A lot could change in the pecking order over the course of what will be the longest season in F1 history, but this week we should get an idea of what to expect in the first few races.
These are some of the key questions that could be answered in Bahrain.
Can updates from Mercedes and Red Bull be the thing to tip the scales?
All teams are expected to bring new parts to pre-season testing in Bahrain. The interval between the first day in Barcelona, on February 23, and the start of the action in Shakir is 15 days, even more if you take into account when the single-seaters jumped onto the track in shakedown.
That’s quite a long time in terms of F1 car development, and the teams will have planned in advance over these months to have some modifications built and ready just for the second week of testing in Bahrain.
In addition, anyone who has something really new in terms of aerodynamics will want to hide it for as long as possible, which is why not all the updates would have been seen in Spain.
In Montmeló it was obvious that there would be improvements by the greats regarding the presentations, and the attention was focused on Mercedes and Red Bull.
“I think we will see some changes when Bahrain arrives,” said George Russell, the German team’s drivers. “And throughout the season, I’m sure the slope of development is going to be pretty rapid for everyone, whoever is able to catch up the quickest and most effectively, will be the one who is on top at the end of the year. “.
The big question now is how much performance these sets have been saved for Bahrain, and how the new parts are going to perform.
Is the pace of the 2022 Ferrari F1-75 real?
The Ferrari F1-75 looked fast from the start in Barcelona testing, and Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc were able to set fast times without much effort in all conditions.
The Monegasque was fifth in the lap chart for the week, but his best lap was achieved on C3 tyres, with those ahead of him on softer tyres, either C4 or C5. The most important thing is that the car was driven for many kilometers and, therefore, they collected a lot of data.
“I think it was vital, because these cars are different,” explained team boss Mattia Binotto. “The first objective was to learn, at least in this session, to try to fine-tune the maps of the car in all conditions to understand the correlation with the wind tunnel and the simulator.”
“Now, that correlation will be a job at Maranello, and we will try to cross the information to see if it works well, but for the car it is behaving well in general,” the Italian continued.
The consensus of those who have analyzed the pace of the Ferrari with respect to its rivals, is that those in red have a similar speed, and the question is whether they will be close to Mercedes and Red Bull in the first race in Bahrain.
Binotto wanted to downplay Ferrari’s upgrade programme: “It won’t be much different compared to what we have, I think the first step for us will be to optimize what we already have.”
Will Alpine be able to improve its F1 car for 2022?
Much is expected of the Alpine team this year, but the Barcelona tests were not a great start. Early on the last morning of testing, Fernando Alonso was stopped due to a hydraulic leak that caused a fire.
After inspecting the damage, the team announced that they would not go out on the track again and, therefore, that their day would end earlier than expected.
This left Alpine in eighth place in the table for laps completed in the test week, and deprived Esteban Ocon of running in the afternoon with less fuel and softer tires to attempt a fast lap. The time set by the Spaniard at the beginning of the morning with a C3 placed the team as the eighth fastest, just ahead of Haas and Alfa Romeo.
Those of Enstone were harmed by not opening the DRS in the available area for security reasons that they did not specify in detail. They also used Viry’s new RE22 power unit , and since they had to learn how it worked, they didn’t push the performance to the max.
In other words, Alpine probably underperformed its true potential, and Bahrain will present an opportunity to show signs of progress.
“I don’t want to say that everything is fine and that we are calm,” said the French team’s sporting director, Alan Permane . “Of course we are worried, but by no means are we going to be at the bottom of the time table.”
Will Valtteri Bottas and Alfa Romeo find more speed?
Testing in Barcelona was a difficult week for the Alfa Romeo team, which put its new camo-clad C42 on the Catalan track ahead of its official unveiling. The car suffered from many mechanical problems, which limited running, something that was seen in Robert Kubica’s poor nine laps in the morning of the first day, and Bottas’ 23 in the afternoon session.
At the end of testing, they only did 175 laps, with only Haas completing fewer. Not good news for rookie Guanyu Zhou, who needs mileage, nor for his fellow Finn, who has high expectations for his new kit.
“It seems that we are still at a very early stage in the development of the car,” explained Bottas. “For me, it was quite limited, just two different tire compounds and few changes to the set-up.
“There is still a lot to discover, so we have to work hard between the tests and wait for a better understanding in Bahrain. There is work to be done, I feel there is potential,” settled the Finn.
Team boss Frédéric Vasseur acknowledged that the week was not easy: “It has been difficult, now we have to think and focus on the next one, but we are trying to fix everything for Bahrain and recover to look to the future.”
Will the change to 18-inch Pirelli tires be important?
The Barcelona tests were the first with the new compounds in the 2022 cars, since in the post-season tests they were coupled with modified 2021 cars for the occasion.
Considering the challenges involved in this change, it’s perhaps surprising that Pirelli isn’t talked about much, and that’s because conversations are filled with words about aerodynamic modifications and porpoising.
Few drivers gave their opinion on the tires in Barcelona, but one of the most interesting comments was from Carlos Sainz : “Compared to other years, perhaps there is a little less overheating, although it is still a tire that degrades when it overheats.”
“But I feel like they are going a bit better, the work and development done by Pirelli last season seems to be starting to pay off a bit,” said the Spaniard.
Will tires be a bigger issue in Bahrain? In the first place, the temperatures will be much higher than in Spain, so it will be key to see the behavior with more degrees on the asphalt, which will have repercussions, not only for Shakir’s race, but also for the tests in the hot places.
Secondly, the circuit stands out for being more abrasive due to its high granite content, which is why the Italian manufacturer has chosen to wear the harder tires for the opening round of 2022, the C1, C2 and C3 , instead of the C2, C3 and C4 that they used in 2021.
Naturally, the teams will focus on testing for the March 20 race, but the softer tires will be available at Shakir testing, which could provide useful data for future Grands Prix.
Will porpoising continue to be a problem?
The porpoising that teams suffered in Barcelona was the main topic of conversation, and it is likely to remain so in Bahrain.
The teams have had fifteen days to study it, although taking into account that even with all the simulator, wind tunnel and CFD work they did in winter without seeing this phenomenon, it remains to be seen if they will solve the problems in just two weeks.
These cars were designed to ride as low to the ground as possible, and if increased ride height is part of the cure, kits will need to be adapted for the first weekend of the year.
It also remains to be seen to what extent teams are willing to accept porpoising if it means they will remain fast, all while not affecting driver safety.
“We were a bit surprised, which I think has been the case for all, or most, teams,” Alfa Romeo technical director Jan Monchaux said. “I suspect we’re going to get it under control with some modifications, they’ll allow us to get a little bit closer to optimal.”
“But with the current rules, I would also expect that we would have to set the cars a little higher than we originally thought. The question will be how many more, if 3 to 5mm or 20, because then the readjustment will be less or more, depending,” he settled.
