This Week marked the return of the silly season for team principals three have either quit or moved teams, the repercussions as we know are still playing out. The theme remains the same… looking ahead but reflecting, in the final 2022 edition here’s you’re weekly wrap-up.
General News
Max Verstappen and Red Bull collected their drivers and constructor’s trophies at the FIA Prize Giving gala last Friday in Bologna. Despite a dramatic and controversial finish to the 2021 season which delivered Verstappen’s maiden win, the 25-year-old admitted this year was more enjoyable.
He said “The emotions are very different, but I think they should be anyway, because your whole life you aim for one particular goal, and that’s to become a world champion for me in F1, so the first one is always an emotional one once you achieve it.”
“But this year has been very different. I do think we were more competitive this year, and more enjoyable with how we performed as a whole team.” Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc and Verstappen’s team-mate Sergio Perez were also at the annual end-of-season ceremony after finishing a distant second and third respectively.
Hong Kong businessman Calvin Lo is exploring a plan to set up a Formula 1 team for 2026. Lo, chief executive of insurance broker RE Lee International, said he was assessing the financial requirements. Lo is estimated to be worth £1bn, saying his interst is “purely financial” and he would not be involved in the day-to-day running of any team he set up.
Speaking on a video call from his base in Hong Kong, he said funding the set-up of a team was “not the difficult part” and the key to any decision would be the project’s financial viability.
We know any new entry must pay $200m into a “dilution fund”. That is to compensate the existing teams for the potential loss of income caused by the prize-money pot being split 11 ways rather than 10. There is also reluctance since the failure of the three teams between 2013-14, as well as Mario and Michael Andretti, have so far been unable to gain agreement for their own project as a result.
Lo said he had not yet spoken to either the sport’s governing body the FIA or commercial rights holder F1 about his plans, saying conversations were happening “through intermediaries”.
Jeddah could host 2024’s season opener after the wording of Malborne’s contract was altered after they announced a two year extension until 2037. The statement said Melbourne’s Albert Park track would host the opening race at least four times during the contract term, but Saudi Arabia would do so in 2024 “out of respect for Ramadan”.
Bahrain, which borders Saudi Arabia, has become the default opening race of the season since the pandemic disrupted the shape of the calendar in 2020. It held its race on 20 March this year. However, BBC News has been told that, while F1 chairman Stefano Domenicali is still working through plans for the first part of the 2024 season, the Saudi event on the Jeddah street circuit is on course to be the opening race.
Mercedes
Toto Wolff says the Mercedes W13 will have a “special place” in the team’s collection “very far back”, but hopes to “do her justice” in the coming years. After eight consecutive constructors’ championships, Mercedes endured a difficult first year under the revised technical regulations in 2022, initially struggling to challenge leading teams, Red Bull and Ferrari.
The team admits throughout the season they have been on the back foot because of the porpoising issues, before further issues were discovered once the porpoising issue was resolved. It did eventually out develop these issues allowing George Russell to take his maiden pole, sprint and race win in Sao Paulo.
Wolff added, “I think that hopefully the next few years will do her justice, because the learning curve with that car was enormous. Our fundamental understanding of aerodynamics, vehicle dynamics correlation, has really had a step change, has gone through a step change of learning. And it will also not be forgotten as a car that dominated the Brazilian Grand Prix!”
We know the breakthrough was in Barcelona, but the porpoising issue still popped up at a few races, they described it as “peeling onion layer after onion layer off, discovering more issues and more problems.”
Mick Schumacher has been announced as the team’s reserve driver after being dropped by Ferrar and Haas last year. Daniel Ricciardo had been linked to the role before returning to Red Bull as third driver. His father Michael, spent the final three seasons following his comeback in 2010.
They say Schumacher “will play an important role in the ongoing development of the W14”, next season’s car, while team boss Toto Wolff believes he will be “ready to step into the car at short notice should that need arise”. This has been rumoured fort the last month or so this seems a good fit to rebuild his career after being dropped by Haas and Ferrari.
Schumacher replaces Nyck de Vries in the role, with the Dutchman taking a full-time seat at AlphaTauri. He could look to be a driver who, as I wrote, could come back after a year out as we know he has a good reputation in his junior career and his name has great marketably.
Red Bull
Ford has been linked to a potential return with Red Bull when the engine regulations change in 2026. After pulling the plug on the operation, it sold the team to Red Bull which went on to multiple world championship successes. Now twenty years later, if they team up in 2026, the team could be powered by Ford once again.
However there appears not seem an eagerness for it to get involved in funding a full works team or producing its own power unit, sources suggest that one avenue being explored is a tie-up with the Red Bull team.
Speaking earlier this year, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner said: “We are fully focused on a Red Bull power unit, and if there was a like-minded partner that could contribute something to the project, then of course you would have to absolutely consider that. But it’s not a prerequisite.”
We know the team wants to retain its independence, that’s why a deal with Porsche collapsed in September. There are reports that Ford are not interested in formal ownership instead there would be the possibility for it to offer assistance in any areas of expertise it has. Instead, its involvement would be more about marketing and brand presence.
We know there is a lot of talk about future manufacturers entering, which are the aims of the next power unit regulations. So far only Audi has committed but we are expecting Porsche to but they could look for one of its other brands to enter the sport as well.
Ferrari
As expected, Ferrari announced Fred Vasseur will replace Mattia Binotto in January as team principal. Vasseur will replace the Italian after he resigned as team principal following a series operational and reliability issues, costing them the championship fight with Red Bull.
Ferrari chief executive officer Benedetto Vigna said: “Throughout his career, Fred has successfully combined his technical strengths as a trained engineer with a consistent ability to bring out the best in his drivers and teams. This approach and his leadership are what we need to push Ferrari forward with renewed energy.”
Vasseur, who will join Ferrari on 9 January, said he was “delighted and honoured” to take on the leadership of Ferrari. This is a big change for Ferrari who have brought someone in rather than promoting from within or a sponsor, but I feel that Vassuer is the right man having run two teams, been an engineer and technical director.
Last week, Leclerc spoke of his admiration for Vasseur while accepting his trophy for second place in the championship at the FIA Gala in Bologna. He said: “Ferrari is a very different team to any other teams. I can only comment on my experience with Fred, which has been good.
Carlos Sainz says he is confident that Vasseur is “going to do well” after an initial chat with the incoming team principal. Speaking on Wednesday the Spaniard said he hoped the arrival of Vasseur would be a “positive change”, noting the added motivation that comes with fresh blood.
Sainz said, “Whenever someone new arrives, he has extra motivation, wanting to do well for himself and for the team. You have to give him time to see how the team works, know what changes are needed. Ferrari is very big and I know it will take time. It doesn’t happen from one day to the next.”
McLaren
The teams CEO Zak Brown says he stands by his controversial letter to the FIA earlier this year suggesting that overspend breaches of the cost cap “constitute cheating”. In October, when the story broke that Red Bull had breached the cap, the American wrote to FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem and F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali urging them to treat the matter with the utmost seriousness.
Brown’s use of the word ‘cheating’ did not go down well with Red Bull boss Christian Horner, who said it was ‘absolutely shocking’ that such an allegation had been thrown at his squad. Horner said in Austin “We’ve been on trial because of public accusations since Singapore. The numbers have been put out in the media that are miles out of reality.”
Reflecting on the wording he used in the letter, Brown said he stood by the letter and the word ‘cheating.’ Saying “I think when you break the rules, whether it’s technical and financial, there are many different ways to characterise it. I know it’s such a strong word, but I don’t see any difference between breaking the financial cap versus having too low of a ride height, or whatever the case may be.”
We know that Red Bull has accused its rivals of libel, as well has fake news insisting it was originally under the limit, and that a staff canteen deal triggered a major overspend.
Andreas Seidl was the next team principal on the move with McLaren prompting Andrea Stella to team principal. Stella joined the team from Ferrari in 2015 as head of race operations and was promoted to racing director in 2019.
Stella himself added: “I feel privileged to take on the Team Principal role as the next stage of being part of the McLaren F1 Team. I am grateful to Zak and the Shareholders for their trust in me and to all my colleagues and those who have supported me throughout my F1 career.”
All these moves seem to me to be a coordinated, showing that this could have been agreed in advance. But Sources say that McLaren and Seidl’s collective plan was for him to complete his contract, which runs until the end of 2025 and then move to Audi to head up their F1 project.
Brown agreed to release Seidl earlier, with the board having already decided that they had the finest of candidates to replace him with in Stella – who is a highly-rated and popular figure both internally and in the paddock.
Aston Martin
Aston Martin has become the first team to reveal the launch date of its 2023 car, the AMR23, on Monday 13th February at its Silverstone base. The reveal will take place in front of a small select audience as well as be broadcast across its digital channels.
Aston Martin is coming off the back of a disappointing 2022 campaign, where its AMR22 did not hit ambitious targets. Technical director Dan Fallows revealed recently that the new design will look different to what it raced this season. he said when asked if it will look visibly different, “I mean there is a limit to what we can do with the current rules. I know that new cars always have to pass my test of my children. So if I put them in front of my children and they say they look different, then they look different.
Alfa Romeo
Seidl was the next team principal to move to replace Vasseur. The German moved from McLaren to oversee the translon to Audi from 2026, Sauber currently operates as Alfa Romeo, but are expected to go back to running under the company name in 2024 and 2025, before the team merges with Audi for the German manufacturer’s F1 debut in 2026.
However Seidl was only appointed as CEO and not team principal, he worked as an engineer for the team when it was owned by BMW between 2006 and 2009. He said “This is a team with a rich history in Formula 1 and an organisation I know really well from my time working and living in Hinwil for four years.
Williams
Jost Capito has stepped down as its team after two years in charge. In a statement issued by the team on Monday, it was revealed that Capito had stepped down as team principal and CEO, with technical director FX Demaison also leaving his post.
Williams said it would announce its new team principal and technical director “in due course.” Since Capito took over in the role, Williams recovered from being adrift from the midfield to scoring a shock its first points for two years in Hungary last year, as well as a podium in the rain-shortened Belgian Grand Prix.
Matthew Savage, the chairman of Dorilton Capital, thanked Capito for his efforts at Williams as the team “embarked on a major transformation process to begin the journey of reviving Williams Racing.”
Logan Sargeant says he felt less pressure than expected securing his FIA superlicence in F2 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix season finale because he was “at peace with what was at stake.” The American was announced as a Williams driver in Austin, subject to securing enough super licence points.
Sargeant was only one mishap away from seeing his F1 dream go up in smoke, and while he admitted acquiring the licence was a weight off his shoulders, he actually felt less pressure than expected because he had come to terms with what was at stake.
Sargeant said, “I think I was trying to find a balance between risk versus reward, really. It was actually not as much pressure as I expected because going into the weekend, I had become quite understanding of what was at stake and quite at peace with it, so I just took the pressure off.”
“I knew if we executed the way we could and had the same pace that we’ve had all year that everything would be fine. But for sure in the races, I had to find a good balance between being over-aggressive and under-aggressive, I guess you could say.” He says he wanted to be realistic and grounded.
Honda
Honda has fuelled speculation that it could make an official Formula 1 return after revealing it has registered with the FIA as an interested manufacturer for the 2026 engine rules. While it ‘withdrew’ at the end of last year it has kept involvement in the sport with technical support to Red Bull and Alpha Tauri.
The current arrangement with Red Bull runs until the end of the 2025 season, after which the Milton Keynes-based team plans to run its own power unit. But talk about Honda coming back to F1 moved forward when an original plan for Red Bull to tie-up with Porsche from 2026 fell through after talks between the parties collapsed.
On Monday, it confirmed that before the mid-November deadline it had notified the FIA of its intentions, but was clear to explain that this did not necessarily mean it would definitely enter from 2026.
Watanabe during Honda’s 2023 Honda Motor Sports Activity Plan Presentation, said, “As HRC, we have registered as a PU manufacturer after 2026. The F1 regulations from 2026 onwards are moving in the direction of carbon neutrality. In addition, the fact that electrification is also being promoted, and the carbon neutrality and electrification that Honda Motor Co., Ltd. is promoting, is the same. The targets match.”
I feel the direction of the sport is more in line in where Honda wanted to go in when they announced they would be withdrawing in 2020. earlier this year, Watanabe had explained that Honda never fully shut the door on an F1 return – and would actively consider it once it was happy that its road car priorities were sorted.
