Bahrain 2022 Grand Prix Review

The format on this website will be Heaven/Hell. Teams in 'Heaven' should be proud of their performances, and those in 'Hell' are having a tougher week trying to remedy poor performances

Heaven

The cars and tires-

I was quite impressed with the new cars’ ability on track. While they don't appear to have the outright speed of the previous generation of cars, there did seem to be improvement in the 'close racing' department. Granted, the Bahrain grand prix is not the best reference point to determine improvement in racing, as last year's regulations saw a reasonable amount of overtakes as well. The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola will be the first real test of the new regulations. As it is traditionally a much harder circuit to overtake on, there we will see if the redesigns truly offer up more overtaking opportunities. I was additionally very surprised at the high rate of tire degradation. The soft compound tire (C3) was much faster than the others, but seemed to wear out after 14 laps. With the late safety car, this made the race a three pitstop race for many. The hard compound (C1) did what harder compounds are intended to do, giving teams poor performance at the beginning of their stint. Lewis Hamilton lost a position to Zhou Guanyu after Hamilton gambled and put on hard tires and lost traction out of turns one and two. The Mediums seemed to be a good balance between the two, but still took about a lap to warm up. Overall, the higher degradation means more pitstops, and therefore less predictable racing.

Ferrari-

Starting off with a 1-2 finish for a constructor in the first race, Ferrari has a great start in the battle for the Championship. There performance was a dream come true after Ferrari’s previous two years of dismal pace. Although a fantastic result, Leclerc’s pace wasn’t necessarily the fastest he will achieve all year. He will need to keep improving as all drivers get used to these new regulations, because other teams and drivers will improve for the remainder of the calendar. Sainz was able to get ahead of Verstappen at the end after Leclerc was able to control the race in first, which brought their result home. Sainz was a bit off the pace compared to Leclerc, but overall, the weekend a positive for him, too. He was able to take P2 after Verstappen's car took a DNF in the closing stages of the race. It seems Ferrari has the best car in terms of both performance and reliability at this point in the season. Their investment in engine development last year seem to have paid off, as all Ferrari-engined cars finished in the top 11.

Haas-

My biggest highlight of the weekend would be Haas. After two dismal years running in last place, they had their first Q3 appearance this weekend since Brazil 2019. Magnussen wrote a comeback story for the ages this weekend. After shoving Magnussen out of F1 in 2021 to make way for Nikita Mazepin (whose father invested heavily in the team), Haas used that money to develop the 2022 car. Magnussen then made his return after Mazepin and his father's company, Uralkali, were disavowed by the team following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Magnussen signed a multiple-year deal with Haas, then promptly jumped in the car on day two of the Bahrain testing. To the team and Gunther Steiner's delight, he qualified P7. The Haas VF-22 seems to have both qualifying and race pace, as Magnussen was able to score 10 points after finishing P5. This performance put Haas in 3rd place in the constructors championship, a stunning performance after their dreadful prior 2 years. Schumacher impressed as well, showing his overtaking ability and battling with Zhou Guanyu during the race. After finishing P5 and P11, the team seems to be in good spirits (and rightfully so).

Alfa Romeo-

Double points! Double point finish! As many expected, Bottas’s phenomenal performance of P6 in qualifying was promptly overshadowed by his dropping down to P13. His recovery drive, however, was quite impressive as he showed his overtaking ability. Finishing P6 overall was a good showing for Bottas and the tea. His rookie teammate, Zhou Guanyu, was also able to finish in the points in P10. Guanyu showed promise, representing China well. Alpha Romeo's jump in performance from last year further suggests Ferrari's engines are the power units to have this season. Alpha Romeo and Haas (both of which use Ferrari power units) have shown the most improved results in comparison to last season after one race.

Hell

Red Bull ( and their Powertrains)-

Many won’t be surprised to see this on the list with ¾ of Red Bull's engines failing in the last laps of the race. Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez's cars both experienced similar failures, and Pierre Gasly's Alpha Tauri caught fire and lost power, triggering a safety car. Whether the issue is long-term or not is yet to be seen, as the team has not publicly discussed the specifics of the failures. The weekend was certainty a huge setback in Verstappen's hopes for a second title. Although Red Bull was not seeking a constructors' title last year, their hopes of the championship this season are almost certainly dashed after a dismal showing in the race. Hopefully, they can sort out the issues with their powertrains and come back to fight for the constructors title.

McLaren-

As a Daniel Ricciardo fan myself, it was heartbreaking seeing him fail to make it out of Q1. He managed to make up a few positions from P18 in the race, and finished P14. Lando Norris had more success in qualifying, putting himself in P13 on the grid, but ended up finishing P15 behind Ricciardo. Their car seems to have nowhere near the pace the team expected, a concerning first outing for the team. Obviously, the team needs to make drastic improvements to their car, something they have been trying to did since testing revealed a critical issue in their brakes. Although Ricciardo's pace was undoubtedly affected by his COVID-19 recovery, the team's lack of pace overall is worrying for their aspirations this year.

Aston Martin-

Another team to be disappointed after the first race is undoubtedly Aston Martin. Although Lawrence Stroll released ambitious plans for future seasons after acquiring the team, it seems they have stumbled upon a problem: Their car is slow. When Sebastian Vettel contracted COVID, they called in Nico Hulkenburg. He is very experienced, but hasn’t driven an F1 car since 2020 when subbing for Perez, who also contracted COVID. Hulkenberg qualified P17 and Stroll P19. Stroll gained a few places in the race, managing to finish P12. Hulkenberg held his position, finishing P17. If fans though last year was disappointing for Aston, this year's start is even more so. It will be interesting to see whether they can improve over the season and get the fresh start Lawrence Stroll is looking for.

Summary:

The Bahrain Grand Prix was epic, with overtakes galore up and down the field. This season will also give us a very interesting championship battle. Verstappen and Leclerc, the two most aggressive drivers in F1 right now, seem to be the contenders (although Leclerc and Sainz are at the top of the championship standings currently). The current pecking order seems more or less clear, with Red Bull and Ferrari at the top and everyonne else at least .2 seconds a lap slower. Mercedes seem to be on the backfoot as they continue to suffer from porpoising, but do not count them out of a championship run. The team have the resources to upgrade further and solve the problem, though Imola may be the earliest we see a Mercedes surge. Mercedes were there to pick up the pieces this weekend after a double Red Bull retirement, but I doubt Jeddah will be as forgiving. Overall, the weekend was a very optimistic start to the season for Formula 1.