The Max and Red Bull Show

 

By Aiden McLaughlin

The 2021 Formula One season was always going to be hard to match, never mind beat. Last season saw an epic driver’s championship that not only went to the final race, it went down to the last lap.

Things didn’t just end at the chequered flag though and a full FIA report into the dramatic conclusion that saw Red Bull’s Max Verstappen take his first title, was released just before the 2022 season opening Grand Prix in Bahrain.

While Lewis Hamilton/Mercedes fans went head-to-head with Verstappen/Red Bull fans on social media during the off season, the teams and drivers were getting ready for the 2022 season.

There was the usual merry-go-round with the drivers’ seats. Alfa Romeo announced an all-new line up, with Valtteri Bottas joining from Mercedes and Formula Two driver Zhou Guanyu joining thew grid for the first time. In doing so, Guanyu also became the first Chinese driver to compete in Formula One. They replaced Kimi Räikkönen, who had retired, and Antonio Giovinazzi, who is a test driver for the Haas team in 2022.

George Russell, predictably, took Bottas’ drive at Mercedes, while Alex Albon filled Russell’s seat at Williams.

Finally, Nikita Mazepin was sacked by the Haas team following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and Kevin Magnussen was brought back into the team he drove for between 2017 and 2020, to replace him.

Away from the drivers, a raft of new regulations governing the designs of the cars, saw the biggest change in the sport since 1983. The aim of these new regulations was to make overtaking easier by shifting the aerodynamic focus from the wings, to underneath the car. This would create downforce by controlling the airflow around the tyre, which, in turn, should mean that the tyres grip the track at high speed.

The new designs also meant that the Mercedes domination that had seen them win eight consecutive constructors’ championships, as well as seven of the last eight drivers championships, was potentially at an end, as the teams all grappled with the need to redesign significant elements of their cars. Indeed, in pre-season, both Hamilton and Russell cited issues with something called ‘porpoising’ – a word that fans would get to know very well in the months to come.

The season started in Bahrain and it was Ferrari that led the pack with a Charles Leclerc/Carlos Sainz one-two. Hamilton and Russell were third and fourth respectively, but the big losers on the day were Red Bull, with both Verstappen and Sergio Perez failing to finish the race.

The second race was in Saudi Arabia and it was an absolute thriller, with Verstappen prevailing by 0.549 of a second from Leclerc. With Sainz in third and Perez in fourth, there were early signs of a two-horse race for the driver’s championship, with Leclerc replacing Hamilton as Verstappen’s main rival. With Leclerc winning in Australia and Verstappen in Imola, Leclerc held a 27 point after four races. But then, Red Bull and Verstappen started to exert their dominance.

In the 12 races since Imola, Verstappen has won nine and Leclerc just one. After last weekend’s Italian Grand Prix (which Verstappen won) the Dutchman holds a 116 point lead over Leclerc and with just six races remaining, it could be all over as early as the next Grand Prix weekend in Singapore at the end of September, if Leclerc were to fail to finish and Verstappen was to clock up his twelfth victory of 2022.

For a season that promised so much for the fans, Verstappen’s stranglehold on proceedings is indeed a concern for the Formula One hierarchy who have the distinct possibility of the World Champion being crowned with five races still to go. There’s a predictability as things stand that wherever Verstappen starts the race, he will win. In Belgium at the end of August he started 14^th on the grid and last weekend in Italy he started in seventh, yet he went on to win both races.

Of course, it’s not Red Bull’s fault that they’ve been so good while Mercedes have struggled (relatively compared to other seasons) and Ferrari have been their own worst enemy at times, with a series of strategic decisions that have left onlookers, as well as their own drivers bewildered.

But it’s a dominance that will inevitably see people look elsewhere on race weekends. One of the great weaknesses of Formula One through multiple generations has been predictability. Whether it was Nigel Mansell in 1992, Michael Schumacher while at Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes or others.

Netflix’s ‘Drive to Survive’ series has brought a huge number of new fans to the spot, all around the world. The format of the show means that there are multiple storylines that they can put together for the new season, which will premiere in six months or so; the retirement of Sebastian Vettel, the Russell vs Hamilton duel at Mercedes, the woes of Ferrari’s pit wall, the departure of Daniel Riccardo from McLaren, the Alpine/McLaren contract saga regarding Oscar Piastri and the incredible Italian Grand Prix weekend for Nyck de Vries. That’s ok for the casual Netflix viewers, but for the die hard followers Formula One has taken a step back this year after the most exciting season end we’ve ever seen. In 2023, it needs to be more competitive or face the consequences.

Follow Aiden on Twitter.