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Column | The biggest gainers in round one of F1 2022
As the sand settles after an incredible and thrilling round one in F1 2022, GPblog takes a look at the teams who have made a gargantuan step forward. How did they achieve this and how much more will they be able to achieve from this for their respective campaigns?
Alfa Romeo
Double points finish for the Hinwil outfit marks an incredible turn of form in comparison to a very poor 2021 season. Ex-Mercedes driver, Valtteri Bottas, presented an outstanding lap on Saturday, landing him in sixth place for the race. From this, he would be able to consolidate this position in the race, while rookie teammate Zhou Guanyu clambered up to achieve a “points on debut” finish in p10. This is such a change in performance from the Swiss-Italian squad, with many expecting them to be further back in the pecking order after their disrupted winter testing sessions. However, the feeling is strong and the team are definitely buoyed by this performance, with eyes firmly set on the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, to extend this run of form.
Haas
It’s almost as if a complete 180-degree turn has been made in the Haas team’s F1 progress. Languishing at the back of the field in 2021 seems like an old nightmare, as both drivers Mick Schumacher & Kevin Magnussen displayed competitive form in the opening round. Magnussen was able to throw his car into battles, fighting hard, while Schumacher held a more undisturbed yet hard-charging position just outside the points. When the chequered flag was out, Magnussen achieved an amazing fifth place, while Schumacher finished in a best-ever position of 11th.
Incredibly, the display in Bahrain resulted in the Haas F1 team leaping up to third in the world constructor’s standings. While it is certainly early days and they may not be able to sustain such standing, it will certainly give the team renewed hope to push hard in their 2022 campaign.
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Their hopes now
One thing to note is the power unit which both teams sport. Scuderia Ferrari’s uptick in performance seems to have been matched by both customer teams, Alfa Romeo and Haas. This would lead one to believe that the powertrain has received some massive upgrades, improving in comparison to their rivals. One could also hazard a guess that the engine architecture may have been tweaked to suit the modern cars better, with the Mercedes powered Aston Martin of Nico Hulkenberg facing issues in the race and the Red Bull Powertrain of Pierre Gasly’s AlphaTauri bursting into flames into the tail end of the race.
The teams need to push now, to best maximise the advantage from the opening races, before their rivals make their own steps forward in terms of car performance. Both Haas & Alfa Romeo have shown remarkable and considerable games, so for the next few races, the points are for them to lose.
