The New Era

 

The highly anticipated return of Formula 1 after 98 days since the controversial Abu Dhabi Grand Prix has encompassed the globe. New rule changes, new driver line ups, the longest race calendar in the history of the sport. It is the dawn of the new era. 

Prior to the opening race in Bahrain, Formula 1 testing had revealed many details that may or may not surprise you. Ferrari had a brilliant winter with tremendous development on their new car. It was an added benefit that they finished 6th in 2020 which meant they were granted a lot more wind tunnel time as opposed to their rivals Mercedes and Red Bull. Speaking of the two title protagonists last year, the Silver Arrows, who returned to their silver livery, developed radically different sidepods to the rest of the grid. However, they experienced several difficulties with porpoising (when the car jumps up and down on the straight). Contrastingly, Red Bull looked to have the best car of the three with a different side pod design of their own. The creation of Adrian Newey proved to be a great success at the Bahrain test where they topped all the timesheets. Haas looks a lot stronger this year, having put the misery of last year behind them. As do Alpine and Alpha Tauri who Mercedes believe will be their key rivals. Williams unfortunately along with Aston Martin and McLaren have appeared to struggle with various issues from aerodynamic flows to brake cooling problems. 

Fast forward a week and Formula 1 was back. The first race weekend of the year in Bahrain was a spectacle to behold as the new cars with their 18-inch tyres (which I am not as big a fan of) took to the Sakhir circuit. And after all their hard work over the winter, Ferrari came out on top. Charles Leclerc led Carlos Sainz for Ferrari's first win and 1-2 since Singapore in 2019. A proud moment for the Scuderia who deserve this after years in turmoil. For the entire race, it appeared that the Red Bull of Max Verstappen would split the two prancing horses but mechanical issues meant both him and his teammate Sergio Perez would leave Bahrain without any points - a true shame for Red Bull who looked to be the strongest team this weekend. Mercedes were the key beneficiaries from this as their drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell picked up the final podium place and 4th to get a good haul of points in the bag. Having said that, they are far behind the pace of both Ferrari and Red Bull - around 1 second slower a lap. They will be looking to develop their aero package to avoid the rear drag that they are currently experiencing to be more competitive. 

Whilst Leclerc may have won the race, there was definitely someone happier than he was. That man was Kevin Magnussen. Replacing Nikita Mazepin 2 weeks ago following the separation of Haas from their title sponsor Uralkali, Magnussen showed his true colours, reminiscent of his very first Grand Prix in F1 when he took 2nd for McLaren in Melbourne in 2014. Coming home in 5th meant Haas bagged their first points since 2020 and look to be a team that could really compete in the midfield with their second driver, Mick Schumacher, just outside the points. They sit pretty in 3rd place in the constructor's championship which, let's be honest, nobody would have ever predicted. 

It was the Alpine boys of Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon who also shared the same happiness with both cars finishing in the top 10 –– a positive start for them in 2022. This happiness carried forward to Alfa Romeo who's brand new driver lineup consisting of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guan Yu both finishing in the points. The same could be said for Alpha Tauri with Yuki Tsunoda coming home in 8th. His teammate however did not have the same fate as his car came to a halt on lap 45 with fire and smoke billowing out the back of his car. This meant that 3 cars, all with Red Bull engines, had suffered engine-related problems. A big cloud looms overhead for the sister teams around the engine then which hopefully they can solve before Jeddah next week. 

It was a poor outing for the boys in Williams, Aston Martin, and McLaren last night. Albon and Latifi in 13th and 16th respectively, Stroll and Hulkenburg (in for the covid positive Sebastian Vettel) in 12th and 17th, and the McLaren duo of Ricciardo and Norris coming home to finish 14th and 15th. A poor start for McLaren who have been in the top 4 constructors for the last few years running. Their overheating brake issues, paired with Ricciardo's absence from Bahrain's test have proven to be a handful for them to overcome. 

If there is anything to take away from the Bahrain Grand Prix, it's that the hard work by F1 to create cars that enable closer racing has been successful. Leclerc's close battle with Verstappen over 3 laps early in the race was evidence of that. Having said that, there is a great deal of disparity between the top teams and those who are further back. The likes of Aston Martin, McLaren, and Williams will look to claw their way into the mix as we head to Jeddah in a week's time. 

A track that is notoriously dangerous (as evident with the number of crashes last year), we hope to see a better outing for all the teams in Saudi Arabia. Till then, stay safe and hope that Sebastian Vettel is back next week :)