SUTTON
Who’s hot and who’s not as the new-look Formula 1 kicks off
The wait is finally over and we’ll get to see the cars of Formula 1’s new era battling it out in anger in Bahrain this weekend. There are lots of questions about the 2022 season – ranging from how good will the racing be in this new ground-effect age to who will set the pace – and we tackle many of them in this week’s preview special from page 18. Mercedes appears to be on the back foot, thanks to severe porpoising issues, but Max Verstappen and Red Bull could still have a fight on their hands if Ferrari’s strong testing form continues into the racing. McLaren didn’t look as impressive in the Bahrain test as it did at Barcelona (p40), but there are still reasons to think it should be capable of occasionally jumping out of the tightly bunched midfield pack to take the fight to the leading players, just as it did at Monza last year.
The abrasive Bahrain surface also offers some unusual challenges and teams are still learning their machines. As Alex Kalinauckas argues (p14), the winner this Sunday won’t necessarily be the team to beat.
F2, F3 and the World Endurance Championship also all kick off this weekend. Megan White talks to reigning F3 champion Dennis Hauger about his chances of repeating Oscar Piastri’s feat of taking the F2 title as a rookie (p66), as well as three Brits hoping for success in F3 this year (p70). Gary Watkins takes a look at Penske’s LMP2 challenge as it gears up to run Porsche’s WEC and IMSA programmes (p74). We’ll have full reports on all the season openers next week.
Kevin Turner Chief Editor kevin.turner@autosport.com
NEXT WEEK 24 MARCH Bahrain GP report All the action as Formula 1’s
new era kicks off, plus sportscars at Sebring
COVER IMAGES Ferrari; Mercedes-Benz Group AG; Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool; Ben Peter Catchpole
PIT & PADDOCK 4 Magnussen makes shock F1 return 6 Audi cancels its Le Mans comeback 8 Changes for Hyundai, BMW BTCC teams 10 Toyota off pace with WEC BoP hit 13 Bahrain Grand Prix preview 14 Opinion: Alex Kalinauckas 15 Tribute: Brian Redman on Vic Elford
F1 2022 PREVIEW 20 Who topped the Bahrain test 25 The key stats from Bahrain 26 Tech: surprising challenges of the rules 32 Autosport’s trackside verdict 36 The threats Hamilton faces in 2022 40 McLaren: dark horse or in the dark? 44 How Vettel is writing his final F1 chapter 48 Politics: the drama behind the scenes 53 Tim Wright’s team by team 65 Calendar and essential info
INSIGHT 66 Hauger’s big Formula 2 challenge 70 The Brits taking on F3 in 2022 74 WEC preview: Penske in LMP2
CLUB AUTOSPORT 89 Inquest: marshal’s death an accident 90 Walter Hayes victor White to Carrera Cup 92 Tarling stars in Phillip Island Classic 95 Opinion: Stephen Lickorish 96 National report: Silverstone 98 Very Special Saloons hit the track
FINISHING STRAIGHT 102 What’s on this week 104 From the archive: 1954 Belgian GP 106 My favourite track: Lucas di Grassi
SUBSCRIPTION OFFER 88 Special deals for Autosport
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17 MARCH 2022 AUTOSPORT.COM 3
