We might only be a month or so removed from the controversial ending of the F1 2021 season which saw Max Verstappen crowned the World Champion but with just a couple of months until the 2022 season starts, not seems like as good as a time as ever to take a look at what the next campaign could have in store.
Naturally, there will already be some buzz around the world regarding the upcoming Championship, especially as there are a number of different features to this season that should help to make it more exciting than ever before.
Or course, one of the biggest changes is to the race schedule, as more races have been added, whilst the season opener is scheduled to take place at Sakhir in Bahrain and many can already look to place a bet using Unibet’s PA Sports Betting Odds that have already been made available to them as anticipation grows.
So, what can we expect heading into the F1 2022 season?
How do the teams look this year?
One of the notable things that will be rather different this season is that some of the teams will look a little different from how they had looked throughout the last campaign.
Indeed, there have been a number of major changes to driver line-ups all over the place, including at Mercedes for the first time since 2016.
The team has dominated the sport for a number of years, but they have decided to promote British driver George Russell from the Williams team after enjoying three excellent years to team up with Lewis Hamilton.
Naturally, this move then had somewhat of a domino effect as Valtteri Bottas left Mercedes to join Alfa Romeo where he replaced Kimi Raikkonen who had decided to retire from motorsport two decades after making his debut. The team will have a new set of drivers, though, as Antonio Giovinazzi has decided to move to Formula E and participate with Dragon Penske, thus meaning Chinese driver Guanyu Zhou will make the move up from Formula 2 to Formula One; becoming the first Chinese driver to make his full Grand Prix debut in the process.
Alexander Albon returns to F1 after a year hiatus as he replaces Russell at Williams and will team up with Nicholas Latifi in the final changes to the driver lineups for the 2022 season.
This means teams such as Red Bull Racing – Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez – and Ferrari – Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr – all remain the same, as do McLaren, Alpine, AlphaTauri, Aston Martin, and Haas.
What does the race calendar look like?
As briefly mentioned, the 2022 F1 race calendar is the biggest that it has ever been with a total of 23 races having been scheduled to take place over the course of the upcoming season.
Indeed, with a number of races, there have been a number of new tracks to have been added to the schedule, too. Perhaps one of the biggest highlights this year will be the Miami Grand Prix, as it will be the first to ever take place in Florida.
The race will take place around the Hard Rock Stadium – which is home to the Miami Dolphins – where it will become the home for the first of two races to take place in the US, as a 3.36-mile street circuit will be created.
Additionally, there are a number of race tracks to have returned to the schedule after being forced to withdraw from the previous year, with the likes of the Australian, Canadian, Singapore, and Japanese Grand Prix all becoming available again.
Nonetheless, the race at Albert Park which is traditionally held as the season opener will need to settle as the third race of the season, as the Bahrain Grand Prix at Sakhir and the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit will take place before it, with the first race on the 20 March 2022.
It should be noted that there is no Chinese Grand Prix scheduled for the upcoming season, whilst Qatar will not appear either as they will be focusing on their commitments to hosting the FIFA World Cup in the winter instead.
What does the race calendar look like?
The race calendar for the F1 2022 season is currently scheduled to look like this:
- 20 March – Bahrain – Sakhir
- 27 March – Saudi Arabia – Jeddah
- 10 April – Australia – Albert Park
- 24 April – Emilia Romagna – Imola
- 8 May – Miami – Miami Gardens
- 22 May – Spain – Barcelona
- 29 May – Monaco – Monte-Carlo
- 12 June – Azerbaijan – Baku
- 19 June – Canada – Montreal
- 3 July – Britain – Silverstone
- 10 July – Austria – Red Bull Ring
- 24 July – France – Paul Ricard
- 31 July – Hungary – Hungaroring
- 28 August – Belgium – Spa-Francorchamps
- 4 September – Netherlands – Zandvoort
- 11 September – Italy – Monza
- 25 September – Russia – Sochi
- 2 October – Singapore – Marina Bay
- 9 October – Japan – Suzuka
- 23 October – United States – Circuit of the Americas
- 30 October – Mexico City – Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez
- 13 November – Sao Paulo – Interlagos
- 20 November – Abu Dhabi – Yas Marina
How will the cars be different?
As with each edition of the F1 season, there will be a number of rules and modifications that constructors will need to abide by in order to be eligible to compete.
There have been a number of changes to have been requested, including the size of the tires used, although it would seem there has been a huge emphasis on the aerodynamics used, with some having called for it over a sustained period of time.
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