All about F1 2022: rules, cars, drivers, dates and more

The 2022 F1 season is just around the corner, number 73 in the history of the world championship, and in which the category launches new rules before an exciting year.

F1 undergoes one of its biggest technical revisions in this 2022 season, with a huge change in the aerodynamic rules, with which it was hoped that all teams would start with the same possibilities.

The new rules are combined with a series of changes in the driver line-ups after a transfer market that was busy, and the 2022 grid will be joined by a rookie and two drivers returning to the category.

There is also more news, such as a completely new race on next year’s calendar and the long-awaited return of some highly-rated tracks that were removed from the calendar by COVID-19 in 2020 and 2021.

Here’s everything we know about the 2022 Formula 1 season.

The driver and team line-ups for F1 2022

There have been a number of major changes to next season’s line-up, as Mercedes has changed drivers for the first time since Nico Rosberg’s surprise retirement from F1 at the end of 2016.

Lewis Hamilton remains with the team but his new teammate for 2022 will be George Russell as Mercedes decided to promote the young British driver after three positive years with Williams.

George Russell, Mercedes F1 W11

Valtteri Bottas therefore left the team and moved to Alfa Romeo to take the place of his compatriot Kimi Raikkonen, who retired from F1 after 20 years with the team he started with (Alfa Romeo is actually Sauber ).

Raikkonen’s teammate Antonio Giovinazzi has also left F1 for Formula E, where he is teammates with Sergio Sette-Camara at the Dragon Penske Autosport team.

Guanyu Zhou steps up from Formula 2 to replace Giovinazzi and become the first Chinese driver to contest a full F1 season. He will run with the number 24.

Russell’s place at Williams is taken by former Red Bull driver Alexander Albon , after a year away from F1. He will return to team racing with his former DAMS teammate in Formula 2, Nicholas Latifi . In addition, and at the last minute, the war conflict over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine caused Nikita Mazepin to leave the grid and Kevin Magnussen to return.

In the rest of the grid, the line-ups remain the same: Sergio Pérez was renewed by Red Bull to remain a teammate of Max Verstappen, who has decided to wear number 1 on his car as world champion instead of his usual 33.

Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz remain at Ferrari, Lando Norris signed a long-term contract at McLaren, where Daniel Ricciardo also has a contract.

Fernando Alonso activated the option in his contract to remain at Alpine, a team that renewed Esteban Ocon. Oscar Piastri joins as official reserve driver of the French team after his successful first season in F2.

Pierre Gasly remains at AlphaTauri alongside Yuki Tsunoda, who admitted he was surprised by his renewal, while Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll remain at Aston Martin for the second consecutive season together.

Formula 1 car 2022 – statistics, design and speed

The biggest difference in the 2022 F1 aero package is the return of ground effect. Underbody ground effect tunnels have been banned in Formula 1 since 1982, but in recent years many have called for their return.

F1 has sought to not rely so heavily on wings to generate downforce. Wings have been blamed for ‘dirty air’ making battles and following another car difficult in recent seasons. So going back to ground effect was an attractive idea for the rule makers.

By creating a very steep inlet at the front of the car floor, air is moved through two Venturi tunnels. As air flows under the car, it passes the closest point to the ground, developing an area of extreme low pressure, creating a large amount of suction underneath. That means more ground is relied upon to generate downforce and the wake produced by various bodywork components is reduced.

Ronnie Peterson, Lotus 78

Unlike old ground effect F1 cars, the 2022 car has no skirts and instead sports a range of fins underneath to minimize any air disturbance. To ensure that each team uses the floor as intended and there are no traps, a standard splitter/tea tray is developed in front of the bottom.

The tires change in F1 2022, as they have 18-inch wheels.

There are a lot of changes to the bodywork of the new F1 cars. In 2022, the hugely complex bargeboards will be phased out. In its place comes a new generation of “wheel bodies” that aim to minimize the effects of wake produced by the tires when turning. Tire covers are back and the front wheels now have a spoiler on top to help with that.

The DRS continues , and after the tests it was clear that there were no problems with the ground effect and therefore it will not be removed.

In their previous simulation, F1 and the FIA noted that when one car is behind another, the next car now maintains around 86% of its usual downforce, compared to 55% until 2021.

To help limit R&D costs, gearboxes will be frozen from 2022 to the end of 2025. In that time, there can only be one gearbox specification update .

Suspension rules now only allow springs and shock absorbers, meaning the exclusive use of torsion bars will no longer be allowed. Lifting springs, or inerters , will also be banned to simplify suspension systems. Hydraulic suspensions prohibited. Suspension mounts must now be included only within the wheel assembly, meaning no external mounting points can be allowed.

The front wing has been redefined and can now be made up of a maximum of just four elements in total. Most importantly, the endplates now have a very different look and are formed from a smooth mix of front wing elements to a single piece endplate, flipped up like an airplane wing. The nose is also attached directly to the wing, as could be seen before the mid-1990s.

The rear wing has also been redesigned and can almost be described as without endplates. In fact, it rotates around a beam wing mount, with the aim of reducing the force of vortices produced at the rear of the car, something that is considered to prevent cars from following each other.

The 2022 Formula 1 calendar

Date	Big prize	Circuit
20 de marzo	GP de Bahrein	Sakhir
March 27th	Saudi Arabian GP	Jeddah
April 10th	Australian GP	Albert Park (Melbourne)
April 24	Emilia-Romagna GP	Imola
8 de mayo	GP de Miami	Miami International Autodrome
May 22nd	Spanish GP	Montmelo (Barcelona)
29th of May	GP of Monaco	Montecarlo
June 12	Azerbaijan GP	baku
19th of June	Canadian GP	Montréal
3rd of July	British GP	Silverstone
July 10th	Austrian GP	Red Bull Ring (Spielberg)
July 24	French GP	Paul Ricard
July 31	GP of Hungary	Hungaroring
august 28	belgium GP	Spa-Francorchamps
4th of September	Netherlands GP	Zandvoort
11 of September	Italian GP	Monza
September 25th	race to be announced (Russian GP cancelled)	to be confirmed
October 2nd	GP of Singapore	Marina Bay
October 9	Japanese GP	Suzuka
October 23	US GP	Circuit of the Americas (Austin)
30th of October	Mexico City GP	Rodriguez Brothers
13th of November	Sao Paulo GP	interlagos
November 20	Abu Dhabi GP	yas marina

Formula 1 will have its longest calendar in the 2022 season, with 23 races.

The first Miami Grand Prix will be held in early May, on a 5.41-kilometre street circuit around Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens .

They will return after being left out for the last two years due to travel restrictions related to COVID-19 Australia, Canada, Singapore and Japan .

Although Albert Park returns to the calendar, the Bahrain Grand Prix will take the usual place on the Melbourne circuit as the first race of the season, with a gap of one week until round two at the Jeddah circuit in Saudi Arabia before the return. from Australia.

Imola hosts the first European race of the season, retaining the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix title, before the first race in Miami, one of two to be held in the United States.

Then the European season will begin, pausing for appointments in Azerbaijan and Canada , before the final set of races outside the continent begins in September: the Russian GP has been canceled due to the invasion of Ukraine, a substitute circuit is sought (Portimao , Istanbul or Malaysia) that occupies the place on the calendar prior to the return of Singapore and Japan, absent since 2019.

The season will end in Abu Dhabi at the end of November, following F1’s desire to compress the calendar into a shorter period of time.

China does not feature on the 2022 calendar despite having a contract with F1, while Qatar will not contest in 2022 to focus on the soccer World Cup that takes place there in winter.

Formula 1 rule changes 2022

In addition to the new technical rules, F1 introduces in 2022 a series of changes in the structure of tests in the wind tunnel and CFD, reducing the number of tests allowed depending on whether a team has finished classified in the previous season (that is, the champion has less hours than the last classified).

The base figures provided allow a team within an aerodynamic test period (there are six in a season) 320 runs over 400 hours in the wind tunnel, 80 of them being “windy” time (when the air moves more than 15m/s).

The percentage values are applied depending on where each team finished in the previous World Cup. Finishing first in the constructors’ standings allows a team to use 70% and finishing 10th allows for a 115% multiplier, meaning the lower-ranked will have more time available. CFD simulation terms work on the same basis.

More sprint races will also be contested for the 2022 season, six. Bahrain, Imola, Montreal, the Red Bull Ring, Zandvoort and Interlagos are expected to be the venues set for the sprint weekends.

In addition, the spending limit will fall in 2022 to 124 million euros a year, below the 128 million allowed in 2021.

2022 F1 car

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Photo from: Formula 1

2022 F1 car

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Photo from: Formula 1

2022 F1 car

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Photo from: Formula 1

2022 F1 car

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Photo from: Formula 1

How to watch F1 on TV in the 2022 season? On what channel? Paid or free?

The 2022 F1 season in Spain will be broadcast by Movistar + and DAZN after the union they signed in 2021. Therefore, the only legal way to watch F1 in Spain will be by paying, at least until the contract that Movistar signed with the category ends. at the end of 2020 and that gives you the exclusive rights until 2023.

Movistar + F1 and DAZN F1 are the same , with the same schedules, the same content, signal, same journalists and the same price, with nuances. After the price change, DAZN is worth 12.99 euros per month (129.99 euros per year) and gives you access to MotoGP, F1, various football and basketball championships and many other sports. To watch F1 on Movistar you have to have previously contracted Movistar Fusión (landline, mobile and Internet with Movistar, in addition to the Movistar + base package), and also pay for the motor package (Formula 1 and MotoGP), so the sum goes above 110 euros per month in Movistar.

In Latin America, Formula 1 2022 will be broadcast in Mexico on FOX Sports after the alternation in 2021 between Star + and FOX Sports.