FIVE THINGS WE LEARNED FROM 2022 F1 PRE-SEASON TESTING

Week one of the 2022 season is done as the first lot of pre-season testing was completed in Barcelona. A return to F1’s regular pre-season testing venue was a chance for the drivers to finally get behind the wheel of the new cars introduced for this season. In two weeks time Bahrain will stage a second test before the season opener, but what did we learn from our week at the Circuit De Catalunya?

Lewis Hamilton still has it

There were times during the winter when  people may have questioned Lewis Hamilton. Did a disillusioned Lewis Hamilton still have the motivation to go one further than 2021 and one further than anyone has ever done and claim an eighth World Championship? Well if there were any doubts they’ve certainly now been squashed. He finished 2021 as the fastest man on the grid, and he’s carried his momentum into the new year. Hamilton was 0.095 seconds faster than George Russell in second and was faster than both Red Bull’s, albeit on softer tyres. These times are maybe not representative however, there’s no question Hamilton is still very fast and very hungry for more success.

Usual names lead the way and work to do for the chasing pack

The new regulations were aimed at making racing closer, and there have been signs that could be the case with Ferrari and McLaren leading the timesheets at certain points throughout the three days. Lando Norris was fastest for McLaren on Wednesday before Charles Leclerc led the way on Thursday for the much fancied Ferrari. However, by the end of the week it was a familiar story, Mercedes one-two, Red Bull 3-4, it was almost a sight from a couple of years ago, and although the times might not be completely accurate of the season, it suggests there’s still plenty of work for the chasing pack to do if they want to be title contenders come the business end of the season.

Plenty of challenges to overcome

If you’re gonna have issues, it’s best to get them out of the way in pre-season testing. Reliability issues were inevitable with the new cars but it took until Friday for them to emerge. Pierre Gasly crashed his AlphaTauri in the middle sector, with the cause unclear, both Alfa Romeo drivers suffered on day three and their laps were limited. Fernando Alonso suffered hydraulic issues and George Russell was worried by performance before he found form on Friday. The season is set up brilliantly and teams are going to be overcoming challenges and learning on the job as they adapt to the new setups.

Porpoising

Now this is a technical one and I’m not really sure how to explain it but I'll give it a good go. We’ve seen the cars bouncing this week and it is called porpoising. This is all to do with ground effect, and it’s happened because F1 have changed the aerodynamics of the cars in order to make them easier to follow and make for better racing. The downforce pushes the car towards the floor, but when the airforce is disrupted the car pulls up making a rather bumpy ride. I have explained it as well as I understand it but it is going to be really interesting to see how the drivers and team innovate to stop this happening, and the team that find the solution first could benefit big time.

Max very grateful for Masi

And finally Max Verstappen reaffirmed his support of Michael Masi. Unsurprisingly the Dutchman defended the Australian, saying he was thrown under the bus and that the teams should never have been allowed to contact him directly. Max was on the right end of the luck on this occassion but would he be saying the same had he been in Lewis Hamilton’s position? We’re not sure sure…