F1 2022 thread - see post 1 for rules

So Lord Lewis wants non biased stewards. Never heard him complain when fan boy Herbert was a stewards mind you

https://www.google.com/amp/s/racingnews365.com/hamilton-calls-for-non-biased-race-stewards/amp

Been some interesting observations from trackside so far. The ground effect cars are much more sensitive to hitting kerbs so they need to be given a much wider berth. Overall the cars are looking more understeery (as was predicted) and have more grip in high speed sections and less grip in low speed sections compared to the previous generation, as the aero is much more speed sensitive.

I've read that Verstappen in particular has completely changed his driving style to a much smoother and more delicate approach as needed by the car - his style of driving today is being compared to Prost or Button. Maybe we'll see more drivers adapt or maybe it's just part of the process of dialing in the Red Bull.

Laptimes mean very little at this stage but all the big hitters you'd expect are in the top half of the standings, with Red Bull and Merc covering the most mileage so far, while Haas and Alfa currently languish a few seconds off the pace with relatively few laps on the board. You'd have expected Haas to hit the ground running with all their focus on this season so that looks concerning, though it is of course extremely early days of course.

Hopefully thats the only way he gets to have a view of the front of the RB.

That's just beautiful. I wonder is the reason that the wings are higher because of the 18 inch wheels and more travel for the suspension.

Some track side observations. They sound painfully slow in the slower corners now.

I don't like alot of the cars after seeing them on tv. They have an odd stance and the ones with the undercut sidepods and high front wings 'look like' they are sitting too high off the ground.

Ferrari and the alpine look nice though from what I've seen of them.

Apparently the F1 site is already advertising tickets for Turkey in its place.

They should give anyone the main commentator role. Would be preferable to "Crofty".

I take it Jonathan Legard and James Allen were before your time?

Saw 2 videos from Sky Sports F1's youtube channel yesterday. Both had Craig Slater on (one with Ted Kravitz). In both cases he was bigging up the fact that Lewis Hamilton spent ages looking at the red bull and he didn't make eye contact with Verstappen. Trying to maintain/keep the issue ongoing. So transparent too. At one point also started talking about how George Russell and Lando Norris are the future of F1, then paused before saying in Britain.

I get they are British, but the bias is painful from him and others.

Re. Russia - hopefully the FIA or F1 are quick out to cancel the Russian Grand Prix, but as others have said - money matters...

They raced in Bahrain when there was political unrest after the race was cancelled the year before. Going way back F1 was one of the last sports to pull out of South Africa during the Apartheid era. Unless there's fighting in Sochi itself the race is likely to go ahead which is shameful.

Seb has come out to say he won't be racing in Russia if it still goes ahead. Fair play to him.

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/vettel-i-wont-race-in-the-russian-gp-after-ukraine-invasion/8458166/