The Formula One (F1) 2022 season has come to an end with Abu Dhabi hosting the final race on Nov. 20. With Max Verstappen named the World Champion and Red Bull declared the winner of the Constructors Championship, much still remains to be seen next season.
Will Verstappen and Sergio Perez be friendly next year, or are the gloves off after the Brazil Grand Prix (GP)? The Red Bull PR department has been working overtime to make both drivers look good. It’s yet to be seen if Red Bull will dominate again or if going over the cost cap will cause repercussions.
Ferrari Team Principal Mattia Binotto has announced his resignation after the strategic mess that this season has been for them. In my eyes, and the eyes of many fans, Frederic Vassuer, the current Alfa Romeo Team Principal, would be a better man for the job. In fact, Vassuer has been revealed to be the new Ferrari Team Principal.
In another shock announcement, Jost Capito, the Williams Team Principal, has also announced his departure. The Technical Director has also announced that he will be stepping down as well. Williams has not yet revealed who will be replacing those roles.
Mclaren’s Team Principal, Andreas Sidel, has also left the team to join Sauber as the Chief Executive Officer before Sauber becomes Audi’s factory team in 2026. With his departure, Andrea Stella, Executive Director of Racing, has been promoted to becoming Mclaren’s new Team Principal.
The winter break, so far, has been a “silly season” with Team Principals’ leaving their current teams for new contracts and opportunities.
Elsewhere, at Alpine, Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon will need to set aside their dislike of one another to work as teammates next season. Rookie Oscar Piastri’s decision to leave Alpine for McLaren caused quite a controversy, but will Lando Norris outperform him? Haas will also see a return from returning driver Nico Hulkenberg, with fans watching to see if he can deliver or be let go at the end of the season.
Will Mercedes have a comeback? That seems likely with George Russell winning his first GP in Brazil this year and Lewis Hamilton, a 7-time world champion, making a podium comeback, finishing second place behind Russell, after not placing in the top 3 all season. Though Hamilton broke his record of winning one race every season since he first became an F1 driver in 2007.
The 2023 season is shaping up to be one to watch with many changes on the grid Daniel Riccardio, Nicolas Latifi, Mick Schumaher, and Sebastian Vettel have all left F1. The exciting newcomers include Oscar Piastri (McLaren), Logan Sargeant (Williams), and Nyck de Vries (AlphaTauri).
With Riccardio signed as the new Red Bull reserve driver, it allows him to remain close to the action and the possibility of racing in an F1 seat during his year-long break. This move may help him decide if he still has the fire and motivation to race or if he is truly ready to move on from F1. Schumacher’s future is also up in the air as he eyes the empty Mercedes reserve spot. Mercedes team principal, Toto Wolff, has expressed interest in signing the driver.
I’m sure the execs at Netflix have also been watching this season unfold with a large grin: no need to manufacture drama for new episodes of the documentary Formula 1: Drive to Survive (DTS).
If you’ve yet to catch up on all the drama, the current seasons of DTS are available on the platform. Keep an eye out for a new series covering the 2022 driving season, sure to include a recap of all the tension so far. It’s slated for release in early 2023, but fingers crossed it drops in February so newbies can get a behind-the-scenes run-down ahead of the racing season. Be warned however, the technical aspects of F1 are mostly ignored by the show, in favour of blowing up the tensions that are surely present in any high stakes sport.
If you crave a more reliable, news-focused approach; motorsport.com, the official Formula One website, autosport.com, wtf1.com, and Sky Sports are more credible sources to follow for updates. Podcast lovers should listen out for officialF1 podcast Beyond the Grid, the WTF1 podcast and for a female-focused discussion of F1, there’s F1R THE GIRLS. Check out this video, featuring the drivers of the 2020 season, to learn more about how F1 works and get a feel for some of the 2023 season drivers.
F1 also announced the introduction of a 24 race calendar next year, upping it from the previous 22 races. This means many chances to catch races. With a new track in Las Vegas debuting (sadly tickets sold out before I could get any) in addition to existing circuits in Miami and Austin, it seems that F1 are striving to attract as many American fans as possible. F1 is also returning to Qatar, for the first time since 2020, and to Shanghai, for the Chinese GP.
However, it was announced that the Chinese GP was canceled due to China’s zero-Covid policy. That will cause the race calendar to go from 24 to 23 races, leaving a gap on the calendar unless the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku can be moved up a week or a new contract is created somewhere else.
Unfortunately for European fans, with the new races added, it is the French GP that will not return in 2023. Circuit Paul Riccard has not signed their contract renewal but the Monaco GP at Circuit de Monaco and the Belgian GP at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (Monaco and Spa respectively) have both signed on.
With the Winter Break starting, you can catch me keeping a close eye on all F1-related news, in anticipation of the first race next year, due to take place March 5, in Bahrain.