The Russian invasion of Ukraine has caused some last-minute changes: Haas is no longer sponsored by Uralkali, so the Russian colour scheme has been dropped and Mazepin has lost his seat; the Russian Grand Prix has disappeared from the schedule (would have been Sep25) but it’s not clear yet if it will be replaced.
2022 Calendar
| Round | Race Day | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Mar20 | Bahrain | Quali; Race |
| 02 | Mar27 | Saudi Arabia | Quali; Race |
| 03 | Apr10 | Australia | Quali; Race |
| 04 | Apr24 | *Italy (Emilia Romagna, aka Imola) | Quali+Sprint; Race |
| 05 | May08 | USA (Miami) | Quali; Race |
| 06 | May22 | Spain | Quali; Race |
| 07 | May29 | Monaco | Quali; Race |
| 08 | Jun12 | Azerbaijan | |
| 09 | Jun19 | Canada | Quali; Race |
| 10 | Jul03 | Great Britain | (no notes) |
| 11 | Jul10 | *Austria | Quali+Sprint; Race |
| 12 | Jul24 | France | Quali; Race |
| 13 | Jul31 | Hungary | Quali; Race |
| 14 | Aug28 | Belgium | Quali; Race |
| 15 | Sep04 | Netherlands | Quali; Race |
| 16 | Sep11 | Italy (Monza) | Quali; Race |
| 17 | Oct02 | Singapore | Quali; Race |
| 18 | Oct09 | Japan | Quali; Race |
| 19 | Oct23 | USA (COTA, Texas) | Quali; Race |
| 20 | Oct30 | Mexico | Quali; Race |
| 21 | Nov13 | *Brazil | Quali+Sprint; Race |
| 22 | Nov20 | Abu Dhabi | (no Quali notes); Race |
*Imola, Austria and Brazil will follow the revised sprint format. The top 8 finishers of the sprint race will be awarded 8 points down to 1 point.
Teams & Drivers
| Team | Drivers (car#) | |
|---|---|---|
| Alfa Romeo | Valtteri BOTtas (77) | ZHOu Guanyu (24) |
| Alpha Tauri | Pierre GASly (10) | Yuki TSUnoda (22) |
| Alpine | Esteban OCOn (31) | Fernando ALOnso (14) |
| Aston Martin | Lance STRoll (18) | Sebastian VETtel (5) |
| Ferrari | Charles LEClerc (16) | Carlos SAInz (55) |
| Haas | Kevin MAGnussen (20) | Mick SCHumacher (47) |
| McLaren | Daniel RICciardo (3) | Lando NORris (4) |
| Mercedes | Lewis HAMilton (44) | George RUSsell (63) |
| Red Bull | Max VERstappen (1) | Sergio PERez (11) |
| Williams | Alex ALBon (23) | Nicholas LATifi (6) |
Other Changes
The obvious changes for 2022 are the chassis regulations (bigger wheels, smaller wings) and tighter budget constraints. A second US race has been added: Miami in May joins Austin (Circuit of the Americas) in October. The FIA’s internal review of the Abu Dhabi fiasco has resulted in some recommendations:
- “To assist the Race Director in the decision-making process, a Virtual Race Control Room should be created. Like the Video Assistance Referee (VAR) in football, it will be positioned in one of the FIA Offices as a backup outside the circuit. In real-time connection with the FIA F1 race director, it will help to apply the Sporting Regulations using the most modern technological tools.”
- “Direct radio communications during the race, currently broadcast live by all TVs, should be removed in order to protect the Race Director from any pressure and allow him to take decisions peacefully. It will still be possible to ask questions to the Race Director, according to a well-defined and non-intrusive process.”
- “Unlapping procedures behind Safety Car should be reassessed by the F1 Sporting Advisory Committee and presented to the next F1 Commission prior to the start of the season.”
The rule has been changed to say all lapped cars are required to pass the SC; that was obviously what was meant previously by “any” but hopefully this will mean the Race Director can’t decide to help certain competitors. - “A new race management team has been put in place starting in Barcelona for the test session. Niels Wittich (former DTM Race Director) and Eduardo Freitas (former WEC Race Director) will act alternatively as Race Director, assisted by Herbie Blash (former right-hand man of Charlie Whiting) as permanent senior advisor.”
The points for shortened races has also been changed; no points will be awarded unless a minimum of two laps have been completed by the leader without a Safety Car or Virtual Safety Car intervention; the points per position have been tweaked for races completing less than 75% distance.
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