I love the smell of burning oil in the morning - The Formula 1 2022 season
- Thread starter Nick Kaufman
- Start date
If FP2 is at all representative, we may have an interesting season to come. Of course we have no idea what anyone was running for engine modes or fuel loads, but apparently Alpine, Alfa Romeo and Haas (!) might be legitimate midfield contenders. I still suspect Mercedes is hiding their true pace, and I also doubt Red Bull has shown their full hand yet.
If the Ferrari engine has improved like they say it has, then you would expect all the Ferrari-engined powered teams to do better. Conversely, all the mercedes powered teams should drop down the pecking order.
I also feel that the Merc troubles are real, although this year, you could see the pecking order change throughout the season thanks to rapid development by all.
I also feel that the Merc troubles are real, although this year, you could see the pecking order change throughout the season thanks to rapid development by all.
I feel that an enterprising gambling site should start a line on whether Sainz and Leclerc are going to be on speaking terms by Sept. 1st.
Agreed. Bottas in the Alfa Romeo beating out Russell in the Merc is high comedy. And K-Mag in 7th?? This is gonna be a fun season.
Great to see Ferrari back at the front and Haas competitive. Would love to see Mercedes struggle all year, I’ve had enough of them dominating in this era. Sort of looks like it’s more of a power unit issue than anything else.
One qualifying in, and that looks to be the case so far.
As a Ferrari fan who also loves the mid-pack racing, this is a great start. New cars, so a lot can change as teams adjust. It is interesting to see some pretty large performance gaps between teammates, which I imagine will also balance out as drivers get used to the new cars.
I like the look of the new cars and I like how different they look from one another. This makes me wish they changed regulations more often.
K-Mag making Q3 was great, hope that hydraulic issue doesn't creep up in the race. Also looked like Mick had more speed than p12 but flubbed his last Q1 run and cost himself a chance for more.
I know the Merc engines are popular because they're frequently so strong (and because Toto), but man having 4 teams hit the skids all at once (at least in part) because they're down on power is quite something. F1 really needs another engine maker, arguably 2 now that Honda is not officially around anymore.
I know the Merc engines are popular because they're frequently so strong (and because Toto), but man having 4 teams hit the skids all at once (at least in part) because they're down on power is quite something. F1 really needs another engine maker, arguably 2 now that Honda is not officially around anymore.
I ask this question out of total ignorance in terms of engine suppliers...but where is BMW or Audi? Would they not want to compete with Merc?
Moreover...Ford? Toyota? Jaguar? All would seem to make some bit of sense.
Audi has been rumored to join multiple times. BMW was in ~10 years ago and left (I still have a Juan Pablo Montoya BMW hat, he was partnered with Ralf Schumacher), ditto Jaguar and Toyota. Ford was the main engine supplier in the 70s/80s (Ford Cosworth DFV engine), I don't know when they were last in though.
Well Audi's owner, VW, seems to lean toward the Porsche brand being their F1 face if they go that way. Tata Motors would probably use Jag as their brand if they got in, but there's some bad blood between F1 and India at the moment so I don't think its super likely. Toyota has seemed focused on NASCAR and smaller series of late, they had a high-profile LeMans team for awhile that didn't produce great results. BMW has cut way back on racing of late and is mostly just in some near-production sports car series. Honda's F1 exit doesn't make a huge amount of sense to me, especially since they just powered Max to a championship and they'll still be building engines without their branding for multiple seasons, but hey who am I to say.
It's also possible, as Aston Martin has been showing, that some brands might come in or back in without building their own engine.
Ford (with Cosworth building the engines) was last in with Red Bull in 2005. Jackie Stewart's team had been purchased by Ford and became Jaguar, then Ford sold to Red Bull (the company) and the team became Red Bull Racing. Cosworth had a stint on their own after Ford pulled their branding, but when the engine formula changed in 2014 they couldn't find a partner willing to put up the money for the all-new architecture and couldn't afford it on their own. They've expressed interest in coming back in with the next update, and have been trying to entice someone like Ford to put the money up, but we'll see.
At the moment, yes. It seems the Mercedes engines aren’t currently as good as the others, plus McLaren also has some aero issues.
It's actually their real color; the previous one was lighter because of the Philip Morris sponsorship.
I don't think the Mercedes engines got worse in absolute terms; it's just that the Ferrari engines improved so relative performance is closer.
The Mercedes problems mostly derive from their aero design right now. Like porpoising and having trouble in corners isn't an engine problem.
Best looking Ferrari in years I think
Mclaren is breaking my heart, but look at Haas! Fok kick my door!!! Legends!!!
Was thinking the same thing, whatever deal with the Devil they made to win last year is coming due.
Per twitter, the fuel pump that failed for Red Bull is a spec part. Meaning its supplied by the FIA and is on every car. Hold on to your butts
I’m pretty sure pressure and flow limits are fixed. If the supplied pump can’t sustain that I wouldn’t point the finger at a particular team.
If other teams have reason to suspect there’s an issue and have been monitoring it, I’d point blank at Red Bull for neglecting to check and the FIA for a bad part.
I’m not sad karma has a sense of humor.
This is the case. Enough teams had issues with it that the FIA extended the time before parc ferme so teams had time to check on the pump. Reportedly some think the probelm is the way the new fuel interacts with the non-metallic parts inside the pump. At least one team replaced their pumps, but Red Bull did not. Some think Red Bulls specific fuel is to blame
Is it? Maybe it’s the illusion from the curves or other sponsor graphics but it looks almost maroonish like an 80’s Phillies uniform. I always understood Ferrari red (And by that I mean their branding, production cars, clothing, sunglasses) to be a pure fire engine like red.
Agreed.
Missile strike near the track… Drivers are currently debating moving forward with the GP.
They shouldn’t be racing in Saudi Arabia to begin with. This should be the easiest decision in the history of the sport.
They shouldn’t be racing in Saudi Arabia to begin with. This should be the easiest decision in the history of the sport.
Agreed - as much as I want to see a race this weekend, I want even more for them to stop racing in Saudi Arabia going forward (and the other Gulf countries, but SA would be a start).