2022 Formula One Spanish Grand Prix

Alfa Romeo F1 Team Orlen.jpg
F1 returns to action this week for the Spanish Grand Prix, with Red Bull and Ferrari fighting a tightly contested battle and multiple teams bringing significant upgrade packages.

A modified Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is the site of the 2022 Spanish Grand Prix for Formula 1. The title battle for both drivers and constructors is still a close fight, with Ferrari narrowly holding onto a lead in the constructor's championship, and Max Verstappen inching ever closer to Charles Leclerc in the drivers standings.

Much of the buzz surrounding this week's race concerns upgrades from mid-pack teams. Aston Martin arrived to Catalunya with a car that bears more than a passing resemblance to the Red Bull. Mercedes is also turning heads, as their upgraded cars look to be more on pace with Ferrari and Red Bull than we've seen so far this year.

The action this weekend will be the first time for most fans to see the track's newest form. The difficult and slow La Caixa corner at turn 10 has been rounded, which will allow the cars to carry a little more speed while still retaining the intent of the circuit overall.

Leclerc's 19-point advantage over Verstappen could be considered a safe lead in some circumstances, but given the inconsistency of the Red Bull in the first few races and coming off of two consecutive Verstappen wins at Imola and Miami, that lead seems far from safe.

Ferrari's lead in the constructor's championship has likewise been threatened, as a tough outing for Ferrari at Imola saw Leclerc and Sainz manage to finish only 6th and 20th, respectively. However, the pair claimed two of the three podium positions in Miami to help retain the championship lead.

What are your predictions for this weekend? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter @RaceDepartment!
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About author
Mike Smith
Mike Smith
I have been obsessed with sim racing and racing games since the 1980's. My first taste of live auto racing was in 1988, and I couldn't get enough ever since. Lead writer for RaceDepartment, and owner of SimRacing604 and its YouTube channel. Favourite sims include Assetto Corsa Competizione, Assetto Corsa, rFactor 2, Automobilista 2, DiRT Rally 2 - On Twitter as @simracing604

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Comments

trichens
Premium
thepharcyde said:
Lastly, let's ditch DRS - gimic and should not be the deciding factor in a race.
Click to expand...
One of the reasons for the current rules was to get closer racing.
GR's defence against MV shows that we are missing out on close racing by retaining DRS.
With fully working DRS, MV would have breezed past without GR being able to fight for his position.

Unfortunately too late for this season but hopefully something the FIA tech team will look into for next season; it should be pretty easy to consign DRS to history as it won't require substantial changes to the cars.
 
F_B
Premium
The FIA could at least get rid of the DRS zones and give the drivers the ability to enable DRS let's say 5 times a race whenever they want.
 
Colt459
trichens said:
One of the reasons for the current rules was to get closer racing.
GR's defence against MV shows that we are missing out on close racing by retaining DRS.
With fully working DRS, MV would have breezed past without GR being able to fight for his position.

Unfortunately too late for this season but hopefully something the FIA tech team will look into for next season; it should be pretty easy to consign DRS to history as it won't require substantial changes to the cars.
Click to expand...
So a guy who is a full 1.5 seconds faster per lap than his opponent should find it impossible to pass? How is that “racing” if the fastest drivers cannot actually win?

We already have one race like that year, Monaco, and everyone agrees it is terrible racing
 
paracletus
Not a fan of the fake DRS, but who knows what these modern F1 cars would be like without it, or indeed how these gen z drivers who've grown up with DRS would cope. The collosal limosines they are racing wouldn't help either.
Almost certainly there would be more risk taking and more "racing incidents"; if that's a good or bad thing is debatable.

It would be very surprising if they drop DRS anytime soon.
 
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muzikant
paracletus said:
Not a fan of the fake DRS, but who knows what these modern F1 cars would be like without it, or indeed how these gen z drivers who've grown up with DRS would cope. The collosal limosines they are racing wouldn't help either.
Almost certainly there would be more risk taking and more "racing incidents"; if that's a good or bad thing is debatable.

It would be very surprising if they drop DRS anytime soon.
Click to expand...
This generation is from the non DRS go karts on young age. I don't really get your DRS point?
 
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RedBull48
If they truly wish to remove DRS I believe the philosophy of ground effects is the right direction. They also need to make the cars much smaller and lighter so they are more nimble. A lot of the increased weight has come from safety improvement which can not be compromised. However one big weight saver could be bringing re-fueling back. This also opens another strategy dimension. Opinions seem split on this being a safety issue but Indycar handles refueling just fine.
 
L
BP said:
Senna complained. Lauda complained. Alonso complained. Prost complained. All great drivers complain! Because they know what they're capable of...it's adrenaline, expectations and of course ego and machismo...but it is what it is.
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Schumacher did not.
And yes, there is a different caliber when comparing the two. Hamilton is a diva, and Schumacher was a Knight. Why? Just because they got into F1 in way different positions: one got in the best car of the moment for his first debut, and the other a fortunate incident that allowed him to get a seat for one race in an average team.
And the way both had to fight or not to get into the position of the best team do say a lot on character.
Is not the complaint part, is the way of and what the complaining suggested. Throwing the towel means giving up, and a driver like him should not do it. As it shows lack of character to under come difficult circumstances, and that is a big issue when you compare drivers at their best.
 
BabyGotBackmarker
RedBull48 said:
If they truly wish to remove DRS I believe the philosophy of ground effects is the right direction. They also need to make the cars much smaller and lighter so they are more nimble. A lot of the increased weight has come from safety improvement which can not be compromised. However one big weight saver could be bringing re-fueling back. This also opens another strategy dimension. Opinions seem split on this being a safety issue but Indycar handles refueling just fine.
Click to expand...

I really want to people to zero in on the knowledge being dropped here. I don't think one team's failure to bring the WD-40 means we should scrap DRS, but let's consider the size and weight of the cars. I saw a picture a few weeks back of Fernando's championship Renault next to the current Alpine challenger. It looked like a missile sitting next to a battleship. Why are we going in this direction? We've got the beautiful old-school tracks (Imola...Imola...Imola) dying a slow death because their racing ribbons are too narrow to overtake with these cars. I'm about as excited for Monaco as I am for my oncologist putting his finger in my butt this coming Tuesday. The cars are getting wider and longer, the circuits aren't changing with them (Herman Tiilke is about as open to change as the people living in my region of the States, but I digress.)

I need to give some more thought to re-fueling before I put my opinion on the internets, but my initial feeling is let's at least give it a look. NASCAR, GT3, IndyCar, whoever's reading this...they all re-fuel. Jos Verstappen was a long time ago.
 
D
They really should take a look at the steering angles for both KMag & Hamilton. If only because Sir Lewis has a history of contact between cars that attempt outside passes or defending pass attempts. Kmag 'MAY' have crowded Lewis as well. It is something that should at least be reviewed.
 
Richard Wilks
Re-fuelling won't solve absolutely nothing.

It was the worst decision F1 ever made, and brought us YEARS of overtakes in the pits, and the teams with all the info they have, plus only one tire brand, they would all run the same optimal strategy anyways.

Let refuel stay in the dustbin of F1 history please.
 
T
if you look at how close and cool the battles are in the touring car races, thats what we need in F1 too.
just yesterday i was watching porsche carrera cup germany at the Red Bull Ring, it was so entertaining and action packed. why? because the cars are all equal and there are barely any driving aids on these cars. you could see nicely how the cars moved around nervously and its even more exciting to watch them fight close with these cars.
older f1 cars came close to this, they were smaller, more nervous and therefore harder to control and drive on the limit, that made for exciting looking battles.
and there was no easy-overtake button.
i dont get it why f1 moved away from this type of cars.
 
ABOE UK
Colt459 said:
So a guy who is a full 1.5 seconds faster per lap than his opponent should find it impossible to pass? How is that “racing” if the fastest drivers cannot actually win?

We already have one race like that year, Monaco, and everyone agrees it is terrible racing
Click to expand...
I disagree. Firstly, how do you know that Max is faster than George. Sure, he was in a faster car, but does that make HIM faster... theoretically, perhaps. But that's not what racing is about. It's not just about speed - there is a certain degree of race craft as well, plus keeping a cool head under pressure (to those going on about Lewis complaining at the beginning of the race - was Max really THAT cool when the DRS was providing him with issues? No.), strategy etc.
I personally feel George drove a blinder in his defence against both Max and Sergio, but if a car can just breeze past another owing to some gimmicky gadget then is that really racing? Is that your point?
Personally, I feel reverting back to pre-DRS days would work better as we'd see the more daring drivers making high-risk moves and that, in turn, would separate the wheat from the chaff.
At the very least, DRS could be restricted to a certain number of uses per race, as someone else has pointed out... OR, making DRS less effective, by reducing the amount the flap can move so that there is slightly more drag, leading to less boring overtakes. This would need to be worked on a per race basis though, such that factors like straight length, or DRS zone length in particular, would restrict how effective DRS is on an given track.
And bringing refuelling back wouldn't be such a bad idea either, imho. Especailly if drivers are made to qualify on the fuel strategy they would use for the race... it would mix the grid up slightly and add more to the strategic element of F1, which, I think, would be no bad thing.
 
zwiss
Racing in Barcelona has usually been boring in the past. This year there was plenty of action.
So why does the complaining keep going on? :)
Great race by Max (although a lucky win), George and Lewis.
Carlos disappoints once again.
 
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D
davehenrie said:
They really should take a look at the steering angles for both KMag & Hamilton. If only because Sir Lewis has a history of contact between cars that attempt outside passes or defending pass attempts. Kmag 'MAY' have crowded Lewis as well. It is something that should at least be reviewed.
Click to expand...
As I recall Lewis was victim to quite a few deliberate incidents in recent years too if you remember?
It has been looked at and deemed a racing incident. No blame attributed to either driver.
 
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BrunoBæ
davehenrie said:
They really should take a look at the steering angles for both KMag & Hamilton. If only because Sir Lewis has a history of contact between cars that attempt outside passes or defending pass attempts. Kmag 'MAY' have crowded Lewis as well. It is something that should at least be reviewed.
Click to expand...
Agree ;)

Mag_Lew.jpg
 
muzikant
zwiss said:
Racing in Barcelona has usually been boring in the past. This year there was plenty of action.
So why does the complaining keep going on? :)
Great race by Max (although a lucky win), George and Lewis.
Carlos disappoints once again.
Click to expand...
As for complaining about DRS, I don't really understand either, I agree with you. Formula 1 is better than ever after the merc domination (talking about luck) Max was indeed lucky but don't forget he already had two DNF this year ;)
 
muzikant
th3orist said:
if you look at how close and cool the battles are in the touring car races, thats what we need in F1 too.
just yesterday i was watching porsche carrera cup germany at the Red Bull Ring, it was so entertaining and action packed. why? because the cars are all equal and there are barely any driving aids on these cars. you could see nicely how the cars moved around nervously and its even more exciting to watch them fight close with these cars.
older f1 cars came close to this, they were smaller, more nervous and therefore harder to control and drive on the limit, that made for exciting looking battles.
and there was no easy-overtake button.
i dont get it why f1 moved away from this type of cars.
Click to expand...
then it will no longer be called Formula 1, F1 is all about inventions. I think we should be happy the way it is now. lots of action. Verstappen doesn't forget since he came into F1, teams started looking a lot more at young talents for their team

with much more talent for a long time, F1 is also just exciting
 
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Celestiale
muzikant said:
then it will no longer be called Formula 1, F1 is all about inventions. I think we should be happy the way it is now. lots of action. Verstappen doesn't forget since he came into F1, teams started looking a lot more at young talents for their team

with much more talent for a long time, F1 is also just exciting
Click to expand...
To add to this, it makes absolutely no sense to compare F1 to touring cars. Touring cars are much much slower and they are made to bump into each other. Of course you will see more close racing, side to side racing etc. Look at 50cc kart, you will see even more close racing. Look at Tour de France, it will be even closer.

In addition, in touring cars you have an advantage to drive behind another car, because the slipstream makes a big difference. So it's actually easier to follow another car compared to leading. In F1 it is the other way round.

Also those DRS naysayers..oh come on. Getting rid of DRS would make F1 the most boring racing series on the planet. You would see a couple of overtakes per race, that's it.
Whether the current DRS is the best "push-to-pass" system is definitely worthy of discussion.
But for these kind of cars, there has to be some kind of push-to-pass system. Following another car is just to big of a disadvantage to make the racing work without it. Of course they could be a bit more creative, e.g. you get push-to-pass if you manage to stay behind the front car within 2 seconds for at least 2 laps. Of course there are hundreds of other possible ways. In the end a kind of push to pass has to stay, there is no way around it.
 
Copef1
LMGiorni said:
Schumacher did not.
And yes, there is a different caliber when comparing the two. Hamilton is a diva, and Schumacher was a Knight. Why? Just because they got into F1 in way different positions: one got in the best car of the moment for his first debut, and the other a fortunate incident that allowed him to get a seat for one race in an average team.
And the way both had to fight or not to get into the position of the best team do say a lot on character.
Is not the complaint part, is the way of and what the complaining suggested. Throwing the towel means giving up, and a driver like him should not do it. As it shows lack of character to under come difficult circumstances, and that is a big issue when you compare drivers at their best.
Click to expand...
Shumacher was a Knight? This is laughable. The guy who made a mistake and threw his car into the wall, then drove the broken car back on track and smashed into Damon Hill so he wouldn't beat Shumacher to the title is a Knight? The same guy who purposely drove his car into the side of Jacques Villeneuve to try and stop him from winning the title is a Knight? The driver who parked his car in the middle of LaRascasse at Monaco to stop anyone from taking pole position away from him is a Knight? I'm sorry about what happened to Michael, but lets not pretend he wasn't a Diva too.
 
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