MECHANICAL WOES FOR PEREZ IN TITLE BATTLE
After finishing second to his teammate, Max Verstappen, at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix Sergio Perez moved into second in the title standings. Sitting 21 points behind his teammate it looked as though Perez was in position to mount a serious title assault.
The Red Bull is now the car to beat in Formula 1 and heading to Canada Perez had form on his side and a lot of confidence. As it was Verstappen was the driver who notched up the sixth consecutive victory for the team and Perez was sidelined on lap seven with a mechanical issue.
"I got stuck in gear unfortunately," said Perez after a hydraulics fault was confirmed by the team. "Things were looking good and I had made a good start. I was on the hard tyre and making progress. I had finally got Daniel [Ricciardo] out of the DRS zone and it should have been a race where I could have worked my way through the field.
VERSTAPPEN CANTERING TOWARDS ANOTHER TITLE
Max Verstappen was the man to beat throughout the Canadian Grand Prix. The Dutchman extended his title lead to 46 points over his Red Bull Racing teammate, Sergio Perez, by dominating the weekend in Montreal.
Even during a tough race when his tyres suffered graining and reduced grip his race craft was more than enough to claim the win. In the wet conditions of qualifying or the dry conditions of Sunday's race the reigning champion was the man to beat. Only a safety car in the closing stages put him under pressure.
"It was a pretty smooth weekend," commented Verstappen. "Overall the Ferrari was very quick here and it was strong in the race. It was really exciting at the end; the last two laps were a lot of fun, I was flat out racing and I was giving it everything I had.
DAMAGE LIMITATION FOR LECLERC
At the Azerbaijan Grand Prix a power unit failure caused a retirement for Ferrari's title contender Charles Leclerc. The Monaco native would need to make changes to the internals of his power unit ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix and as a result he would be saddled with a back of the grid penalty.
In modern day Formula 1 bad luck begets more misfortune and for Leclerc that back of the grid penalty left him severely hampered at the Canadian Grand Prix.
When the race started Leclerc showed a lot of patience to wait for his opportunities to make his way through the field with some spectacular moves made during the course of 70 laps. The most notable of these was on Valtteri Bottas but overall it was the maturity of Leclerc's drive that impressed. On a difficult day it would have been very easy to get frustrated and make a mistake. Instead he came away with a top five finish and ten points.
VERSTAPPEN HAS THE FORM IN TIGHT SCRAP
VERSTAPPEN HAS THE FORM IN TIGHT SCRAP
The packed grandstands, passionate crowd and the South Beach nightlife made the inaugural Miami Grand Prix a resounding success. Turning around a Friday disaster into a race victory from the second row of the grid made it a weekend to remember for Max Verstappen.
The Dutchman, the reigning World Champion, romped to his third victory of the season but after the opening day of practice he was given long odds to achieve that feat. A series of reliability issues on the opening day put the Red Bull driver on the back foot. The 24 year old only managed 15 laps during the opening practice sessions at the brand new venue. With a technical track to get up to speed on Verstappen was behind the curve with his chief rival, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, having completed more than triple his mileage on Friday. For Verstappen the challenge was clear but a mistake in qualifying left him third on the grid.
SAINZ BOUNCES BACK TO THE PODIUM
After back to back retirements in Australia and Imola, Carlos Sainz was back on the rostrum at the inaugural Miami Grand Prix. The Ferrari driver suffered a crash on Saturday during Free Practice 3 and it seemed likely to put him on the back foot for qualifying. Even so, the 27 year old set the second fastest time and lined up just behind his teammate, Charles Leclerc, on the grid.
“I was pretty happy with my qualifying,” said Sainz. “I managed to improve run after run and could fight for pole until the very last corner. The track is very tricky and after a couple of eventful Grand Prix it's good to be back on the podium and to have both cars up there for the team.”
LECLERC LEFT DISAPPOINTED AFTER STRONG SHOWING IN MIAMI
Ferrari versus Red Bull has the hallmarks of a classic clash of styles. The Ferrari F1-75 is all about corner speed and generating downforce. The Red Bull RB18 features slippery aerodynamics that allow it to punch through the air with maximum efficiency. This gives Red Bull a top speed advantage that even with the Drag Reduction System (DRS), used to give a car behind a top speed advantage, Ferrari couldn’t compete at the recent Miami Grand Prix.
LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL FOR HAMILTON AND MERCEDES
One of the biggest question marks hanging over the Formula paddock is when Mercedes will find their potential. Can the dominant manufacturer of the last ten years figure out their porpoising problem and get the car working correctly?
The inaugural Grand Prix in Miami is their latest opportunity to prove their mettle and rescue a title campaign that looks to be doomed, four races into the season. Speaking on a video shared on Mercedes social media channels Andrew Shovlin, the team's head of trackside engineering, explained their working process at the moment: "We know where we are at the moment," said Shovlin.
SAINZ REMAINS WITH FERRARI
The latest domino fell into place this week with Ferrari confirming that Carlos Sainz will remain with the team in 2023 after the Spaniard signed a new two year contract.
Since joining the team last year Sainz has proven himself a reliable racer with six podiums but is still chasing his first victory. Out of four races so far this season, he has 3 second row starts, he has shown a solid one lap pace in qualifying and left himself well placed for podium finishes. However at the opening two races of the year, two retirements in a row have blotted his copybook lately.
Sainz, teamed with Charles Leclerc, forms a very potent line-up that meant Ferrari "never seriously considered anyone else for the seat" With 144 starts under his belt Sainz has lots of experience having raced for McLaren, Renault and Toro Rosso in the past since his Grand Prix debut in 2015.
ASTON MARTIN COVER OVER THE CRACKS
After a terrible weekend in Australia, that saw heavy crashes for both drivers, Aston Martin bounced back in Italy with points finishes for both drivers in Imola. With Sebastian Vettel, a four time World Champion, saying that finishing eighth felt like a race victory it does show how tough the 2022 season has been for the team.
"This feels like a victory." said Vettel. "We are not the fastest at the minute but we did really well to finish eighth. The weekend heloed us with the conditions, but we managed to capitalize. I think we did a great job on calling for the dry tyres at the right time and everybody else then I think copied what we did. So I was happy to go even a lap before or two. So yeah, it was really, really good.'
MCLAREN BACK ON THE PODIUM
Lando Norris took a shock podium at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. When the 2022 Formula 1 season opened in Bahrain the British driver and his McLaren team looked to be lost. The biggest shake-up of technical regulations in Formula 1 history had seemingly left McLaren behind the eight ball.
The opening rounds in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia saw Norris and his teammate, Daniel Ricciardo, qualify outside the top ten and score only a handful of points. Braking instability was crippling the MCL36 but at the third round, the Australian Grand Prix, they showed signs of progress and after finishing fifth and sixth in Saturday's Sprint Race they were well placed to have a good result on Sunday.
RED BULL BACK ON FORM
The swings and roundabouts of form look set to be the defining characteristic of the 2022 Formula 1 season. With brand new technical regulations the biggest challenge for teams was always going to be understanding now to get the most out of their package. With limited running pre-season, the data gained in the opening rounds is critical.
In Bahrain and Australia Ferrari were the dominant force. Red Bull, and Max Verstappen, claimed victory in Saudi Arabia but it was clear that the Ferrari was more than a match on the Arabian Peninsula. With the paddock returning to Europe and a home race for Ferrari the expectations on the Prancing Horse were through the roof. In front of their top executives and bigwigs Ferrari picked the worst time possible to be a lame horse that looked in need of being put out of its misery.
MERCEDES HANDLING WOES CONTINUE
Porpoising has been the key word for Mercedes in 2022. The bouncing effect on the straights has defined their season thus far and Imola was their nadir. Failing to get either car through to Q3, the top ten shootout in qualifying, was the first time in ten years we'd seen the team fail to meet what has previously been a relatively simple task.
At the moment the radical looking W13 simply isn't capable of fighting with Red Bull or Ferrari for race wins and in Imola their problem led to George Russell to comment that "it takes your breath away." The physicality of driving a car like this means that being able to compete for 63 laps is almost impossible. In Imola the team were also struggling with generating heat into their tyres.
LECLERC LAYS DOWN A MARKER
When Formula 1 last travelled to Melbourne for the Australian Grand Prix the world was gripped in uncertainty. With the cars sitting in pitlane the difficult decision to cancel the race was taken and suddenly for the motorsport world the Covid-19 pandemic became real. Returning to Albert Park last weekend the sense of relief was clear for everyone; normality has returned.
In Melbourne normality also returned to the race track. Rather than DRS (the Drag Reduction System that aids overtaking) and strategy deciding the outcome of the race, it was the sheer pace of Charles Leclerc and Ferrari that defined it.
STUTTERING VERSTAPPEN NEEDS TO FIND RELIABILITY
Reliability woes have dogged Red Bull throughout 2022 and in Australia for the second time in three races Max Verstappen retired due to a technical issue. The reigning World Champion has been the closest match to Ferrari's Charles Leclerc at each race this year but with a solitary fine, winning in Saudi Arabia, to show for his efforts the Dutchman finds himself 46 points adrift. There's still plenty of racing to be had in 2022 but he knows that from the next race at Imola he needs to start building momentum.
Speaking after his Australian retirement, again due to a fuel system issue, Verstappen said that the problems facing the team are "unacceptable." The speed is inherit in the Red Bull machine but there were issues in Melbourne with getting the car to work.
HAS MERCEDES FOUND SOMETHING?
After enduring a miserable start to the campaign Mercedes finally looked more competitive in Australia. With George Russell on the podium and Lewis Hamilton finishing fourth the result looks promising. However, looks can be deceiving.
The winter was spent with Mercedes playing down expectations and the paddock generally thinking that the eight times World Champions were sandbagging in testing. With testing having been uncompetitive the general feeling was that the silver machines hadn't shown their true potential. Through three rounds Mercedes are now saying that they've found progress with the W13 and are now ready to be competitive.
F1: TESTING KICKS OFF THE 2022 CAMPAIGN
The Formula 1 season kicks off on March 20 with the Bahrain Grand Prix. To get ready for the grueling 23 race season teams have six days of testing to understand their new cars and get drivers up to speed. Barcelona played host to the “shake down” test before the paddock travels to Bahrain for three days at the Bahrain International Circuit on March 10.
The shake down saw Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz complete the most mileage but the headline times were set by Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton. Testing doesn’t always show a clear picture of what we can expect in Formula 1. Tyre compounds and fuel loads dictate so much in terms of outright performance.
CAN FERRARI END THEIR WAIT?
Fifteen years since their last title, over two years since their last win...the Prancing Horse has looked more like a lame duck in recent years. Ferrari is the biggest name in Formula 1 and to have a title drought like this is unacceptable to their legion of fans. A massive change in regulations has given them the ability to pump resources into their new car and this year could be when they hit the front again.
Their driver line-up is as strong as any on the grid. Charles Leclerc is a race winner and with nine positions to his name has the outright speed needed to be a top contender. Carlos Sainz is yet to win his first Grand Prix. The 27 year old has lots of experience though and has shown himself to be a solid driver, who can play his role within a team by providing feedback aiding in the development of the car.
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CAN THEY HACK IT?
The hardest job in sports is being cast as the sidekick. Racing drivers need to have the belief that they’re the best in the world otherwise they wouldn’t be able to go out on track and do what they do. That belief is tested at times but nothing like when you’re paired up with a legend of the sport.
For George Russell and Sergio Perez the challenge is to prove yourself against the most successful driver in history and arguably the fastest ever.
NEW REGULATIONS AIM TO MAKE FORMULA 1 EVEN MORE EXCITING
One of the most radical technical shake-ups in Formula 1 history should see plenty of surprises in 2022. The goal in creating a new technical blueprint for the sport was to have a more level playing field. The aim of the changes to aerodynamics is to make it easier to follow cars and to allow the daring overtaking moves that fans demand.
If you’re new to Formula 1 in 2022 aerodynamics are the biggest part of racing that you’ll need to understand. Having an ability to maximize top speed while balancing it with an ability to carry lots of corner speed is the tight rope that all car designers have to walk. In Formula 1 the regulations are written and ten teams spend months tackling the rulebook to look for any advantage. They’re given the ingredients but the recipe is up to them. Can they make it work?