F1 2022 - El Plan

[Ben]

First pre-season test starts tomorrow so we might as well get the ball rolling on this one. I'll do a full breakdown for the non-nerds.

Calendar TRANSFERS:
Australia, Canada, Japan and Singapore return; Miami debuts.
Portugal, Qatar, Styria and Turkey out; China still playing the COVID card.

Grand Prix	Circuit	Date
Bahrain	Sakhir	March 20
Saudi Arabia	Jeddah	March 27
Australia	Melbourne	April 10
Emilia Romagna	Imola	April 24
Miami	Miami Gardens	May 8
Spain	Catalunya	May 22
Monaco	Monaco	May 29
Azerbaijan	Baku	June 12
Canada	Montreal	June 19
Britain	Silverstone	July 3
Austria	Red Bull Ring	July 10
France	Paul Ricard	July 24
Hungary	Hungaroring	July 31
Belgium	Spa	August 28
Netherlands	Zandvoort	September 4
Italy	Monza	September 11
Russia	Sochi	September 25
Singapore	Marina Bay	October 2
Japan	Suzuka	October 9
United States	Austin	October 23
Mexico City	Mexico City	October 30
Sao Paulo	Interlagos	November 13
Abu Dhabi	Yas Marina	November 20

Team TRANSFERS:
None. Red Bull and AlphaTauri will run engines badged as Red Bull Powertrains in 2022 but it's effectively the same Honda engine as last year; no other changes.

Driver TRANSFERS:
Kimi Raikkonen has retired at the end of 2021. His seat at Alfa Romeo is taken by Valtteri Bottas. His seat at Mercedes is taken by George Russell. His seat at Williams is taken by Alexander Albon.
Antonio Giovinazzi has been released by Alfa Romeo at the end of 2021. His seat is taken by Guanyu Zhou.
Nikita Mazepin has been released by Haas between the first and second tests due to sanctions against Russians. His seat is taken by Kevin Magnussen.

Constructor	Car	Engine	Drivers
Alfa Romeo	C42	Ferrari	(24) Guanyu Zhou (77) Valtteri Bottas
AlphaTauri	AT03	Red Bull	(10) Pierre Gasly (22) Yuki Tsunoda
Alpine	A522	Renault	(14) Fernando Alonso (31) Esteban Ocon
Aston Martin	AMR22	Mercedes	(5) Sebastian Vettel (18) Lance Stroll
Ferrari	F1-75	Ferrari	(16) Charles Leclerc (55) Carlos Sainz Jr.
Haas	VF-22	Ferrari	(9) Nikita Mazepin (20) Kevin Magnussen (47) Mick Schumacher
McLaren	MCL36	Mercedes	(3) Daniel Ricciardo (4) Lando Norris
Mercedes	W13	Mercedes	(44) Lewis Hamilton (63) George Russell
Red Bull	RB18	Red Bull	(1) Max Verstappen (11) Sergio Perez
Williams	FW44	Mercedes	(6) Nicholas Latifi (23) Alexander Albon

Rule changes:
- I think everybody is aware of the main rule change which involves a complete rework of the technical regulations, resulting in radically different cars from what we've seen in the last few years. Ground effect has been reintroduced along with a complete ban on bargeboards and a massive simplification of the front wing design, in an attempt to "make racing better" by eradicating much of the dirty air the old cars would produce (thereby massively reducing downforce of the trailing car).
- Additionally, those chunky 13" wheels we've associated with Formula 1 forever have been ditched in favour of 18" wheels. They now look a lot more like road car wheels which may or may not lead to increased sales for Pirelli in this sector. Rims are now standard equipment developed by BBS complete with 90's style hubcap wheel covers in a further attempt to control airflow from the cars.
- Sprint races remain, again at three races (this time Emilia Romagna, Austria and Sao Paulo). Points are now given to the top 8 (8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1) instead of just the top 3.
- Drivers who make it through to Q3 no longer have to start the race on the set of tyres they set their fastest lap on in Q2.
- Michael Masi is out as race director for making up his own rules in Abu Dhabi.