Categories
2022 Racing Season

The Latest Of The Late Recaps

(Editors note – I started this post way back in the year 2022, a few weeks after the Abu Dhabi finale, but struggled mightily to complete it. It was Nigel Mansell in the ’95 McLaren bad. Bad enough where I was wondering if I’m even capable of writing more than a text message ever again. However, with the realization that the ’23 season is now less than two weeks away, I’m experiencing a little charge of buzzard energy, so I wanted to float this out there for no reason before turning to a ’23 season preview.) 

So where were we?  Ah yes, when I last posted, we were heading into the ‘22 season summer break lamenting the woes of Leclerc and Ferrari.  By my inexact calculations, Leclerc and Max should have been about dead even if Ferrari (and Leclerc) had their shit together.  Unfortunately, for all fans of close competition, Red Bull managed to shed some weight from the RB18 over the summer break, thus allowing the genius engineers the freedom to shift some of the ballast around, thus dialing out the understeer that was hampering Max, thus freeing the Dutch prodigy to go out and decimate the rest of the field.  

BEV (Bulseyeview)™: I thought the summer break was a mandatory shutdown of all operations so the overworked employees could reintroduce themselves to their kids and unwind for a few days?  Why does it always seem like one team finds a few tenths over the break?  The FIA has the cost cap accounting police, so I think it’s time to start a summer break watchdog group aimed at preventing a team from gaining an unfair advantage.  If Red Bull can be fined millions and have their ‘23 windtunnel time reduced by 10% for giving the gang at the track a few too many ham sandwiches and giving the folks at the factory too many paid sick days, then we need penalties for summer break infractions.  My proposal is simple yet likely effective: If the appointed Summer Break Group hands down a guilty verdict to a team for engaging in unlawful performance enhancement work over the break, then said team will suffer the indignity of losing their right to bring their swanky paddock club pop up media/entertainment center to the next three races and will instead only be allotted one 20×20 pop up canopy tent, 30 folding chairs, two charcoal Webber grills and eight Coleman coolers to entertain their esteemed guests at the track.  That’s right, each guilty party is going back to 1980!

Moving along, there isn’t a whole lot else to say about the ‘22 season from Spa through the finale in Abu Dhabi.  Max dominated in a manner reminiscent of Schumacher in ‘04 and Vettel in 2013, surpassing the two German legends in the process to tally a record 15 wins for the year.*  Red Bull looked every part the perfect racing team, keeping their cost cap woes from affecting their on track performance and winning the constructors title by a whopping 205 points.  (For reference, Mercedes won the constructors titles by a larger margin in 2014,15,16,19 and 20). 

*Schumacher still has the best single season winning percentage, bagging 72% of the races (13 of 18) in ‘04 vs Max’s 68% clip in ‘22 (15 of 22).  And just because you are likely curious what Nigel Mansell did in ‘92, “Our Nige” won 9 of 16 for a 56% win ratio.  

So before I officially put the ‘22 season to rest, it is interesting to note that the one race where Mercedes suddenly found enough pace to be on equal footing with the Red Bull Team, the champions seemed to come apart at the seams.  The Brazilian GP had pretty much everything you can hope for over a GP weekend:

-A shock Magnussen pole after a 1 lap, slick track qualifying session.

-A Saturday sprint race where Red Bull selected the wrong compound and Max got slapped around by Russell, Sainz and Hamilton.

-A Sunday where Max and Lewis reverted back to their ‘21 ways’ and made contact fighting for the same patch of road in the lovely downhill Senna ‘S’ complex.  Both had their races compromised, Max took the penalty.

-A first time GP winner in Russell.

-A complete Red Bull late race meltdown where Max refused to allow Checo through in order to help his cause for securing P2 in the drivers championship, and then publicly scolded the team on the radio for even having the nerve to ask such a vile question.

Max:  “Don’t ask me again, I told you guys I have my reasons!”  

To which Checo replied over the public airwaves: “He showed who he really is.”

BEV (Bulseyeview)™:  Reasons??  Will we ever find out the official reasons?  The press ran with the story that it was retaliation for Checo’s questionable qualifying crash at Monaco which gave him pole and ruined Max’s flier.  But I’d like to dig a little deeper.  I’m thinking that rather than a specific ontrack moment that embittered the young king, it was more an accumulation of simple workplace issues that plague co-workers the world over.  I’m throwing darts here, but maybe Checo parked in Max’s spot at the factory on a rainy day, or farted in the simulator just before Max was due to get in the seat, or condescendingly pointed out that Max wasn’t pronouncing Acque Minerali correctly in a debriefing at Imola, or acted a little too happy after winning a Premier League bet, or grabbed the last coffee in the team center and didn’t tell anyone to make more.  It is the little things that eventually lead to a “I have my reasons!” outburst.

Whatever the reasons, Checo left Brazil all even with LeClerc rather than up 2pts, and then was beaten by the Ferrari ace in the finale to finish 3rd overall.  My hope is that someday it all comes out in the Checo biography titled, “Toro Furioso”.

Bring on ’23!

Categories
2022 Racing Season

99 Ways To Lose A Championship: The Charles Leclerc Story

With the F1 teams enjoying their much deserved summer break, I’m struggling to recall all the on track action and paddock drama that has taken place since FP1 in Bahrain, so in the name of posterity, I think it’s time for a quick recap.  Maybe it’s something about attempting to filter through thousands of bits of information on my phone daily, or aging into my 50’s, or contracting a nasty case of Covid that left me with a severe case of Mystery Brain in June, but man oh man, I’m feeling a little challenged upstairs these days.  

 

So with a little help from my friends Google and Wiki, let’s dive in.  

 

When I sat down and started thinking about the season to date, my intention wasn’t to write solely about the misery that Leclerc has suffered, but as you are about to see, it’s impossible to avoid.  Beating Max in a Red Bull is like defeating the computer in the final level of a video game, one mistake and you are toast! 

 

Bahrain: As the clock wound down to 0.00 to close out the first qualifying session at the Bahrain International Circuit, I was left sitting there in silence with my eyes as wide as saucers.  Finally, the mystery surrounding these new ground effect cars, multi years in the making, was laid bare to the rabid F1 public under the lights in the middle eastern desert.  Ferrari were quickest!  Leclerc was on pole with Sainz lining up 3rd.  Red Bull were right there with a P2 for Max and P4 for Checo.   Mercedes, the mighty 8-straight champion constructor, were 5th (HAM) and 9th (RUS) on the grid.  It was hard to believe that Toto’s Army weren’t sandbagging in testing, but the stopwatch never lies.  Valteri Bottas, dumped by Mercedes in favor of George Russell, was 6th for Alfa Romeo and lining up alongside his former teammate, Sir Lewis Hamilton. Kevin Magnussen, fresh off a year of banging around the USA in a 600hp Cadillac DPi, was 7th in a Haas.  Sadly, it was clear that Alpine, McLaren and Aston were still midfield teams.  No team had made the miracle leap like Brawn GP pulled off in 2009, when they discovered a genius loophole in the radical new regulations at the time.

 

The race the following day quickly proved that the new cars could follow each other more closely than the previous eight years without destroying their tires in the dirty air.  Hallelujah, the new regs worked!  And to prove this point, Max passed Leclerc three times for the lead into turn 1, only to be overtaken by Leclerc all three times with some beautiful DRS assisted moves in the next set of corners.  Somewhere Ross Brawn had a big smile on his face.  It was clean racing that didn’t have the same cutthroat sense of urgency that Max and Lewis exhibited just a few months prior.  As Leclerc cruised to an easy victory, he looked like his time was now and he was going to be the man to take the fight to Max for the ‘22 crown.  The Monagasque was feeling so good late in the race that he actually made a joke over the radio to the Ferrari pitwall that the engine was losing power!*  To help his cause even further, both Red Bulls ground to a halt in the final laps, handing Ferrari a 1-2 and a healthy head start in the championship races.  Mercedes, clearly suffering from a lack of pace, nevertheless finished 3-4, Magnussen was a brilliant 5th and Bottas brought it home in P6.  

 

*Could Leclerc’s multitude of issues be some sort of karmic retribution for his engine joke in Bahrain? 

 

Leclerc 26 – Max 0

(Leclerc 0 – Max -18)  I’m going to keep an approximate tally of points lost due to driver error, mechanical DNF, or team strategic blunders.  Sorry Ferrari! 

 

Saudi Arabia:  Oh Saudi Arabia.  Someone should make a full length movie about this weekend.  Where to start?  I know, how about terrorist missiles leveling a nearby Aaramco oil depot at some point during FP1.  Call me crazy, but if I’m a high profile athlete participating in an event where there are hostile missile strikes taking place 8 miles from the venue, I’m getting the F out of there.  Perhaps that’s just my narrow Western view of terrorism?  Are there subtle nuances when it comes to missile strikes? 

 

After that eventful Friday on track, the teams and drivers held a 4.5 hour meeting that went late into the night over whether the race weekend should be continued or not.  What I would have given to be a fly on the wall!  Hopefully Netflix got their cameras in there.  Here is my version of how it went down:

 

Saudi Race Security:  Gentlemen, I can assure you that you have nothing to fear.

Seb Vettel:  How can you be so sure?  We are talking about missiles 8 miles from the track.

Saudi Race Security:  In our part of the world, these are what we call friendly reminder missiles from the Houthi rebels.  They are not meant to harm people.

Lewis Hamilton:  What makes you think they won’t decide to launch an unfriendly attack?

Saudi Race Security:  Well Mr Hamilton, for one, the Houthi Rebels are actually big F1 fans after watching Drive to Survive.

Max:  That’s a bunch of BS and we all know it!

Saudi Race Security:  If you don’t believe me Mr Verstappen, would a cell phone call to rebels base make you feel more at ease?

Max:  Sure whatever

 

The phone rings 4 times and is answered on speaker:

 

Houthi Rebels Secret Base:  Hello?

Saudi Race Security:  Hi this is Eman at the grand prix circuit.  I have all of the teams and drivers on speaker.  They want reassurances that there will be no more missile strikes.

Houthi Rebels Secret Base:  Yes of course.  The strike earlier today was just a run of the mill friendly reminder missile.  We can’t wait to watch the GP on Sunday.  Is Estaban Ocon there?  He is my favorite driver.

Esteban Ocon: Hi Rebel Commander.  (grins all around)  I will have my people get you guys some signed hats.

Houthi Rebels Secret Base:  That would be much appreciated Mr Ocon.  

Saudi Race Security:  Any other questions?

Stefano Domenicalli:  Grazie Mille.  How do you say in English – The show must always take place! The race is on and I want to thank our promoters and the Houthi Rebels.

Saudi Race Security:  That is a most wise decision indeed Mr Domenicalli.

 

On Saturday, Sergio Perez drove an inch perfect lap around the blindingly quick street circuit to beat the Ferrari’s and claim his first ever pole position.  It was clear that with the new regs, Sergio had closed the gap to team leader Max.  

 

The following day produced one of the most entertaining GP’s I’ve ever watched in 41 years.  Checo converted his pole into the lead and looked to be controlling the race until he was Latified on lap 15.  Due to stopping just before the pace car came out, he was hosed and came out in 4th.  This set up a duel for the ages between Leclerc and Max that involved actually slowing down into the final corner to let the other car pass on purpose before the DRS detection line to thus gain the DRS advantage down the long front straight.  Lewis and Max very clumsily attempted this game a few months earlier during the inaugural Saudi race, but Leclerc and Max made it an art form.  I never thought I’d see an F1 race where the car in front moves over to let another pass (without silly team orders of course), but this game of “No, After You” played out multiple times over the final quarter of the race.   It was great stuff and in the end, Max came out victorious by just half a second over Leclerc. 

 

Leclerc 45 – Max 25

(Leclerc 0 – Max -18)

 

Australia:  F1 returned to Melbourne after a two year absence to a massive sold out crowd on a slightly revamped circuit.  Leclerc put in a masterful performance while his teammate took himself out on lap 1 with an out braking move reminiscent of a Skip Barber debutante fresh out of karting.  More importantly, Max suffered another mechanical DNF.  After 3 rounds, it was already looking like a Leclerc runaway.

 

Leclerc 71 – Max 25

(Leclerc 0 – Max -36)

 

Before I continue on with this recap, I need to bring up the early season buzzword for 2022:  Porpoising.  No, it’s not a dance move or a kinky sex act, but rather the word used to describe F1 cars bouncing up and down, sometimes violently, as the air directed underneath the floor builds up pressure and suddenly releases it.  Every team was suffering from porpoising to some degree with the new aero regulations, but none worse than Mercedes.  The Mercedes W13 looked downright miserable to drive.  How Hamilton and Russell could keep the car on the road while riding a bucking horse was a testament to their skill.  The Ferrari looked like a porpoise gone wild at Sea World on the straights, but seemed to settle when the drivers came off the throttle into the braking zones and remained calm for a smooth application of power mid corner.  The Red Bull, designed by that Newey character, looked to be the best of the field in the porpoising game.

 

San Marino:  Max took an unpopular slick track race win in front of the Tifosi while Leclerc made an unforced spin across the grass, but recovered to 6th.  The points deficit was still quite large, but maybe we were seeing a chink in Leclerc’s highly emotional psyche?

 

Leclerc 86 – Max 59

(Leclerc -7 – Max -36)

Miami:  The track that Netflix built hosted the inaugural Miami GP in the Dolphins stadium parking lot 30 mins from Miami.  Tickets sold out in minutes and folks were shelling out obscene dollars for the hospitality packages.  ESPN was covering the race like it was a Jan 1 Bowl Game and I think the drivers were honestly shocked with the love they were receiving in the states with the likes of LeBron James and Michael Jordan clamoring to be part of the scene.  The track itself was decent for a parking lot design, but it’s still a parking lot track with the turn 14-15 chicane ranking right up there with the worst corners ever created by man. (cool idea for a future coffee table book – Lamest street track corners ever, with big photos and comments from drivers and fans alike)  Road America anyone?  Max and Leclerc put on another entertaining battle for the sun drenched buzzards, with Max prevailing over the Ferrari ace.  Game on for the title.

 

Leclerc 104 – Max 85

(Leclerc -7 – Max -36)

 

Spain:  Leclerc had the race well in hand until the Ferrari suffered an engine failure.  Max took advantage of the Ferrari DNF to take the win.  This was only the first mechanical for Leclerc, but the alarm bells were now ringing full time in Maranello.  Max had already clawed back out of a deep hole to lead the drivers race, Red Bull were in the lead in the constructors battle, and the pressure was squarely on the Scuderia to capitalize on having the quickest car.  Behind this race at the front, George Russell was driving the wheels off that porpoise happy W13.  Over the first six races he had six top-5’s and two podiums, while his more decorated teammate was struggling to come to terms with a car not capable of winning. 

 

Leclerc 104 – Max 110

(Leclerc -32 – Max -36) 

 

Monaco:  Leclerc had his home GP under control on a wet track until Ferrari made a horrible tire strategy call, turning a win into a 4th place.  For once, someone other than Max was able to capitalize on the Ferrari blunder and Checo took a well deserved victory around the Principality.  I love Monaco, but this circuit looks like a kart track with these current F1 cars.  

 

Leclerc 116 – Max 125

(Leclerc -45 – Max -36)

 

Baku:  Leclerc was leading when, you guessed it, more engine failure and misery for Ferrari.  Max led home a RBR 1-2.  Russell beat Hamilton across the line in a Merc 3-4.  

 

Leclerc 116 – Max 150

(Leclerc -63 – Max -36)

 

Canada:  It was great to see Montreal back after a two year absence.  After a few too many power unit failures, Ferrari elected to replace Leclerc’s engine and he started at the back.  Sainz took up the lead Ferrari challenge and seemed to regain his lost form, but couldn’t find a way by the Red Bull in the long DRS zones and shaded the Dutchman across the line by just .9 of a second.  On the subject of back on form, Lewis Hamilton looked like Lewis Hamilton again and brought the W13 home in 3rd ahead of Russell in 4th.  Maybe he was finally getting fed up with the social media world having a field day with the 7 timer taking a beating from his younger teammate?   Leclerc may have had a shot at the podium but a slow tire stop cost him crucial track position as he was fighting through the field, and he had to settle for P5.  Long Live Circuit Gilles Villeneuve!

 

Leclerc 126 – Max 175

(Leclerc -63 – Max -36)

 

Silverstone:  After watching 6 of the first 9 races being run on temporary circuits, it was nice to see the cars back on a proper track in front of a sold out hard core crowd.  The race got off to an inauspicious start after Russell and Zhou tangled in the braking zone for the first corner and Zhou was launched into a barrel roll, miraculously coming to rest in the small gap between the tire barrier and the fence.  After a few tense minutes waiting, it was a big relief to see the Chinese rookie emerge unscathed.   When the race resumed Max found his way past pole-man Sainz and looked to have everything under control until a piece of Yuki Tsunoda’s bodywork got lodged in his floor, causing him to lose about a second per lap.  Suddenly, remarkably, it looked like Leclerc’s day, until it didn’t.   It’s almost hard to believe that I’m writing this, but yet again, Leclerc had control of the race until Ocon ground to halt on lap 39 of 52.  Inexplicably, Ferrari kept their lead man out while all behind him came in for fresh rubber for the final 13 lap shootout.  As expected, Leclerc was a sitting duck when they went green and was quickly pushed into second by Sainz.  Leclerc then engaged in an epic 3-way battle with Hamilton and Perez that was as good as F1 racing gets, highlighted by going side by side with Lewis around the outside of Copse flat out on old rubber.  Seeing three different makes fighting for the podium was my dream come true.  At the flag, it was cool to see Carlos Sainz become the 112th GP winner in his 150th start.  

 

Leclerc 138 – Max 181

(Leclerc -76 – Max -36)  note- I’m not docking points from Max for the bodywork in the floor job as I’m calling it just plain old bad luck, not human or machine error.  

 

Austria:  Leclerc passed Max three times in the race to take the victory.  Hamilton led home Russell in a Merc 3-4, the 3rd podium on the trot for the 7 timer.  Ferrari being Ferrari, Sainz ground to a halt while in contention for second place late in the race and Leclerc had a throttle issue in the closing stages that left everyone holding their breath and waiting for the worst.  It almost felt like a movie where the pilot is forced to land a hobbled plane while the control tower can only sit there and offer encouragement.  They don’t do things easily in Maranello.  

 

Leclerc 170 – Max 208

(Leclerc -76 – Max -36)

 

France:  I’m now becoming angry as I write this, but yes, Leclerc had the race under control until he flat out lost the rear end and spun into the tires.  Game and championship over!  Max led home a Mercedes 2-3 with the runner-up Hamilton earning a 4th straight podium.  After Leclerc offed himself, the Ferrari pitwall decided that Sainz needed a dose of shit strategy and magically turned a podium into 5th place.

 

Leclerc  170 – Max 233

(Leclerc -101 – Max -36)

 

Hungary:  Somebody make this stop!  Why Ferrari???  Leclerc was leading when Ferrari made the wrong tire choice, sending him out there on the hards when it was abundantly clear, even to people sitting in their living rooms, that the hards were the wrong choice.  Did they see the damn Alpines?  No surprise then that Leclerc dropped like a rock to finish 6th.  Max started 10th, did a 360 spin and still won.  Lewis yet again led Russell home in a Merc 2-3.  Somebody should really piss Lewis off and refer to him as Mr Podium when they resume racing at Spa next week.  

 

Leclerc 178 – Max 258

(Leclerc -118 – Max -36)

 

So here we are, sitting on the beach, sipping Corona’s and just livin’ the fine life.  If you do the math, in a perfect world we would be looking at approximately Leclerc 296 to Max 294 with nine rounds still to run.  Instead, Max will now have one long Orange Army victory parade before officially being crowned champion after the Abu Dhabi finale in November.  But there is still hope for intrigue and excitement.   With the pressure off, maybe Leclerc will rip off a nice win streak while Max encounters more reliability issues?  Maybe Mercedes finds the final few tenths needed to make this a mega three way fight?  We are bound to have one wet shocker.  One can hope.

 

I had initially planned to segue to the silly season right about now,  but I feel like I’ve taken up enough of your time.  You have links to click on and a buddy going on a political text rant.  I’m sure there is a fresh Paige Spirinac link begging for your attention.  That said, I’m already looking forward to the season ending recap to touch on Vettel, Alonso, Zak Brown, Piastri, Danny Ric, Vegas, Porsche, Audi, Andretti Autosport, and anything else that can and will happen between now and then.  This is F1 after all.  

 

Remember to support your local Indycar series.  We’re down to 3 races left with the 40+ year old duo of Will Power and Scott Dixon fighting to hold off these young whippersnappers.  Old guys rule!  Just don’t ask this old guy to recall the name of a person, place or thing. 

Categories
2022 Racing Season

F1 ’22 Preview

(Editors note- This piece was turned in for publishing before the author watched FP1 and FP2 for the upcoming Bahrain GP.  The author has already changed many of his opinions that you will read below, but is too lazy to edit the article.  Enjoy the Bulseyeviewpoints from 3/17/22!)

 

F1 2022 is coming like a Mercedes W12 in a slipstream with the DRS wide open.  The timing couldn’t be worse for this languorous blogger.  Lets’ just say that life has gotten in the way of a detailed analysis for the upcoming season, so this will instead be more like a freestyle rap. 

 

Speaking of rapping, I’d like my legal department to look into writing a F1 themed hip hop inspired Broadway play titled HAMILTON, LEWIS.  

 

First scene intro:

Have you heard about the man named Hamilton

He’s a 7 time F1 world champion

Signed by McLaren when he was ten

He was lured by Niki to drive the Benz…….. All right you get the gist.  I like it.  F-Netflix, we are going to Broadway baby!

 

So, what are we looking at for ‘22?  Other than the same power units, it’s basically a brand new formula.  Forget Hamilton-Larbalestier* and Max, ‘22 is the year of the engineer.  Which team has been able to interpret a brand new set of rules and produce a championship caliber car?  Nail this design out of the box and you will be in good shape for years to come.  Fail and it could spell doom.  (Jesus I feel like Will Buxton doing commentary on Drive to Survive.)  

 

(*Yes, Lewis is trying to change his name to Hamilton-Larbalestier)

 

Mercedes – Sidepods?  Who needs sidepods?  The W13 certainly wins the unique design concept award.  Both Hamilton-Larbalestier and Russell seemed to be struggling with the handling of this updated package in Bahrain, but look out when they go to low fuel and turn up the engine on Saturday.  Remember, it was just a few months back when Hamilton was driving by folks on the straight in Sao Paulo like they were driving stock cars.  And how about this driver pairing?  Incredible.  Lewis gunning for revenge and 8 titles, Russell poised to show the world that he’s one of the best.  So much at stake here.  Prediction – Russell gives Hamilton-Larbalestier a tougher time than Bottas and actually beats him on pace a couple of times, but the consistent brilliance of Lewis will be too much for Mr Saturday and Russell will be playing the role of Bottas by Silverstone.  Lewis P2, George P3.

 

Red Bull – World Champion Max Verstappen looks ready to defend his title and start rapidly climbing the pantheon of all time greats.  As brilliant as Max is though, Red Bull CTO Adrian Newey is even more decorated.  He’s got 10 constructors titles to prove it.  As I stated above, this is the year of the engineer, so look for Newey and gang to flex their prodigious brain power and produce a car capable of winning both the drivers and constructors titles.  The questions I have are 1. Can Red Bull improve upon the power unit without the might of Honda behind them and 2. Is Perez now fully comfortable and ready to outperform Russell to achieve both titles?  Prediction – Max beats Lewis to the title in another closely fought championship and Perez becomes more competitive, but Mercedes wins a 9th constructors title in a row.  Max P1, Perez P5.  

 

Ferrari – The Scuderia looked quick and reliable in testing so is this the miracle that the Tifosi have been hoping for?  Leclerc and Sainz are a class driver pairing and I’d like nothing more than seeing the red cars battling Merc and RBR for wins.  The more the merrier.   However, this isn’t the days of Schumi, Ross, Rory and Todt.  I have my doubts that this current management group could actually defeat Toto or Horner over the course of 20+ races when the pressure is ramped up, development is vital, and race strategy is crucial to ultimate success.  Prediction – Ferrari runs a closer 3rd and wins two races.  Leclerc P4 and Sainz P6.   

 

McLaren – The Woking crew were tough to read in testing.  Lando was quick in Barcelona but struggled with brake issues in Bahrain.  Danny Ric missed the second test with Covid so the lack of seat time could put him on the back foot to start the season.  Prediction – McLaren will start the year on a lonely 4th place island, but will eventually catch the red cars to make for some great racing.  Lando will continue to have the edge over D Ric in raw pace, but the new aero regs will allow Danny to show his wheel to wheel prowess again.  Danny got his shock win last year in Monza, this year Lando will pull off another shocker.  Lando P7, Danny P8.  

 

Alpine – I feel like this team is always one boardroom meeting away from getting axed by the Renault bean counters so the race is on to become relevant in F1 on Sundays and sell some damn Clio’s on Mondays.  They have brought in a whole new crew of management, some experienced such as team principal Otmar Szafnauer, but they have chosen to make F1 newcomer Laurent Rossi the CEO.  Will he survive to see ‘23?.   On the bright side, they have retained their excellent driver lineup of Alonso and Ocon.  Last year ALO had a rough start after being out of the cockpit for two years and nearly getting killed by a lady leaving the supermarket while training on the bike.  This year ALO hits the ground running and should be a midfield beast.  Ocon is also in his prime now and should keep the Spaniard honest.  Prediction – Alonso scores a couple of podiums and takes Danny Ric’s seat at McLaren.  Ocon does a solid job and is joined by Gasly in ‘23 to form the French super team.  ALO P9, Ocon P11.

 

Alpha Tauri – Our little team formerly known as Minardi is all grown up now and firmly ensconced in the midfield.  Gasly is an established vet who is going to extract the maximum from the car.  Yuki is still the great unknown.  Based on his performance last year, I’m shocked he made the cut for year two.  The Red Bull driver academy is notorious for being the equivalent of the TV show Survivor, so I’m wondering if Yuki’s people have some dirt on Franz Tost?  We’ll see.  Prediction: Gasly continues to impress and mix it up at the front of the midpack while Yuki improves, but ultimately loses his seat to Norwegian sensation Dennis Hauger for ‘23.  Gasly P10, Tsunoda P16.  

 

Aston Martin – Eventually Mr. Stroll’s investment in people and facilities will likely start paying dividends, but I think ‘22 will be another transition year for the team as they continue to load up on engineering talent and build a state of the art facility.  And let’s be honest, Vettel and Stroll aren’t going to get it done in this loaded midfield.  Prediction- Seb has a handful of nice days and a handful of Seb Spin moments while Lance drives around like The Green Ghost.  Will Sr ever fire Jr?  Vettel P12, Stroll P15  

 

Williams – The loss of Russell will likely be a huge blow for Williams.  Albon has some big shoes to fill and while Latifi is improving, he’s not the guy to lead you to the promised land.  So two average drivers in a small team with a brand new design.  Prediction:  Blahh.  Albon P19, Latifi P20

 

Alfa Romeo – For some reason I’m getting a feeling that Bottas is going to be one of the surprise performers of the year.  He’s got pace and now he will have an entire team backing him up as the number 1.  Give Bottas some confidence and he might be strutting around telling his critics to F-Off again.  For rookie teammate Zhou, the goal is to get the miles in, keep it off the walls and make sure that the Chinese Yuan are being wired to Switzerland on the 1st and 15th of each month.  Having Bottas as a measuring stick will be a great way to determine if Mr Zhou has a future in this business.  Prediction-  I’m seeing multiple Q3’s and the occasional 8-10th place finish among the Alpine’s and Alpha Tauri’s for Bottas while Zhou will be busy racing the Williams boys.  Bottas P13, Zhou P18

 

Haas- I’ll admit it, I hated the Mazespin-Shumacher Russian backed crap wagon that we saw last year and hoped that Haas was going to pull the plug to put this American project out of its misery.  However, Schumacher and K-Mag in a car capable of fighting in the midfield suddenly sounds pretty cool.  Well done Mr Haas for making a tough decision and making your team infinitely cooler.  Prediction – Schumacher won the F3 title in year two and the F2 title in year two so it’s a bit far-fetched to see this trend continue, but he’s going to impress.  Magnussen is going to have his hands full keeping up with Schumi Jr but it’s comforting to know that both of those cars will be given a proper thrashing.  Schumi P14, K-Mag P17

 

So there we have it.  If it’s anything close to ‘21 we are in for a real treat.   I can attest that F1 racing is still alive and well in the US after waiting for two hours to pre-order tickets to the Austin GP, only to get on the site and find out that the grandstands were completely sold out.  So there are now two USGP’s for ‘22 and both are already sold out.  Thanks a lot Netflix!  What’s next, an American entry with heavyweight backing and a fast American driver?  I feel like I’m being priced out of my neighborhood.  

 

Bold Predictions:

-Lewis starts slow, gets Covid again, loses motivation and gets clobbered by Russell.  Lewis then goes on a 3 month bender, adds 75lbs and shows up in ‘23 looking like a bloated washed up rock star with a bald head on top and dreads on the side.

– Lewis starts strong, clobbers Russell and George becomes an entitled little diva crying foul play and claiming the team likes Lewis better.  Toto sacks him after the summer break. 

-Putin decides to lob missiles at the track that replaces his personal Sochi GP, starting WWIII and ending the ‘22 season prematurely.  At the time of the bombings, Max was ahead of Lewis by 1pt and was declared the champion by the FIA.  In the midst of WWIII, the British again go bananas on social media and plan their own all British F1 series.  

-Ferrari win the first ten races and it’s then discovered that nothing on their car is legal, yet the stewards never flagged any issues.  

-The new race control group starts penalizing drivers for “aggressive behavior unbecoming of a gentleman behind the wheel” and hands out an average of 17 drive through penalties per race.  Magnussen is handed down the most drive throughs for the season and sets a record with 9 drive throughs in a single race.  

-Michael Andretti gets awarded the 11th team slot, pays the $200m entry fee, hires personnel, builds a factory out, leases a Renault powerplant, flies the equipment out to the first race, only to find that his investors were indicted for running a crypto pyramid scheme and were all behind bars.  Poor Colton Herta and Kyle Kirkwood never even get to leave the garage for FP1. 

 

Well Let’s Do This!