F1 2022 season guide: Drivers, how to watch, rule changes, schedule, venues, championship odds

It seems like hardly any time has passed since Max Verstappen overtook Lewis Hamilton on the final lap in Abu Dhabi to win his maiden title, but already the 2022 season is creeping up on us.

The opening race weekend in Bahrain gets underway on March 18 and all the posturing and posing in pre-season will be parked as 10 teams and 20 drivers take to a clean slate in a bid for grid supremacy.

Verstappen and Hamilton will undoubtedly be the centre of attention once more but there is plenty of intrigue around both McLaren and Ferrari, as they look to close the gap on the top two.

Max Verstappen dramatically won the 2021 Formula One season, which ended in Abu Dhabi

Verstappen (right) stopped Lewis Hamilton (left) from winning an eighth world championship

Formula One generated millions of new followers last season as the drama of the Verstappen-Hamilton fight gripped sports fans across the globe.

That late drama in Abu Dhabi, the final race of the season, cost race director Michael Masi his job, following a review of his decision-making, but the new season has rolled round and now all eyes are on the action returning in Bahrain. 

There is a rookie ready to make history in Alfa Romeo’s car, a resurgent Ferrari team, a motivated Hamilton and F1 life without legendary driver Kimi Raikkonen begins in earnest as he enjoys retirement.  

With that in mind, Sportsmail takes you through everything you need to know… 

WHEN DOES THE SEASON START?

It will be lights out and away we go on March 20 at 3pm GMT in Bahrain to officially get the season underway.

For those looking to take in a bit more than simply the Grand Prix races, all the teams and drivers will be set up in Bahrain from March 18 where a midday practice will allow them to get to grips with the circuit in Sakhir. 

There is a 3pm start to qualifying on Saturday March 12 in a session that will give the first real signifier of which cars are set for a title tilt and which will be languishing near the back of the field.  

WHO WON THE 2021 SEASON?

Verstappen, in the most controversial of circumstances. 

The Dutchman, through no fault of his own, was presented with the opportunity for one final racing lap, winner takes all for the title. 

Mercedes, who Hamilton drives for, were furious as they knew Verstappen was on softer and quicker tyres, thus giving him a huge advantage in chasing down Hamilton.

In the end Verstappen pulled off his overtake and crossed the line to cheers and fireworks for the first world title of his Formula One career.

Verstappen was toasting the champagne after a hard-fought championship with Hamilton

WHAT WAS THE FALL-OUT OF MAX’S TITLE? 

Masi was fired, that was the result of an epic fall-out that at one time threatened to be run up all the way to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. 

Mercedes were – and no doubt still are – furious with what they believe was a deliberate contravening of the rules in order to facilitate a winner-takes-all lap, which massively favoured Verstappen. 

Mercedes, led by their QC Paul Harris, believed their case was ‘overwhelming’, namely that Masi disregarded the rulebook to call in the safety car early – to Hamilton’s disadvantage.

But they did not believe an FIA court sitting in judgment on its own race director and stewards could possibly provide them with the outcome they sought, and abandoned their litigation.

They instead sought assurances from the FIA that things would change and that likely sealed Masi’s fate.

Portuguese Eduardo Freitas, World Endurance Championship race director, and German Niels Wittich, ex-DTM race director, come in to take over Masi’s old job. They will alternate over the 23-race season.

Herbie Blash, long-time deputy to former race director Charlie Whiting, comes in as ‘permanent senior adviser’.

WEC race director Eduardo Freitas (left) and ex-DTM race director Niels Wittich (right) have been appointed to replace Michael Masi as race director following last season’s finale

SAME DRIVERS AS LAST YEAR?

In short: no. 

Alfa Romeo are the only team to take on a rookie in Chinese sensation Guanyu Zhou, while Williams, who lost star man George Russell to Mercedes in the off-season, have extended an olive branch to former Red Bull driver Alex Albon.

Six teams have committed to sticking with their 2021 line-ups, and while Haas were ready to make that seven unchanged line-ups, the American team ruthlessly sacked driver Nikita Mazepin and dropped sponsors Uralkali, a Russian fertiliser company part-owned by Mazepin’s oligarch father Dmitry, 53, an associate of Vladimir Putin, in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The team were helped towards their decision by Motorsport UK declaring no Russian-linked competitors would be allowed to compete in this country, making Mazepin ineligible for the British Grand Prix. Haas believe their finances can survive the loss of Uralkali’s annual contribution of £20million.

That shocking late twist aside, there are plenty of familiar faces, with Chinese rookie Zhou the only brand new face on the grid. When lights go out in Bahrain he will make history as the first Chinese driver in F1 as he finds his feet with Alfa Romeo. 

Albon, who Red Bull ditched in 2020, is back with a point to prove at Williams – he is already said to have ‘exceeded expectations’ according to team personnel – while Valtteri Bottas will hope he can shine out of the Mercedes spotlight as he joins forces with Alfa Romeo. 

Formula One team Haas has terminated the contract of Russian driver Nikita Mazepin  

WHAT WILL HAAS DO NOW?

An answer is expected this week with regards to who will take the now-vacant seat of Russian driver Mazepin.

The BBC report that three drivers are being considered for a late, late call-up to take the vacant 2022 seat. 

Reserve driver Pietro Fittipaldi is one… he is the man who replaced Romain Grosjean for two races at the end of 2020, following his escape from a fireball in Bahrain, which left his hands badly burned.

There’s also Indian F2 driver Jehan Daruvala that is catching the eye and Alpine reserve driver Oscar Piastri, the reigning champion of F2.

Haas are likely to stick to their philosophy of a young, up-and-coming driver with a decision needed sooner rather than later.  

ANY RULE CHANGES WE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT?

Loads. 

There is a new fuel, wider tyres and a new car design that is supposed to deliver closer racing, and therefore a better spectacle with more overtaking.  

First point of order: the current 1.6-litre turbo-hybrid power units – the engines – are staying the same. That makes a lot of sense given they are the most advanced and most efficient engines on the planet. 

One of the key things is getting cars closer together to ensure more overtaking.   

In 2022, with an aerodynamic revolution which has seen engineers change the front wing and nose cone, cars will be able to stay closer to their targets for longer, put more pressure on, and, ultimately, overtake. 

Bigger tyres and cars with new nose cones and front wings should deliver closer racing

The other switch sees teams go from 13 to 18 inch tyres.

These ‘low profile’ tyres have been designed by Pirelli in a bid to reduce the amount of overheating. Cooler tyres for longer allows for longer stints on track and as such, closer racing.  

Other things to know: the minimum weight of the cars has gone up by five per cent, and the new fuel being used is called E10.  

E10 contains 10 per cent ethanol – which must be a second-generation bio-fuel – as F1 looks to edge closer to a near zero carbon footprint, they say.  

AND RACES, HOW MANY HAVE WE GOT TO LOOK FORWARD TO?

The plan is still to commit to a record 23-race season. 

But with the Russian Grand Prix shelved following the invasion of Ukraine, it remains to be seen which circuit will take Sochi’s place. 

Talk of Turkey seems premature but F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali said recently that it will be ‘no problem at all’ to fill the gap left by the Sochi event and maintain the record-breaking schedule. 

The Hard Rock Stadium will act as the backdrop to the Miami Grand Prix, which is new in 2022

The opening falls between the Italian Grand Prix on September 11 and the Singapore Grand Prix on October 2.

Both Portugal and Imola strengthened their cases by holding rescheduled races at short notice last season. 

As things stand talks are ongoing but no decision yet. In short, expect 23! 

WHAT ARE THE VENUES?

We’re heading back to Australia, having seen the Melbourne Park race shelved for the last two years, owing to the pandemic.  

Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium, home of the Miami Dolphins American football team, is the new addition to go with plenty of classics such as the Hungaroring, Silverstone, Zandvoort in Holland and the race conclusion once again returning to Yas Marina in Abu Dhabi.  

Artistic designs (pictured) for the Miami race were revealed by Formula One back in 2019 

HOW’S PRE-SEASON TESTING GOING?  

We’re midway through the testing period with the opening run in Barcelona done and dusted.

Teams head to Bahrain, the location of the opening race, this week to fine-tune their preparations ahead of the opening race. 

The early impressions look very good for Ferrari and McLaren while it was a much steadier start for reigning champions Red Bull. 

Alpine have some work to do, as do Aston Martin, when teams head to Bahrain for three days of testing. 

Action gets underway on March 10 and will run through to March 12 before we get a final breather ahead of the start of the season.  

HOW TO WATCH? 

The Radio Times reported that the 2021 season saw an average of 70.3 million fans tune in live for every Grand Prix around the world, which is incredible. 

Fans are returning to the sport and new fans are being hauled in by the hit Netflix series, Drive to Survive, helping to deliver the highest average audience since 2013.

Add those viewers up and that’s more than a billion views of the action – so F1 is a huge market. 

Formula One has fast become a pay-to-watch sport, with every race being shown live and in full HD on Sky Sports’ dedicated F1 channel, as well as Main Event. 

Fans keen to stay on top of the sport will need Sky Sports to watch all 23 grands prix live

Sky has the exclusive rights to broadcast races in the UK and that deal runs through to the end of the 2024 season. 

Channel 4’s place in the F1 broadcasting market allows them to show extended highlights, no sooner than two and a half hours after the end of a Grand Prix.

The free-to-air broadcaster is expected to once again broadcast the British Grand Prix, but that is likely to be that for live race action.  

WHAT DO BOOKMAKERS’ THINK? 

Unsurprisingly, bookmakers are backing a redemption tour for Hamilton and Mercedes with the seven-time world champion the odds-on favourite to win the 2022 title. 

Mercedes are expected to avenge the disappointment of Abu Dhabi with a dominant display, while there is also a nod to Ferrari’s steep improvement with Charles Leclerc third in the odds market to win the drivers’ championship title.

Bookmakers believe Hamilton will avenge for 2021 by winning the world title this season

As for Bahrain, Hamilton is expected to win the season-opening race, followed by Verstappen, Leclerc, Russell and Sainz.

But a repeat of the late show in Abu Dhabi, decided on the final lap, there is little to no expectation of a repeat in 2022.

Full odds, courtesy of Betfair, here…