The 2022 FIA Formula One World Championship was a motor racing championship for Formula One cars, which was the 73rd running of the Formula One World Championship. It is recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), the governing body of international motorsport, as the highest class of competition for open-wheel racing cars. The championship was contested over twenty-two , which were held around the world, and ended earlier than in recent years to avoid overlapping with the FIFA World Cup.
Drivers and teams competed for the titles of World Drivers' Champion and World Constructors' Champion, respectively. The 2022 championship saw the introduction of significant changes to the sport's technical regulations with ground effect aerodynamics reintroduced on Formula One cars for the first time since 1982. These changes had been intended to be introduced in , but were delayed until 2022 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Max Verstappen, who was the reigning Drivers' Champion, claimed his second title at the Japanese Grand Prix, while his team, Red Bull Racing, won their fifth World Constructor Championship at the following United States Grand Prix, their first since , becoming the first team other than Mercedes to do so in the turbo-hybrid era. Defending Constructors' Champions Mercedes fell to a distant third, only winning a single race in São Paulo after struggling to adapt to the new regulations.
This was the final season for four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel. Seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton endured a difficult season with Mercedes, securing neither a pole position nor a Grand Prix win for the first time in his Formula One career since it began in .
Entries All teams competed with tyres supplied by Pirelli. Each team was required to enter at least two drivers, one for each of the two mandatory cars.
+ EntrantConstructorChassisPower unitRace driversNo.Driver nameRoundsAlfa Romeo F1 Team ORLENAlfa Romeo-Ferrari C42 Ferrari 066/72477 Zhou GuanyuValtteri BottasAllAllScuderia AlphaTauriAlphaTauri-RBPTAT03 1022 Pierre GaslyYuki TsunodaAllAllBWT Alpine F1 TeamAlpine-Renault A522 Renault E-Tech RE221431Fernando AlonsoEsteban OconAllAllAston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 TeamAston Martin Aramco-Mercedes AMR22 27518 Nico HülkenbergSebastian VettelLance Stroll1–23–22AllScuderia FerrariFerrari F1-75 Ferrari 066/71655 Charles LeclercCarlos Sainz Jr.AllAllHaas F1 TeamHaas-Ferrari VF-22 Ferrari 066/72047Kevin MagnussenMick SchumacherAllAllMcLaren F1 TeamMcLaren-Mercedes MCL36Mercedes-AMG F1 M1334 Daniel RicciardoLando NorrisAllAllMercedesF1 W13 Mercedes-AMG F1 M134463 Lewis HamiltonGeorge RussellAllAllOracle Red Bull Racing RB18 111 Max VerstappenSergio PérezAllAllWilliams RacingWilliams-Mercedes FW44Mercedes-AMG F1 M1362345 Nicholas LatifiNyck de VriesAllAll16Sources:Official entry lists:
Free practice drivers Throughout the season, each team had to field a driver in one of the first two free practice sessions who had not competed in more than two races, on two occasions, once for each car. The following drivers were entered at selected events to drive in free practice:
+ ConstructorPractice driversNo.Driver nameRoundsAlfa Romeo-Ferrari8898 Robert KubicaThéo Pourchaire6, 12–13, 2219AlphaTauri-RBPT40 Liam Lawson14, 20Alpine-Renault82 Jack Doohan20, 22Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes34 Nyck de VriesFelipe Drugovich1622Ferrari39 19, 22Haas-Ferrari9951 Pietro Fittipaldi16, 1920, 22McLaren-Mercedes28 Álex PalouPatricio O'Ward1922Mercedes19 Nyck de Vries12, 2036 Jüri VipsLiam Lawson622Williams-Mercedes45 Nyck de VriesLogan Sargeant619–22Source:
Team changes Honda initially stated that they would not supply power units beyond . The company had provided power units to Scuderia AlphaTauri (previously called Scuderia Toro Rosso) since and to Red Bull Racing since . Initially, Red Bull Racing planned to take over Honda's engine programme and manage it in-house, under a new division called Red Bull Powertrains. The decision was made after lobbying the other nine teams to negotiate an engine development freeze until 2025. Red Bull Racing acknowledged that they would have left the championship if the engine development freeze had not been agreed to as they could not develop a brand new engine, and both Red Bull Racing and Renault were unwilling to resume their former partnership. Honda later agreed to continue supplying Red Bull Racing and AlphaTauri for with engines for this season, which were rebadged to Red Bull Powertrains. In addition to the assembly and maintenance of the engines, Honda continued to provide Red Bull Racing and AlphaTauri with technical and operational oversight during race weekends.
Driver changes
Kimi Räikkönen retired following the conclusion of the 2021 championship; Räikkönen won 21 races, and the 2007 World Drivers' Championship across a 19-season Formula career. Räikkönen's seat at Alfa Romeo was filled by fellow countryman Valtteri Bottas, who left Mercedes after 5 seasons. George Russell replaced Bottas, vacating the seat that he had held for the past 3 seasons at Williams. Russell was replaced by former Red Bull Racing driver Alex Albon after competing in the 2021 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters series.
Zhou Guanyu, who finished third in the 2021 Formula 2 Championship, joined Alfa Romeo, in place of Antonio Giovinazzi, who had been at the team since 2019. Zhou became the first Chinese driver to compete in Formula One.
Nikita Mazepin was originally contracted to compete for Haas, as part of a multi-year contract that started in 2021. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the resultant cancellation of Uralkali's title sponsorship of Haas, his contract was terminated. He was replaced by Kevin Magnussen, who had last competed in with the same team.
Mid-season changes Ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix, Sebastian Vettel tested positive for coronavirus. He was replaced at the event, and the subsequent Saudi Arabian Grand Prix by Aston Martin reserve driver Nico Hülkenberg, who last raced at the 2020 Eifel Grand Prix, driving for former team Racing Point.
During the Italian Grand Prix weekend, Alex Albon suffered from appendicitis. He was replaced at Williams by the Mercedes reserve driver 2020–21 Formula E and 2019 Formula 2 Champion Nyck de Vries, who made his Formula One race debut.
Calendar The 2022 calendar consisted of twenty-two events. The Emilia Romagna, Austrian and São Paulo Grands Prix featured the sprint format.
RoundGrand PrixCircuitRace date1 Bahrain Grand Prix Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir 20 March2 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Jeddah Corniche Circuit, Jeddah 27 March3 Australian Grand Prix Albert Park Circuit, Melbourne 10 April4 Imola Circuit, Imola 24 April5 Miami Grand Prix 8 May6 Spanish Grand Prix Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Montmeló 22 May7 Monaco Grand Prix Circuit de Monaco, Monaco 29 May8 Azerbaijan Grand Prix Baku City Circuit, Baku 12 June9 Canadian Grand Prix Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal 19 June10 British Grand Prix Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone 3 July11 Austrian Grand Prix Red Bull Ring, Spielberg 10 July12 French Grand Prix Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet 24 July13 Hungarian Grand Prix Hungaroring, Mogyoród 31 July14 Belgian Grand Prix Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot 28 August15 Dutch Grand Prix Circuit Zandvoort, Zandvoort 4 September16 Italian Grand Prix Monza Circuit, Monza 17 Singapore Grand Prix Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore 2 October18 Japanese Grand Prix Suzuka International Racing Course, Suzuka 9 October19 United States Grand Prix Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas 23 October20 Mexico City Grand Prix Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Mexico City 30 October21 São Paulo Grand Prix Interlagos Circuit, São Paulo 13 November22 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi 20 NovemberSources:
Calendar expansion and changes The Australian, Canadian, Japanese, and Singapore returned to the calendar after a two-season absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Miami Grand Prix made its debut, with the race taking place at the Miami International Autodrome in Miami Gardens, Florida. The Portuguese, Styrian, and Turkish were not included in the list of 2022 races. These were specifically added to the calendar in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, to ensure that as many races as possible could be held. The Qatar Grand Prix, which made its debut in the 2021 championship at the Lusail International Circuit, was not present on the 2022 calendar. The Grand Prix returned in after a one-year hiatus during which the country focused on hosting the FIFA World Cup, and remained in Lusail despite originally being planned to move to a new purpose-built circuit. The Chinese Grand Prix was under contract to feature on the 2022 calendar, but it was not included due to Chinese travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Russian Grand Prix, which was scheduled to take place on 25 September as the 17th round of the championship, was initially suspended from the calendar in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, before being ultimately cancelled. The Grand Prix was due to be replaced, but that plan was later scrapped.
Regulation changes
Race direction Michael Masi, who had served as race director since the death of Charlie Whiting in , was removed from the role of race director after an inquiry into the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. As part of a restructuring of race control, Masi was replaced by former DTM race director Niels Wittich and World Endurance Championship race director Eduardo Freitas. The pair assumed the role on an alternating basis. Herbie Blash, Whiting's former deputy, was appointed as permanent senior advisor to the race director.
The FIA also introduced a new virtual race control system, much like the video assistant referee in football, as well as a ban on team communications that lobby race officials. Radio between teams and FIA officials also is no longer broadcast on television in order to protect race officials. Unlapping procedures were reassessed by the Formula One Sporting Advisory Committee following the controversy of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and presented prior to the start of the season.
Prior to the United States Grand Prix, the FIA abandoned the idea of rotating race directors, leaving Niels Wittich as the sole serving race director for the final four rounds of the championship. The rotation policy was not met with favourable reviews from drivers, as well as being in response to criticism of Eduardo Freitas's performance as race director at the Japanese Grand Prix.
Technical regulations
The 2022 World Championship saw an overhaul of the technical regulations. These changes had been planned for introduction in , with teams developing their cars throughout . The introduction of the regulations was delayed until the 2022 championship in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Once the delay was announced, teams were banned from carrying out any development of their 2022 cars during the 2020 calendar year. Prior to the season, the FIA said it anticipated that the car performance deficit between the fastest and slowest teams on the grid would be cut by half when compared to 2021.