F1 2022 Discussion Thread

[GrandSlamFinale]

After many weeks and months of waiting, we finally have an F1 discussion thread on MN!

Anyone who wants to join is welcome - regardless of how long you've been watching the sport or who you support. My only request is that we keep it respectful even when criticising our favourite driver's rivals.

We're in Barcelona this weekend for round 6 of what has been a thriller of a championship so far. I'm really excited to see how the race unfolds today, if overtaking will prove as difficult as it historically has here, if the Mercs have done a step forward in race pace, how RB and Ferrari will play around with strategy and tyres.

But if the have broken the cap are we going to be told the truth now that Verstappen has won the championship?

If they have broken it then his championship is again tainted and if they say it wasn't broken are people going to believe it?

I wouldn't believe it if they say they've not broken the cap. They can't really win really

I agree with all of you that this has been a very disappointing season and the FIA have been utterly shit. I have no confidence right now in the outcome of the budget cap review or the likelihood that breaches will be properly reported or punished. As for the crane situation today - words fail me. Imagine how Leclerc in particular felt seeing that?

I agree too. The FIA have become a joke in the last 2 years. Poor Gasly.

I can't help but think the report on the budget cap was deliberately delayed to give Verstappen the championship. I hope I'm wrong

So today's the day.
Anyone else not expecting any surprises from this report?

I’ve not posted in ages and probably had a name change since then.

The trouble for the FIA is they made such a cock up in 2021 e.g. Spa, Brazil as well as AD they have put so much doubt in fan’s minds. They then did not have a clue how to resolve AD and were not prepared to make a courageous decision and make Lewis and Max joint champions for 2021. In my view, the only way to fairly resolve the situation.

As a fan of decades I know my initial reaction to the Yuki situation at Zandvoort was Helmut had been interfering but actually Alpha Tauri were potentially trying to avoid a penalty if they had released a car with a tyre not properly fitted.

The FIA had made a big deal out of the rule clarifications and changes as a result of their investigation and as we saw in Suzuka they cocked that up. The whole point of the changes around % of race completed was based on Spa, but the rules as written meant that after the red flag all Max had to do was one lap behind the safety car at the 2/3 hour point to get full points. It was a very flat way to crown the new world champion and unfair to Max.

The FIA have also made a big deal out of the cost cap and are now faced with their nightmare scenario of RBR breaching. I strongly suspect the delay has been because there has been a lot of horse trading between the FIA and RBR over the accounting method and also what penalties they should get, if any. I cannot see them changing the WDC for either year, and deducting constructors points for 2021 doesn’t matter in championship terms as Mercedes were WCC.

Obviously RBR benefitted from the higher spend in 2021 to develop the 2022 car and for 2022 they may have received higher payments based on Constructors points/placing. Plus if they have used the same methodology for 2022 they will have also benefitted for in season development of the 2022 car and potentially 2023 car which is unfair.

Personally I would like to see RBR lose all 2022 constructors points and only get the Constructors payment for 2023 based on being 10th. For 2022 their cost cap should be reduced £ for £ of the amount overspent in 2021. For 2023 their cap should also be lower. Not getting the WCC in 2022 would hurt RBR the most and send a clear message.

What I think will happen is the FIA will say misunderstanding of rules in first year and not clear as they could be. Rules clarified and now understood by all for 2022. RBR to lose x constructors points for 2021 season. To close to end of 2022 season to financially penalise RBR.

Very interested to see what the end up doing.

Exactly what I think. The rules will have been misunderstood and the FIA will announce a reclarification of the rules going forward.
Also think deals will have been done behind the scenes and I don't think it will be Mercedes that throw their toys out of the pram over it but Ferrari.

As an aside I'm a British touring car fan and it was the final yesterday at Brand's. Four in line for the win, gentlemanly wheel to wheel racing, everyone was genuinely pleased to see Tom Ingram win. Last year's winner took the no. 1 of his car, congratulated Tom and stuck the sticker on the car.

Difference is they have to fight for every penny to race and no personality is bigger than the team or the series. And rules are strictly adhered to.

I can't help but think the report on the budget cap was deliberately delayed to give Verstappen the championship. I hope I'm wrong

But how? They couldn’t have known whether or not he would tie it up this weekend.

@LadyHarmby I think the problem is everyone is very suspicious of anything the FIA do or say now.

That would be a very sensible outcome @Princessglittery about taking the constructors points away from RBR if they are found to have gone over the budget cap.
The thing is that in 2021, it was Mercedes that won the constructors championship so any benefit to the overspend for that championship would only manifest itself in the 2022 season and they are so far ahead of the other teams it is crazy. Last year, Mercedes won the Constructors prize with a gap of 28 points to RBR.
This year the gap between the top team (RBR) and their closest constructor rival is currently 165 points and there are still races to go.
It's sticking out like a fucking sore thumb so it is.

I agree @Rowgtfc72 - we have no faith in what the FIA does now because they have shown themselves to be inconsistent with their punishments and how they themselves interpret their own rules. Also, throw in that they investigated themselves after AD 2021 and they will also investigate themselves following Japan 2022 where the crane was out on the track along with a marshal before all of the cars were bunched up behind the safety car and/or in the pit lane.

Gasly lost a very close friend in Jules following an accident in 2014 where Jules' car aquaplaned and crashed into a crane that was on the circuit (not on the track) recovering another car that had previously aquaplaned. Yet it was Gasly that got punished for 'going too fast'. They are an absolute joke at the moment. Gasly has also lost another friend Antoine in Spa in 2019 in F2, so in his very short F1 career, Gasly has really seen the effects of what driving at speed can do and the lack of safety to those who take part in the sport.
There was no reason under the sun why the FIA couldn't have waited until all of the cars were back in the pit lane before deploying the crane to recover the car as the race got red flagged. They should have rules around when to deploy cranes in clear visibility and in very poor visibility (such as yesterday with all of the rooster tails being kicked out as the cars drove on the wet track).

Apparently the crane was Gaslys fault because he was speeding.
They've not blamed Sainz though for the marshall trying to remove his car on a live track though!

In the press pool area, Gasly had said that he was 9% under his deltas for that part of the track. I know why the FIA has given Gasly a penalty but when will they give themselves one? Pierre said himself that he could have been driving at 100kph or 250kph, the fact remains that there was a crane out on the circuit recovering a car in less than ideal visibility conditions.

The crane, in the conditions (that mirrored those in which Jules lost his life in), shouldn't have been out AT ALL while there were cars on track and as the FIA made the call to red-flag the race it would have been sufficient to wait until then to deploy the recovery vehicles. The race got red-flagged 2 seconds after he drove past the marshal (on the actual track) and the car (suspended from the crane). That's his point.

And I agree. It's more buck passing by the FIA.
Expecting this to be brought up by the teams at the next drivers meeting.

Do we know what time the report is due out? Can't see anything on the FIA website.

Just 'this afternoon' is what I've seen mentioned on some websites.

I haven’t seen the actual report yet but breaking news on Sky Sports is that Red Bill have been found to be in “minor” breach and no face no punishment. 😡😡

(Sorry for the typos - that’s rage typing for you!)

RBR breached cap by less than 5%. The other 9 teams under the cap.

Aston Martin and RBR both have procedural breaches.

Just to be clear, my anger isn’t because of some vendetta against Red Bull - if they genuinely committed only a minor breach, then I’m glad to hear it. However, the whole process just comes across as a complete joke - it is so absurd that the report has taken this long if it really is the case that only minor procedural breaches have been committed and it is very hard, as an F1 fan, to have any faith in the FIA’s processes and decisions.

But 5% could be up to £7 million. A new floor apparently costs around £300K for example so a ‘minor’ breach can still a significant difference on the track.

Absolutely dogshit. I am not surprised at all,

The key missing info is the $ figure RBR are over the cap and what the penalty is.

Reports are quoting the procedural breach has a precedent as Williams were fined $25k earlier this year.

A fine seems a pointless punishment. They have the money to pay a fine and if all they get is a fine it's as good as getting away with it!

A fine is not on the list of prescribed punishments though

The potential fine is for the procedural breach only, not the overspend.