TBK-Light.com

Almost 2022.

New car regulations. Have some teams found something special in their designs? Will we see a change in the usual team performances?

Driver changes:

- Valtteri Bottas leaves Mercedes, signs with Alfa Romeo Sauber.
- George Russell leaves Williams to replace Bottas at Mercedes
- Alexander Albon returns to F1 as race driver, taking over Russell's seat at Williams.
- Guanyu Zhou will be the sole rookie this year, taking the second Sauber seat.
- The only 2021 drivers not to return for 2022, are Kimi Räikkönen (retires) and Giovinazzi (loses seat, will race Formula Glorified Bumper Cars).

Calendar changes:

- Melbourne, Suzuka, Montreal and Marina Bay set to return, after hosting races for the last time in 2019.
- Miami will host an F1 race for the first time.
- Losail, Algarve, Istambul and the second Speilberg race won't return in 2022.
- Shanghai set to return in 2023.

Other things of notice:

- Max Verstappen will ditch the #33 to race with #1, as entitled as defending driver's champion.
- Honda leaves F1 as a PU supplier. Red Bull and Alpha Tauri will race with Red Bull branded power units.

Entry List:

Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team (GER-UK) (DCx9) (CCx8)
44 - Lewis Hamilton (UK) (Wx7) 
63 - George Russell (UK)

Red Bull Racing (Red Bull) (AUT-UK) (DCx5) (CCx4)
1 - Max Verstappen (NED) (W)
11 - Sergio Pérez (MEX)

Scuderia Ferrari (ITA) (DCx15) (CCx16)
16- Charles Leclerc (MON)
55 - Carlos Sainz Jr. (SPA)

McLaren F1 Team (McLaren Mercedes) (UK) (DCx12) (CCx8)
3 - Daniel Ricciardo (AUS)
4 - Lando Norris (UK)

Alpine F1 Team (Alpine Renault) (FRA-UK) (DCx2) (CCx2)
14 - Fernando Alonso (SPA) (Wx2)
31 - Esteban Ocon (FRA)

Scuderia Alpha Tauri (Alpha Tauri Red Bull)(ITA)
10 - Pierre Gasly (FRA)
22 - Yuki Tsunoda (JAP)

Aston Martin Cognizant F1 Team (Aston Martin Mercedes) (UK)
5 - Sebastian Vettel (GER) (Wx4)
18 - Lance Stroll (CAN)

Williams Racing (Williams Mercedes) (UK) (DCx7) (CCx9)
6 - Nicholas Latifi (CAN)
23 - Alexander Albon (THA) 

Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen (Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari) (SWI-ITA)
77 - Valtteri Bottas (FIN) 
24 - Guanyou Zhou (CHN) 

Uralkali Haas F1 Team (Haas Ferrari) (USA-UK)
9 - Nikita Mazepin (RUS)
47 - Mick Schumacher (GER)

Planned Calendar (23 races):

March 20 - Bahrain Grand Prix
March 27 - Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
April 10 - Australian Grand Prix
April 24 - Emilia Romagna Grand Prix
May 8 - Miami Grand Prix
May 22 - Spanish Grand Prix
May 29 - Monaco Grand Prix
June 12 - Azerbaijan Grand Prix
June 19 - Canadian Grand Prix
July 3 - British Grand Prix
July 10 - Austrian Grand Prix
July 24 - French Grand Prix
July 31 - Hungarian Grand Prix
August 28 - Belgian Grand Prix
September 4 - Dutch Grand Prix
September 11 - Italian Grand Prix
September 25 - Russian Grand Prix
October 2 - Singapore Grand Prix
October 9 - Japanese Grand Prix
October 23 - United States Grand Prix
October 30 - Mexico City Grand Prix
November 13 - Sao Paulo Grand Prix
November 20 - Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Mercedes. They are just too smart, they will find a way to dominate again. Verstappen will win 2 races but finishes a distant 3rd in the championship, Russell will win 3, the freak win of 2022 will go to Sainz.

The new rules seem to be up Newey's alley so hopefully he can pull something off because another decade of Mercedes dominance will be the end of F1. Not that a decade of RBR/Verstappen dominance will do it much good but initially it will do less damage than having Mercedes continuing their dominance.

But maybe Ferrari or Alpine can pull something off. People also seem to think Aston Martin might be right up there but I doubt that tbh.

I really hope Mercedes doesn't turn Russell into a 2nd driver and more like a championship contender. They might kill his mojo if they treat him as an accessory for the 8th title

_________________
Mercedes Benz is the evil translated in 4 wheels, silver coating and 3 point star

Mugello, Turkey and Portimao are not on the calendar. Let's see if they are come next year.

_________________
Follow me on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/135625678@N06/

https://www.gpblog.com/en/news/102175/a ... ening.html
according to his wife Newey had very serious head injuries from a bike crash

_________________
Mercedes Benz is the evil translated in 4 wheels, silver coating and 3 point star

So Newey is somewhat still recovering.
I already found him looking bad after his return.

Mugello wasn't on the calendar this year, so even if get Omega virus infused with Phazon, they probably just cancel races than let Mugello host another race. Which is a shame.

But if Melbourne and Miami get scrapped, I think Portimao will step in or/and we get a double-header at Borecelona.

Australia is in the grips of its largest COVID outbreak. I really can't see Melbourne happening again this year, unless they move it till the end of the season like they were going to.

It will happen as scheduled.

We’re getting 2000 cases a day but it pales in comparison to countries on the rest of the list.

Only issue will be if any drivers are unvaccinated.

I'm thinking more along the lines of quarantine. If any quarantine is required (even 7 days instead of 14 or 10 or whatever it is) I can't see it going ahead.

Are there any? I think we would have known if someone refused, and that person would have had a lot of problems entering other countries in the 2021 season.

Only the unvaccinated need to quarantine for the Aus open tennis, I assume it’s the same for F1.

If Novak Cockavic is given a medical exemption to play I won’t see unvaccinated drivers having any issues.

alex zanardi finally made it out of the hospital.

https://www.espn.com/f1/story/_/id/32910103/paralympic-champion-alex-zanardi-released-hospital-18-months-june-2020-crash

My ideal scenario would be Red Bull and Mercedes with evenly matched cars, and McLaren, Ferrari, Alpine, Aston all taking big steps forward to fight for podiums, or the odd win.

Worst case scenario would probably be Red Bull dominance. I expect Perez to be a little bit closer to Max in 2022 (it's his qualifying pace that lets him down so badly), but I'd still expect Max to easily win the title. If Mercedes have the best car, at least there's the unknown factor of how much George Russell can push Hamilton. Ideally, no one team is ahead of the rest.

All I care about is that Melbourne is back. Hasn't been F1 without that race, don't know why. There have been boring races there, but I always like it.

Shame it's not the opener though.

Yeah definitely. I might come across sounding like a jaded nostalgic fan but there's just something about the buzz created by the first race in Melbourne which is truly special. Having it in Bahrain just feels like an extension of the winter test and an exhibition race.

I loved getting blitzed early in the morning East Coast USA time for the first race, drinking a big blue can of Foster's Piss. It's been my thing for several years now, and even before I started that, it was ALWAYS the first race, since I was only 13. 25 years now. It needs to be first, and we all need to get back to normal. Shit ain't going anywhere, let's just race and live our lives!

Sent from my SM-G781U1 using Tapatalk

Melbourne is tailor made for cars under new rules, 2009 was quite a great race

_________________
Mercedes Benz is the evil translated in 4 wheels, silver coating and 3 point star

Melbourne wont happen. That country has gone insane.