F1 2022 thread - see post 1 for rules

quokula

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118420530#Comment_118420530

Reports are that he's going to Alpine - I think it may be more a case of him leaving rather than Aston dropping him. He's highly rated in the paddock.

BWT are also reportedly switching their sponsorship to Alpine. It definitely feels like Alpine and Ferrari are the teams with the most buzz and optimism around them in the off season, but nobody really knows until they hit the track.

quokula

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118420685#Comment_118420685

The regulations on the new cars can be found here - good look deciphering them though! My understanding is that it's supposed to be pretty strict, but the rules are such a complicated list of boxes and angles and measurements that there's always the chance teams will find a loophole that they overlooked - this is how we ended up with innovations like double diffusers, or with those ridiculous proboscis noses on cars when they introduced regulations which were intended to lower the whole nosecone, but teams found that having a tip sticking out matched the letter of the rules and was the most performant design.

The wing design isn't purely aesthetic, it's shaped in a way to direct the dirty air coming from the bottom of the car and push it upwards, so it doesn't impact the car behind so much. Their seems to be a lot of confidence that it will work.

El_Duderino 09

Couple of bits of interesting information in this article.

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/motor-racing/formula1/f1-news-live-hamilton-verstappen-latest-2022-b1986980.html

Williams won a case against Rokit to get £26m in owed sponsorship. Can't go amiss. Doubt they'll get the full amount but vacant hurt.

And car weights are going up..

"Cars will now have a minimum weight of 790kg this year, around 38kg heavier than last term."

Probably ignore the Hamilton to Hollywood news

eviltimeban

I'd say Laurence Stroll was a tough person to work for.

Jordan 199

I see the first two races of the season are back-to-back. Bahrain on the 18th of March and Saudi on the 25th of March. Very nice.

mickdw

Otmar Szafnauer was always on the way out once whitmarsh came in.

Interesting to see him at Alpine. They really could be front runners.

El_Duderino 09

Article here suggesting Honda is struggling to accommodate the new 10%, bio fuel mix for this year. It says Ferrari and Alpine have solved it but Honda is still working on it. Doesn't mention Mercedes. It might be good for the championship if Mercedes struggled too and they were all bunched up a bit.

https://racingnews365.com/red-bull-on-new-2022-engine-performance-not-what-it-was-in-2021

recyclebin

Williams have won a case in the US against ROKiT for £26 million in unpaid sponsorship money. It's a significant amount of money. About one fifth what it cost Dorlinton to buy the team.

flazio

But who gets that? The new owners or the Williams family?

El_Duderino 09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118444669#Comment_118444669

The Williams F1 team. That's who the contract was signed with. They didn't sponsor Frank Williams to whizz around in his wheelchair. They sponsored the team to advertise its brand on the cars. That's where the money will surely go.

duploelabs

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118444730#Comment_118444730

I'm sure the potential award was factored into the buyout figure as the deficit in the years when Rokit were supposed to be paying their sponsorship had to be covered by the Williams family themselves

El_Duderino 09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118444823#Comment_118444823

Good question. Depends on how likely they were to win. It might have been a gamble for the new buyers and Williams will have been selling as guaranteed money. Who knows.

Ryano87

Not sure how reliable this source (although McLaren's financial wows are well documented).

I think it's good news for the sport if Porsche / Audi are onboard

https://formula1news.co.uk/audi-and-porsche-set-to-enter-f1-as-engine-suppliers-mclaren-to-be-sold/

quokula

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118450645#Comment_118450645

This was reported as a done deal back in the middle of last season, then both McLaren and Audi strongly denied it and the reports died.

But then Otmar Szafnauer leaving Aston Martin was reported in the middle of the season and that was strongly denied and the story was dropped too...

I'd take it as good news if true, McLaren's finances have been in a poor state and they've had to sell off a bunch of their assets in recent times, meaning that though they've had good on track performances this year their long term prospects were looking shaky. Seeing a new manufacture committing to the sport is good news too as the sport looks to be finally turning a corner with the next set of engine regulations in 2025 after the disastrous 2014 formula that forced smaller engine suppliers like cosworth out of the sport and created huge barriers to entry for any potential new manufacturer.

How bad can things be when they've managed to cut their spending by a half or two thirds going forward with the budget cap? Makes little sense.

quokula

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118453433#Comment_118453433

It was mainly down to their road car business being hit hard by the pandemic and they had no headroom for that which meant they had to lay off a large portion of their workforce and sell off their premises and get external investors onboard to ensure they could keep paying the bills.

dulpit

Did anyone see this?

https://youtu.be/2Z9zAyrSfpw

I assume this is just sky making stories for the sake of it, Hamilton is hardly going to retire out of the blue this late on?

El_Duderino 09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118453670#Comment_118453670

Absolute guff. There's nothing else to talk about at the moment so the only way to make a video worth watching is to make stuff up or exaggerate to the point of making stuff up. Lewis might be holding out and waiting for the FIA to beg him to confirm he'll drive, and I expect most of the 50:50s to go his way and maybe a few big decisions like penalties against Max to get Lewis onside. Or they might make some big promises and not follow through.

He's having a sulk because F1 made some rules on the fly for the entertainment and he got screwed. But F1 needs him so they'll do what they need to do to secure his participation.

klose

Not a chance Hamilton will retire, he'll be back all guns blazing after last season and if Merc (assumably) nail the regs he'll be front runner for the championship again. If he wins an 8th championship I think he'll call it a day then.

SureYWouldntYa

I don't know what they were like for F1 a few years ago, but it wasn't that long ago they used to be quite respectable for football news but have gone pure tabloid with their stuff and the yellow ticker in recent years

That is pure scrapping the gutter stuff

El_Duderino 09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118454316#Comment_118454316

I really wonder how which it matters to have the record. The media made a big deal out of records and stats, but that's how they tell the stories and their job is telling stories.

Even if he's not 100% enthusiastic about taking part this year, he'll be motivated by not looking like a sore loser. Rosberg's retirement was a tiny bit dishonourable and it looked like he knew he couldn't defend the title so he didn't. Fair enough, No harm to his reputation as nobody ever said he was the best driver. Hamilton retiring after NOT winning the title would look like sour grapes and that would genuinely tarnish his reputation as the potential GOAT.

recyclebin

Hamilton not winning the eigth title might be bad news for everyone else. Mercedes and Hamilton may have said that's enough and motiivation could have dropped off. I think they will be seriously motivated for revenge now.

McFly85

Hamilton will of course be back. His ego would need to be incredibly fragile for him to bin it all in because a decision didn't go his way. Once testing starts and he's back in the car I'm sure he'll be more motivated than ever. Can't be sure obviously but I think the record is important to him, and he'll want the outright lead by the time he chooses to retire, which could be a long way away yet - he's still right at the top in terms of ability.

Gamb!t

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118455391#Comment_118455391

I think he'd love to have that 8th title as it will always be Schumacher and Hamilton on 7 world titles.

NinjaTruncs

I can see Hamilton doing two more years, if the car is competitive he'll go for championship 8 and 9 over the next two years, If the car isn't competitive next year I would expect him to give it another year to try get #8, depending on how close the car is. But I doubt he'll be driving in 3 years time.

recyclebin

With that 8th title then Hamilton can retire with all the important records broken. I hope he sticks around and has a competitive enough car to at least fight for that eigth title. This year just left too much of a sour taste for him to go off and retire without giving it another shot.

waynescales1

Is this the year the cars change so that they don't produce loads of turbulence, making it easier for the cars to follow? Or which year does that happen?

McFly85

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118456196#Comment_118456196

That’s this year alright. As far as I understand it the new aerodynamics mean there’ll be less dirty air once trailing cars get close, so we should see less of those situations where cars get close on straights but lose time in corners.

Gamb!t

BBC are saying he's waiting to see the results of the inquiry before deciding if he will continue this season.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/59951382

waynescales1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118456304#Comment_118456304

Might see a lot more overtaking so. These conditions might favour drivers who are better "racers" as opposed to those who can drive fast around a track.

I was too young at the time to notice but wasn't Schumacher known as a fast driver who wasn't particularly good at wheel-to-wheel racing? Vettel possibly in that category also.

MadYaker

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118456766#Comment_118456766

Well he would say that, he's always going apply whatever pressure he can. Unlike some posters here I don't think F1 needs him for anything and it would be more competitive if he was gone.

El_Duderino 09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118456955#Comment_118456955

Sure but f1 is a business and marketing is important. Hamilton is probably the single most recognisable driver particularly in the US market which is an area of expansion for F1.

You might not need Hamilton as an f1 fan looking for competitive racing, but F1 needs Hamilton for other reasons.

With that said, drivers retire and the sport goes on. They will certainly do whatever they reasonably can to keep him. Fire Masi, tell him they owe him a favour and play on his equality foundation or whatever its called. He'll be on the grid this year.

Debub

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118456766#Comment_118456766

I might be absolutely wrong - but could be a pressure tactic, the sport 'needs' Hamilton, so waiting to see how much he can get out of it maybe, also the penalty for not attending the awards is still awaited... powerplay at play!

Frank Bullitt

No clue how people can say F1 “needs” Hamilton with the wealth of fresh talent coming through, not to mention one of those talents being the most popular drive in Max.

Cant see Hamilton leaving though, what sort of result from the investigation would make him stay or leave anyway?

flazio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118459259#Comment_118459259

North America. He really speaks to that culture, and that culture has a LOT of money. Asia and Europe can only do so much and Africa isn't really into motorsport full stop.

McFly85

He’s massively valuable to the sport, no question(although it could be argued that F1 is better positioned than it has been in years to live without him).

But this is all so over the top. He can feel aggrieved, but all you can do is work with the FIA to make sure that situation can’t arise again, and move on. Acting so precious about it isn’t going to help his image.

And it’s not the only thing from last year that needs a review. Track limits, engine penalties and what can be considered a racing incident all need to be clarified too.

klose

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118454416#Comment_118454416

I myself think him winning an 8th championship to go clear of Schumachers 7 is definitely a priority. You saw how little merc cared about the constructors it took them about 3 or 4 days to even recognise that they won it again while they were being sour over Abu Dhabi.

If Hamilton wins the championship this year I'd be surprised if the first media postings from merc say anything other than something along the lines of undisputed greatest of all time, clear of Schumacher yada yada you can make it up yourself what they'll say.

Anyways, all irrelevant as he will definitely be racing next season (and beyond perhaps).

eviltimeban

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118456304#Comment_118456304

Except Hulkenberg said, based on his experience in the sim, there didn't seem that much difference in terms of being able to follow in dirty air. Will have to wait and see if the real thing is any different.

duploelabs

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118460003#Comment_118460003

Except the majority of the sims don't have the full aerodynamic modelling integrated into them. The venturi tunnels (in majority but also the lack of barge boards and complex front wings) will make a drastic effect on the rooster tail of dirty air based on what the engineers are saying

El_Duderino 09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118459259#Comment_118459259

Hamilton isn't the most popular driver, but i'd bet he's the driver people feel most strongly about. Love him or loathe him, he's the biggest name in F1.

It would be very naive to think f1 is only about sport and F1 would let the business chips fall where they may. The drivers are assets to F1 marketing and Hamilton is the biggest asset in places like the US.

The sport will survive without him. No doubt about that. But it would prefer to have him with them. They'll probably need to consider that in the report they do on the last race. Make sure Hamilton feels appreciated and then on to the 2022 season.

Frank Bullitt

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118459291#Comment_118459291

It is an untapped market yes, but it is not like F1 needs America to survive or it is curtains. He obviously has a following there through certain aspects, but the sport overall doesn't need one driver to keep going.

Frank Bullitt

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118460819#Comment_118460819

Make him feel appreciated? How tender do we think his ego really is for the FIA to have to do something like that?

People can feel strongly about him all they want, which we all do in a way, Verstappen is very popular in the USA and now the champion. F1 management won't have a say in what driver stays or goes, so if he does go then so be it. The sport and business has plenty of irons in the fire to keep going, just like it did after Schumacher and Senna.

quokula

Hamilton came behind Verstappen and Norris in the global fan survey, which is pretty damning considering the statistics he's achieved by having a Mercedes under him, and the extent to which the media try to deify him. The reality is that he's nowhere near as popular as some posters here are making out and wouldn't be missed. His presence or otherwise wouldn't change the competitive landscape much either as there's about a dozen drivers on the grid who'd have the same record as him in that Mercedes, we already saw George Russell step in at a minute's notice in 2020 without a chance for a proper seat fitting and he still blew away Bottas and was heading for a dominant victory before the team screwed up the pitstop.

The sport now, for the first time in a long time, has a world champion who's popular around the world rather than just in Britain, and who's flying the flag of the sport by taking part in such events as the virtual 24 hours of Le Mans this week, and who doesn't have too big an ego to respect the traditions of the sport and consider his own number more important than putting the number 1 on the car. The sport is more popular than it's been in years and that's certainly got nothing to do with Lewis, there's a reason why ratings have gone up as other drivers have won.

Yes, Lewis loves lapping up celebrity culture and hanging out with fashion designers and musicians, but it's an extremely shallow view to make the assumption that that means he'd be more popular in the US and a bit of an insult to Americans - they do have plenty of motorsport of their own and they understand racing perfectly well. The average Nascar fan is going to be more impressed by an out and out racer like Verstappen taking the championship with a perfectly judged last lap overtake than someone who's accustomed to cruising to victory in a dominant car without a fight and spends all his time at celebrity gala events, who then goes on to sulk and demand more preferential treatment from the sport's governing body in the event he's beaten.

Killinator

Has Hamilton actually said ANYTHING about staying or going or are people just making stuff up?

I don't recall seeing him say one way or the other and any article I've read has just seemed to be suggestions based on absolutely nothing

eviltimeban

Hamilton will be back; he's under contract and I'd imagine breaking that contract would be expensive and awkward.

Burkie1203

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118462679#Comment_118462679

Just the vague remarks post race in Abu Dhabi

McFly85

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118462679#Comment_118462679

He hasn’t said anything and he won’t. The only places running with it are British news outlets citing “sources close to Hamilton”.

Its likely a Mercedes strategy to try and exert as much influence/pressure as they can to ensure changes to the rulebook are in their benefit.

El_Duderino 09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118462492#Comment_118462492

I think his ego is very fragile. It's one of his key characteristics. If you like him you might say he wears his heart on his sleeve but I think he has a fragile ego.

Max also has appeal to fans plus he's current and new world champion. But he's not media presence like Lewis is. People give out when yer wan, the rapper, disrespected Martin Bruldle. She was a name in an unrelated entertainment industry who was at an f1 event. But that's precisely the kind of crossover appeal that F1 wants. They don't invite those people to appeal to the likes of us who are already fans, they don't to introduce new audiences to F1. Likewise drive to survive.

We don't have to like it and it's not geared to us in any way, but it's important to F1 to grow its brand. Lewis is probably an important part of that branding. They will do what they reasonably can to keep him in the sport for another year or 2. No doubt about it.

duploelabs

Jesus, can we keep the Hamilton talk to the Hamilton thread and lose all this dogwhistling crap

Gamb!t

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118462679#Comment_118462679

He was asked in the post race interview if we would see him next year and he just said "Well see".

Its been radio silence since.