As for McLaren, the Mercedes customer team showed great progress in 2021, only to falter in the final rounds. Let’s hope that was merely a blip, that Andreas Seidl’s design team has nailed the new regs and that Daniel Ricciardo uncovers what he needs to match the excellent and maturing force that is Lando Norris.
So Mercedes vs Red Bull vs Ferrari vs McLaren – perhaps even with an added doses of vim from Alpine and Aston Martin – for a new wide-open era of F1 competition? Perhaps that should top the wishlist – even if it’s a stretch that might be flirting with fantasy.
Optimism. That’s the word to cling on to, in the best pre-season F1 traditions…
F1 sprint races for reserve and guest drivers
Now, I’ll admit I’ve struggled with the sprint race concept. Not through some clay-footed resistance to change, but simply because the format used for its introduction on three occasions last season was clumsy and too flawed in its impact on a grand prix weekend. But I’ve come around to what I think could be its best and most effective implementation – and the person that has swayed me towards this solution is Oscar Piastri.
How can a Formula 2 champion, whose title completed a deeply impressive hat-trick of junior titles made up by the 2019 Formula Renault Eurocup and 2020 Formula 3 crowns, find himself left on the sidelines this year, with only his reserve driver duties at Alpine to fall back on? He should be racing and it’s an indictment of F1 that he isn’t. Then again, no one could realistically suggest that Hungarian GP winner Esteban Ocon should be replaced, nor for that matter the still magnificent Fernando Alonso. So no room at the inn? Yes, and that’s just tough. Except the sprint race format now exists and could be preserved exclusively for reserve drivers and special guests for a slot on Friday afternoons. Too many young drivers have fallen through the cracks over the years, as Piastri might – so let’s use this chance to think laterally and give such talent a proper platform to shine.
Such a format would leave the current Saturday qualifying unsullied, and while the sprint would cease to have any relevance to the world championship, it would suddenly have a genuine and real purpose, a narrative the media could get behind and make Fridays a standalone event offering greater fan engagement, while making stars out of those yet to reach the headlines.
Easing the path from the nursery slopes to the pinnacle has long caused a headache. In the sprint race, at least part of the answer is already in existence.
F1 avoids a damaging burn-out
Packing a record 23 races into exactly eight months, finishing the season by November 20 to avoid a clash with football’s winter World Cup in Qatar, is asking a lot of those who work in F1, in whatever capacity. Yes, it’s a privilege to be actively involved at the top end of the sport and yes, no one is forced to make their living in the F1 circus. But so what? Burn-out remains a genuine factor, and one that shouldn’t be dismissed without due care.
Is such a schedule really sustainable? Even if such a business model delivers the returns to pacify grand prix racing’s demanding American promoters, is it really best for F1 to become wall-to-wall entertainment, an incessant flow of racing feeding a public appetite that appears to be insatiable? Perhaps it is. After all, when modern racing drivers aren’t competing in the real world they tend to inhabit a virtual one instead, and racing always beats testing (and definitely simulation work) for buzz. So perhaps more is better. Although I have my doubts. As great and entertaining as the last season proved, it was hard to avoid a sense that it was becoming a slog to the Abu Dhabi finish. Also, the more races there are, the impact and importance of each is eroded. On my wishlist, 20 is enough for one season.
And finally… Happy New Year, War is Over
By which I mean the F1 universe becomes a kinder, more tolerant and less vindictive place to exist. Along with the conduct of so-called fans on social media, that includes the public utterances of team chiefs and managers, in press conferences, TV interviews and on in-race radio calls. Yes, motor racing is tough, it always has been and doughty resilience is part of the game. But boy, too many take it too seriously and forget their manners (old fashioned, I know, but there you go). For example, Michael Masi: yes, he made a mess of those final laps at Yas Marina and has probably lost what dwindling credibility he had left – but can you imagine the winter he must have had? A sense of perspective and decorum would be nice.
Well, I did say this is a wishlist, didn’t I? Perhaps in the end it was inevitable I’d drop into the realms of total fantasy. As you were.