F1 is about to start again: This is what's on the schedule before first GP

The Formula One season is almost upon us and so the long wait after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is over. GPblog lists what to expect ahead of the start of the 2022 F1 season.

Hamilton's future

Although there doesn't seem to be anyone left who really thinks Lewis Hamilton is retiring, nothing is yet certain. Since the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Hamilton did not let us hear from him much, if at all, and Toto Wolff openly doubted whether the seven-time world champion would continue in Formula 1. However, earlier it was announced that Hamilton will probably attend the presentation of the new Mercedes.

Fair is fair: Hamilton can't go back now either. If he were to announce that he wants to quit Formula 1, he would saddle his Mercedes team with a very big problem. As annoying as he found the 2021 finale, he probably doesn't want to do that to his team.

So the whole media silence seems to have been more of an action to put pressure on the FIA. Mercedes withdrew its protest against the FIA, knowing that the FIA would conduct an internal investigation into the events at the last Grand Prix. At Mercedes, they are still outraged at the conduct of the race at the Yas Marina Circuit and with Hamilton's silence they may have hoped to get more done.

Prior to the Bahrain Grand Prix, the FIA will present the results of the investigation. Michael Masi was replaced as Head of Single Seaters by Peter Bayer and the FIA did not rule out Masi losing his role as Race Director as well. More will become clear about this in the run-up to the start of the season.

Car launch

The season really starts, however, with the car launches for the new season. With a completely new set of aerodynamic regulations, the cars will look completely different in 2022, so people are looking forward to the teams' presentations. Eight of the ten teams have already announced their date, and we don't yet have a date from Williams and Haas.

Although it will be interesting to see what the new liveries and cars look like, we should not expect too much from the car presentations. Especially prior to a new season with new regulations, the teams will not want to make their competitors any wiser. They too will see the presentations.

Complete overview: These are the dates of the car presentations

Red Bull Racing: 9 February

Aston Martin: 10 February

McLaren: 11 February

AlphaTauri: 14 February

Ferrari: 17 February

Mercedes: 18 February

Alpine: February 21

Alfa Romeo Racing: February 27

Williams: TBC

Haas F1: TBC.

The winter tests

After the car presentations, it's time for the winter tests. At least, not after all the presentations, because Alfa Romeo's last planned car launch (for now) is after the first week of testing in Barcelona. Alfa Romeo wants to give even less away to the competition and fans and only announces the car after the first test week.

This can be easier this year because the first test week in Barcelona is behind closed doors. Film crews and fans are not welcome, so reporting from the circuit is only done by some journalists. So the question is to what extent images of the cars will be available during the first week of testing, which takes place from February 23 to 25 at the Circuit de Catalunya.

The fact that the first test is closed was mainly arranged at the request of Bahrain. The country that is also hosting the first Grand Prix of the season wanted to have the official opening of the season with all the new cars as a show tool. However, if everything was already announced in Barcelona, there was no opening show for Bahrain to do.

Barcelona is therefore closed, whereas in Bahrain there will be more coverage than ever before. F1TV and Sky Sports will again be on-site, but unlike Ziggo Sport, Viaplay is sending a Dutch delegation (with film crew) to the test week. As a result, there will be daily coverage of the test and the footage will be public. The test week in Bahrain is from March 10 to 12.

Grand Prix of Bahrain

Although testing can give a certain indication of what the season will look like, we will only really know what the deal is when the finishing flag falls in Bahrain on Sunday, March 20. Then we will know which team has done the best job and which team has completely missed the boat.

The Bahrain International Circuit will kick off the season in 2022 with a 'normal' race weekend. Formula One still hopes to schedule sprint races for this season, but that won't be the case in Bahrain. There are three practice sessions on Friday and Saturday, a qualifying session on Saturday and the race on Sunday. A week later, there is immediate action again, with the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix.