Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2022 i AUTOSPORT

As I write, Formula 1 pre-season testing in Barcelona is under way and we’re finally seeing 2022’s revolutionary new cars turning proper laps. There’s much anticipation. When no less than Adrian Newey calls this “a huge regulation change, the biggest one we've had since 1983” you realise Formula 1 faces a seismic moment. So too does F1’s present owner Liberty Media, which has bet heavily on a crack team of poachers turned gamekeepers, led by Ross Brawn. Brawn et al have conceptualised and developed a substantially revised set of technical regulations using the very same techniques F1 teams usually employ to exploit the rules to their own benefit. The immediate result is an end to the complicated wings and bargeboards, flicks and tricks we’ve become used to seeing on the…

PICTURES 01 FIA NAMES NEW RACE DIRECTORS Masi “thrown under the bus”, says Verstappen 02 HONDA NOT OUT AFTER ALL 03 RUSSIAN GP CANCELLED MASI REMOVED FROM F1 RACE DIRECTOR ROLE 01 The 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix has booked Michael Masi’s place in Formula 1 history, but it will very likely be his last-ever race as the championship’s race director. At the end of February, new FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem announced that Masi was to be offered a new position within the federation, while his previous duties will now be divided instead between the Portuguese Eduardo Freitas and the German Niels Wittich. They will alternate as F1’s race director from the start of this season. Masi’s removal came as no surprise, since his decisions in the closing laps of…

@benedwardstv PICTURES WILL REGULATION RESET SPRING A FEW SURPRISES? The unpredictability of new rules adds relish as we build up to the new season. Thirteen years ago, the Brawn GP team created an aerodynamic masterpiece under revised regulations. Having finished last in the constructors’ championship in 2008 as Honda, the re-jigged outfit with off-the-shelf Mercedes power took Jenson Button to his only world title, while Ross Brawn’s crew completed their journey from misery to ecstasy, carrying off the constructors’ trophy too. McLaren and Ferrari had dominated the previous two seasons, but both suffered. Separated by just a single point at the end of the year, adding their scores together didn’t even match the points accrued by another surprise outfit at that time: Red Bull. Chief technical officer Adrian Newey had…

PICTURES 1.1 2022 AERO RULES EXPLAINED 1.2 SUPERSIZE MY WHEELS 1.3 NEW FUEL, FROZEN ENGINES 1.4 F1 GOES (PARTLY) ONE-MAKE 1.5 ROSS BRAWN BETS THE HOUSE After a year’s delay enforced by the global pandemic, F1’s major rules reset is finally here – and the cars are going to look very different as a result… For many years now, Formula 1 has grappled with the issue of overtaking: there’s not enough of it, and most solutions thrown at this problem either haven’t worked or have actively made it worse. F1’s radical new look for this season is the result of five years’ work led by GP Racing columnist and former Benetton technical director Pat Symonds, alongside Nikolas Tombazis, the FIA’s head of single-seaters and former chief designer at Ferrari. This…

Alex, this is sort of a fresh start for you. If you compare yourself with the version of you from 2019, what’s different? I’ve come from two years of experience in Formula 1, which isn’t a huge amount, but I’ve also spent a year in between where I’ve been able to digest that information, have time to reflect and see what I could have changed. So I feel like I’ve come into this year a lot more prepared than in 2019, but also even 2020, I feel more prepared than then. Of course, there’s a bit of this shaking off the rust, we saw it a little bit with Esteban [Ocon] and Fernando [Alonso], that you do need a bit of a time to get back into things, but that’s…

PICTURES 4.1 IS THIS REALLY SUSTAINABLE? 4.2 WELCOME TO MIAMI: F1’S NEWEST RACE F1 undertakes a record schedule of 23 races this season, including a brand new race on the streets of Miami, but how does all this fit with the championship’s mission to become environmentally conscious, socially aware and fully sustainable? The earth is warming, seasons are changing, extreme weather conditions are becoming more prevalent, and some countries face the prospect of becoming uninhabitable. While the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change seeks to implement the 2016 Paris Agreement to restrain global warming to between 1.5℃ and 2.0℃ above pre-industrial levels, Formula 1 enters its new season and new era with a record 23-race calendar. This includes its most recent addition, Saudi Arabia, whose giant, state-owned oil company…

PICTURES @CoddersF1 facebook.com/gpracingonline TRUST IN SHORT SUPPLY AFTER ABU DHABI Throw ’em a bit of what they want – it’s an effective tactic whether you’re (hypothetically speaking, of course) a scandal-hit prime minister buying back favour with antsy backbenchers or, indeed, a newly installed FIA president juggling an unexpectedly hot potato left by your predecessor. When it became clear the outgoing Todt regime’s strategy for dealing with the after-stink of the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP – just tell the punters they’re too dumb to understand how motor racing works – wasn’t going to cut it, Mohammed ben Sulayem smoothly executed a U-turn, announcing an official inquiry into the embarrassing affair. Essentially, to some extent an ongoing hissy fit on social media can be ignored, but F1’s biggest box office stars…

OLEG KARPOV Our new staff writer took a trip to Hinwil to find out how Alfa's new boys Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou are getting on (p56 & p62) ANDREW BENSON Lewis Hamilton's continued participation in F1 is now confirmed; Andrew uncovers what has motivated the Briton to carry on (p46) MARK GALLAGHER Mark analyses F1's progression on sustainability (p78) and Miami's long journey to become F1's second GP in the US (p84) ROBERTO CHINCHERO Roberto assesses Ferrari's impressive 2021 recovery and where the Scuderia stands going into this crucial season (p66)…

THIS MONTH ★ Download and read it on your PC, Mac or iPad ★ It’s identical to the print edition ★ On sale the same day as the print edition Go to www.gpracing.com/digital-edition/ NEXT MONTH* THE SEASON FERNANDO ALONSO HAS BEEN WAITING FOR IS HERE. HOW WILL HE FARE? ON SALE APR 7 > How teams have differed in approach to new regulations> What next for Red Bull’s forgotten man Pierre Gasly?> Oscar Piastri: the best driver not on the F1 grid> Now That Was a Car: Williams FW19 CONTACT US ON letters@f1racing.com GP Racing, 1 Eton Street, Richmond, London, TW9 1AG…

PICTURES THE ANSWER IS STILL BLOWING IN THE WIND… With the stated intent of the F1 Commission to work towards a ban on the use of wind tunnels over the next 10 years it might seem perverse that two teams, McLaren and Aston Martin, are investing in new wind tunnels right now. Current aerodynamic testing restrictions, while variable from team to team, are framed in such a way that it is reasonably easy for teams to share wind tunnels, so what is it about this particular testing technique that makes such a huge investment still worthwhile? To answer this perhaps we should first explain what a wind tunnel is and how it works. It is an indisputable fact that most of a Formula 1 car’s performance comes from aerodynamics and,…

Unlike previous big regulation changes, the 2022 overhaul has been driven by work between Formula 1 and the FIA together, with a dedicated team. How useful has that been? This is certainly the first time in my time in Formula 1 that such effort has been put into the type of cars we go racing with. The system before relied on the teams providing the resource, and I’ve been part of that. This sort of initiative is never the priority for the teams. Having a group of people that have been working on this as their main priority is very exciting. Due to the nature of the new regulations, inevitably when we start the season, we may see some scatter in the performance of the teams. I think that’s unavoidable.…

Surely it had to be the first question to Valtteri Bottas, were you to meet him during one of his early visits to his new team’s base in Hinwil, Switzerland. “How do you like coffee here, Valtteri?” we ask. “There is still work to do,” Alfa Romeo’s new Finn laughs in response. “There’s nothing wrong with the coffee, but it can always be better. “But I’m on it”, he says, adding confidently: “I’m gonna sort it.” After all, that’s what he’s here for: to share his experience and help his new team to improve in every area. We are in one of the two Sauber buildings on Wildbachstrasse, in an immense workshop with a wind tunnel stretched out at second-floor level. Bottas is no longer a stranger in Hinwil. He…

3.1 PRANCING AGAIN: FERRARI POISED TO STRIKE 3.2 THE ORANGE ARMY RISES: MCLAREN ON A MISSION It’s now been 12 seasons since a team other than Mercedes or Red Bull won either of Formula 1’s world championships, but two former winners from before that era are on the rise once more THE ON-TRACK DEBUT OF THE LATEST FERRARI, THE F1-75, WAS SO GREATLY ANTICIPATED, BECAUSE THIS CAR WILL PLAY A CRUCIAL ROLE IN THE FUTURE OF THE SCUDERIA For Ferrari, 2021 was all about controlling what it could control. 2020 had been one of the Scuderia’s worst seasons in living memory, competitively speaking, and its reaction was important. The Ferrari of old, eternally beholden to pressure from the boardroom and from the media and the public, might have felt tempted…

As Formula 1 stumbles blinking into the sunlight from under the shadow of COVID-19, the world championship enters its most ambitious season with a new jewel in its crown. A second grand prix in the United States – in Miami, capital of the Sunshine State of Florida – and one which features an almost unprecedented level of partnership between Formula One Management and the race promoter. “The US is a key growth market for us,” was F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali’s succinct summary when the race was confirmed last April. With a Las Vegas event also under consideration you have to believe it will not be too long before America can boast a trio of events. Students of Formula 1 will recall that Bernie Ecclestone long held ambitions to stage multiple…

SUBSCRIBE TO ENSURE YOU DON’T MISS OUT ON: ◼ EVERY ISSUE DELIVERED ◼ THE BEST F1 WRITERS ◼ DETAILED INSIGHT ◼ EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS ◼ STUNNING IMAGERY ACCESS EVEN MORE ONLINE Our print + digital bundle option includes Autosport Plus, giving you access to exclusive longreads, in-depth analysis, technical insight and expert opinion on autosport.com. The print + digital bundle also gives you access to the digital magazine on your devices, so you can enjoy GP Racing anytime, anywhere. GET THIS EXCLUSIVE OFFER HERE: WWW.AUTOSPORTMEDIA.COM/OFFER/GPMAR22 Terms and conditions: Offer valid for new annual subscriptions to the print and digital bundle package only. Direct debit rates are valid for one year after which they are subject to change. Should you wish to cancel your subscription, it will be cancelled on expiry of…

The wet’s sweet little mysteries While some of the paddock Cassandras had been glumly predicting bad weather on the Friday of the Barcelona test, it turned out merely cloudy. To test Pirelli’s new wet-weather tyres several tanker trucks emptied water onto the circuit at lunchtime, giving the first cars out of the garage a chance to try the ‘full wets’ before stepping down to intermediates. Despite the clouds the light was good enough – certainly working with Mercedes’ move back to silver. It’s a nice-looking car, especially when backlit – and you can see some interesting vortices in the spray between the wheels, showing how the new aerodynamics are working. Where Barcelona, Spain When 1:21pm, Friday 25 February 2022 Details Canon EOS-1DX MkII 600mm lens, 1/640s @ F8 Oil be…

@_markgallagher ANOTHER SPIN FOR THE ALPINE MERRY-GO-ROUND When Marcin Budkowski was recruited to Renault by Cyril Abiteboul in the autumn of 2017, it was not only rival teams who were unimpressed at the speed the Polish engineer was able to transition away from his previous role at the FIA. As gamekeeper turned poacher, Budkowski’s move also came as a surprise to senior figures at Enstone, blindsided by Abiteboul’s decision to bring in someone he viewed as his own man. While competitors railed against a senior figure within the FIA being able to move seamlessly to Renault, Abiteboul insisted it was a necessary move to strength his organisation’s management, stressing that Budkowski would be joining in a “non-technical capacity”. Furthermore, it was part of a strategy to become a top team…

2.1 HOW DOES LEWIS BOUNCE BACK? AND THE (SORT OF) NEW FACE AT MERCEDES 2.2 F1’S NEW ALFA MALE: BOTTAS EXCLUSIVE 2.3 YEAR OF THE TIGER: CHINA’S FIRST F1 DRIVER 2.4 ALEX ALBON: THE WILLIAMS NEW BOY There’s been some significant reshuffling of F1’s driver line-ups over the winter but overshadowing all of that is how last year’s deposed champion recovers from that race in Abu Dhabi When Lewis Hamilton was disqualified from qualifying at last year’s São Paulo Grand Prix on questionable grounds, something happened inside him. The Mercedes team saw it as an injustice; being sent to the back of the grid for the sort of minor technical infringement that would normally be treated with a quiet “fix that and don’t do it again” from officials. Hamilton, equally…

When Guanyu Zhou scored his first European karting victory, the awards ceremony didn’t involve a Chinese flag – simply because the organisers hadn’t anticipated a driver from China would be among the podium contenders. “It was in France, in Salbris”, Zhou tells GP Racing. “I won my first-ever European race, and then there was a British flag [on a podium]. So I wasn’t really happy about it. What was nice is that afterwards you could see it [the Chinese flag] everywhere. There would not just be the flag for the podium, there’d be flags on the circuits, like displayed on the main straight, where you have flags of most drivers’ nationalities.” Zhou moved from Shanghai to Sheffield at the age of 12 with the goal of becoming F1’s first Chinese…

Daniel Ricciardo’s victory at Monza last September was momentous – and not just because the ever-present Netflix camera crews got to capture Daniel’s first podium ‘shoey’ in what felt like an age. McLaren might be Formula 1’s second most successful team in terms of race wins but this, victory number 183, had been a longer time coming than Ricciardo’s stunt champagne-quaffing exercise: nearly nine years separated Monza 2021 from win number 182, at the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix. The team fell far and fast after Jenson Button’s victory at Interlagos but now, after innumerable false starts and much bloodletting, it’s a very different McLaren which enters the 2022 F1 season: leaner, humbler, less complacent, exuding confidence tempered by realism. For all that its launch was big on excitement – a…

RED BULL Max Verstappen Age 24 Debut Australia 2015 Starts 141 Wins 20 Podiums 40 Titles 1 F1’s new number one (and he will wear #1) defends one of F1’s most controversial titles – but there can be no doubting the exceptional level Max reached in wresting that crown from Lewis Hamilton’s head. The level of aggression is not to everyone’s taste, and rule makers may intervene to rein him in again, but Verstappen is nonetheless superb in all departments. Some of his qualifying laps last year made Fernando Alonso’s jaw drop… Max should be right in the mix again provided Red Bull’s ‘kitchen sink’ approach to 2021 hasn’t set back its all-new car. GP RACING VERDICT Carries the ego boost of being champion. Will be tough to stop if…

THE MAIN EVENT This will be an important step for the new generation of cars, even though the teams will have had the chance to evaluate them at this circuit during a three-day test the weekend before the season opener. Bahrain’s high ambient temperatures can push the cars’ cooling capacity out of its comfort zone, and the combination of an abrasive track surface (laid specifically to make it offer more grip) with lots of fast, high-energy corners will give the new Pirelli tyres a pummelling. We’ll also get a first look at how the new technical package performs in race conditions, and how closely the cars can follow one another. Since only a handful of days will have elapsed since testing, teams will have very little time to react to…