. I mean look at Max, it doesnt really matter where he starts the race, he will end up winning it anyway. I'm not a die hard fan of any team, I am a fan of motor racing and what I want to see is exciting races and close championships. What we're seeing now is taking me back to the schumi years in the mid 2000's where the championship was practically over before it even started.

At the moment I feel the only solution is if they water the track before the race starts as lets be honest, the only time there is some excitement is when it rains.

It will take a few seasons to really see the effect of limitations of cfd and wind tunnel time depending on how well you do. RB will have the least amount of CFD and wind tunnel time to design next years car, becuase they will win the constructors championship.

Its not max's fault hes in a rocket ship of a car. Its the incompetence of ferrari and mercedes to provide their drivers with the tools to challenge max. Give lewis a car as good as max's and it will be nail biting viewing again. Get ferrari to stop being incompetent every race and leclerc to stop makimg mistakes and then it gets interesting again.

We know mercedes have epically screwed up the car design this season. However ferrari are more culpable for making it easy for max to sleep walk to the championship.

As next season is evolution of design rather than revolution, we should in theory see a better mercedes car and hopefully a more competent ferrari. Mclaren are a few seasons off doing anything while they build their new wind tunnel. Aston Martin are in a hurry to become competative so who knows if they will strike lucky with a design element eventually.

In a nutshell, next season should be better and max will hopefully have a proper battle on his hands.

 

[Adam-Utd]

Apparently only a handful of Ferrari members went to the podium to celebrate with Sainz. Something is very odd with that team.

 

[redshaw]

The other races will be closer, Spa really magnifies the strengths but obviously it's still finished as a championship.

I'm not confident Merc can match Red Bull next year and Ferrari probably won't be good enough. Can see them all struggling to get the new regs right still and perhaps never until then next major changes. We had Red Bull dominate with Vettel then Merc with Lewis, we might just be seeing Max Red Bull for the next few years. F1 board might interfere more though with how sensitive they are about attracting the next wave of fans but if Red Bull do dominate I hope they can swap Perez out and make it a little closer.

 

[Cheimoon]

However ferrari are more culpable for making it easy for max to sleep walk to the championship.

I think that's the main thing really. The first couple of races, it was really close and things looked like developing into another exciting season; but Ferrari just hasn't been able to maintain that level of performance anywhere near consistently enough to actually be a challenger. There's nothing the regulations can do about that. (Nor, as you say, about Mercedes completely messing up their design.)

 

[Buster15]

I was talking about next season. This season is finished

Understood.

 

[hobbers]

but if Red Bull do dominate I hope they can swap Perez out and make it a little closer.

If that does happen I hope we see Lando in a Red Bull in 2024.

 

[The Hilton]

The other races will be closer, Spa really magnifies the strengths but obviously it's still finished as a championship.

I'm not confident Merc can match Red Bull next year and Ferrari probably won't be good enough. Can see them all struggling to get the new regs right still and perhaps never until then next major changes. We had Red Bull dominate with Vettel then Merc with Lewis, we might just be seeing Max Red Bull for the next few years. F1 board might interfere more though with how sensitive they are about attracting the next wave of fans but if Red Bull do dominate I hope they can swap Perez out and make it a little closer.

I'm actually expecting another Vettel at Red Bull style dominance from Verstappen. The car so much faster than everyone else's, so they have loads of room to react whenever any other team catches up a bit. Not to mention that as a team they've been the best drilled in other areas (pit stops, strategy, etc) for years.

Short of some regulation changes designed to hamstring them, a bit like Merc last year, it'll be extremely difficult for any team to get close enough to challenge.

 

[ZIDANE]

I don't expect the same level of domination. Red Bull could outspend on aero and worked well with the Renault/diffuser. Merc had the best engine and kept developing it whilst Renault, Honda, and Ferrari suffered major engine design issues and were limited by the token system.

We now have a cost cap with the engines locked and the lead cars have less development time in the wind tunnel. The rules are already designed to eventually allow teams to catch up and reduce the complexity of some areas e.g. front wing. That's why we're seeing Audi signing up and Andretti wanting to come in + Williams being taken over.

It may take a while but that's always the case with new rules, teams figure out where they are short. Half the field will have a massive boost once they figure out the bouncing.

 

[RoadTrip]

I don't expect the same level of domination. Red Bull could outspend on aero and worked well with the Renault/diffuser. Merc had the best engine and kept developing it whilst Renault, Honda, and Ferrari suffered major engine design issues and were limited by the token system.

We now have a cost cap with the engines locked and the lead cars have less development time in the wind tunnel. The rules are already designed to eventually allow teams to catch up and reduce the complexity of some areas e.g. front wing. That's why we're seeing Audi signing up and Andretti wanting to come in + Williams being taken over.

It may take a while but that's always the case with new rules, teams figure out where they are short. Half the field will have a massive boost once they figure out the bouncing.

I’d be surprised if anyone can properly challenge RB next year, except Ferrari who are actually close in performance but miles away from being a championship contending team. I think it’s realistically the year after where it’s possible.

 

[dinostar77]

I’d be surprised if anyone can properly challenge RB next year, except Ferrari who are actually close in performance but miles away from being a championship contending team. I think it’s realistically the year after where it’s possible.

Alot depends on mercedes and whether they abandon the slimline sidepods. Hopefully they are competitve from race 1 next season.

 

[pauldyson1uk]

Alot depends on mercedes and whether they abandon the slimline sidepods. Hopefully they are competitve from race 1 next season.

Clearly they are already working on next seasons car and will be getting data from this years, not sure if they will get rid of them, they must have seen something work in their development and decided that was the route to go down, I am not 100% sure they will get rid.
I am not convinced that Mercedes full understands what is wrong with this years car, hopefully they will get it right for next season.

 

[dinostar77]

Clearly they are already working on next seasons car and will be getting data from this years, not sure if they will get rid of them, they must have seen something work in their development and decided that was the route to go down, I am not 100% sure they will get rid.
I am not convinced that Mercedes full understands what is wrong with this years car, hopefully they will get it right for next season.

Agreed. Mercedes have admitted that themselves. Hard to design a car for next year when you cant correct the flaws from this years car, when you dont know the solution for said flaws.

 

[The Firestarter]

Maybe they should ask Newey nicely what's wrong with their car.

 

[ArjenIsM3]

Maybe they should ask Newey nicely what's wrong with their car.

 

[ZIDANE]

I’d be surprised if anyone can properly challenge RB next year, except Ferrari who are actually close in performance but miles away from being a championship contending team. I think it’s realistically the year after where it’s possible.

I would agree with that to an extent as I was thinking beyond that i.e. RB not dominating for 4-5 years. It will only be RB, Merc, and Ferrari challenging next year with RB + Max probably winning. I think Spa made it look worse than it was, we've seen the reverse earlier in the season (Ferrari better pace and less tyre degradation vs RB).

I don't expect the midfield to challenge soon but they will close up by 2024-2025 especially where the investment from AM and McLaren starts to pay off (hiring and wind tunnel etc). Renault and Audi should have strong teams as manufacturers so I think F1 competition looks healthy compared to the last 20 years of single team dominance per era by Ferrari, RB, and Merc.

 

[Maroon Lucifer]

Can the teams drive their cars as much as they like after the season is over?

 

[Edgar Allan Pillow]

I’d be surprised if anyone can properly challenge RB next year, except Ferrari who are actually close in performance but miles away from being a championship contending team. I think it’s realistically the year after where it’s possible.

RB feels dominant only because Ferrari's tactical blunders. Else it'd be a far closer title race. Mercedes are just hovering right there too.