Bahrain GP Preview - Formula 1 is back!
Reading Time: 2min | Wed. 16.03.22. | 20:37
The 2022 F1 season kicks off this weekend 3 months after an epic 2021 season ended in controversy with Max Verstappen winning his first ever World Championship
New cars. New rules. New driver line-ups. And potentially an all-new pecking order, with all-new rivalries. Formula 1 is back this weekend - and it all starts with a Bahrain GP where simply anything could happen.
Three months after an epic 2021 season ended in hugely-controversial circumstances as Max Verstappen ousted Lewis Hamilton for the title, the sport's grid of star drivers and teams are gearing up for the first of a planned 23 race weekends this year. It is fair to say a lot has changed since that Abu Dhabi chequered flag.
Formula 1's governing body, the FIA, has amended the Safety Car rules to try and avoid a repeat of the controversial title finale in Abu Dhabi last year ⬇️
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) March 16, 2022
F1 has embarked on a revolutionary new era with a rules overhaul leading to much-changed cars, aimed at spicing up the on-track action and improving overtaking. And the early signs are that they will also rip up the form book.
Mercedes, F1's world champions for the last eight years and the team who marched ahead of the pack following the last major regulation change, appear to have slipped slightly behind at the start of 2022, with both Red Bull and Ferrari seemingly usurping them at the two three-day tests.
*Big inhale of breath* IT'S RACE WEEK! 🥳🥳🥳 pic.twitter.com/FFZKO9Ag1i
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) March 14, 2022
Red Bull, in particular, came on strong at the end of the final Bahrain test to suggest Verstappen has a strong chance of retaining his maiden drivers' crown, although - while Hamilton has pessimistically suggested his team are "not in contention" - the intense rivalry between F1's biggest stars is certainly expected to return given the bad blood of last year.
Hamilton is joined by a new team-mate in George Russell for 2022, the Briton finally getting his chance after three dazzling years 'on loan' at Williams, while Ferrari's talented young driver line-up, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, could also become stars if their package is as competitive as it seems.
Who will be a breakout star in 2022? 🤔
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) March 16, 2022
Get those driver names in the replies! 👇
And it is not just the rivalries at the front pointing towards an unmissable Bahrain GP opener, for the clean slate of new regulations also seems to have closed the gap right up, with the likes of McLaren also in the hunt.
The Bahrain GP is simply impossible to predict as a first race weekend in all-new cars awaits.
Friday Sesion
Practice One – 1500EAT
Practice Two - 1800 EAT
Saturday Session
Practice Three – 1500EAT
Bahrain GP Qualifying -1800 EAT
Sunday
The Bahrain Grand Prix – 1800 EAT
© Sky Sports
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