Signs of the times

Despite at least four years of collective research by some of the best brains in Formula 1, using the most sophisticated tools at their disposal, the overriding reactions as the sport’s ‘new era’ cars got up to speed during pre-season shakedowns in Barcelona (full-blown test sessions followed a week later in Bahrain) were of sheer nervousness – about both teams’ own performances, and those of their peers.

Much has been written about the methodologies and research that went into the 2022 regulations, designed to reduce ‘dirty’ air, thereby (theoretically, at least) upping the chances of running closely enough to overtake, but the acid test came in Bahrain, rather than Barcelona, where teams spent three days checking systems, rather than indulging in close proximity running.

Pre-shakedown, there had been widespread fears that the regulations were too restrictive, leaving little leeway for creativity, and that consequently the cars would all look identical, at least if they were all painted monochrome. True, most of the 2022 contenders had been revealed before formal running commenced, but the majority were clearly ‘launch specials’.

Red Bull had gone the full distance and spent $50,000 creating a mock-up livery on a full-size model car using F1’s CAD concept car data points to keep incoming sponsors sweet, while at the same time not showing its true hand. ‘Marketing costs are excluded from the budget cap,’ grinned team boss, Christian Horner, by way of explanation.

Sauber, meanwhile, chose to launch its car after the shakedown, so ran the ‘Alfa Romeo’ initially in camouflage.

Red herring

Thankfully, the concerns about similarity proved ill founded, as a number of different sidepod designs were revealed, including