F1 regulations will mean 'terribly painful year' for some cars, say Mercedes

By Sports Desk January 24, 2022

Mercedes hope they will be prepared for the 2022 Formula One season, in which technical director James Allison is forecasting "a terribly painful year" for teams who get their car "really badly wrong". 

F1 is belatedly introducing its game-changing new regulations in the coming year, shaking up the sport after an epic 2021 season. 

The 2022 car has been designed with the aim to end the dominance of any one team and ensure closer racing. 

Mercedes, whose Lewis Hamilton was agonisingly pipped to the title by Max Verstappen in the previous campaign, will expect to again be at the forefront of a title tussle, but Allison recognises some outfits will be caught unaware. 

The price for making mistakes this year is a significant one, he believes. 

"Everyone in our team, and everyone in every other team, will have done our level best to try to find a design and an approach that will be a happy match to this new regulation set," Allison said in a video posted by Mercedes. 

"And we'll all get to find out together at the start of this season, in the races that unfold from there, exactly how that shakes out. 

"I would imagine, given that the cars are so new and so different, that one or two cars on the grid will have got it really badly wrong. And they will have a terribly painful year. 

"I would imagine that all of us to some degree will have left things on the table that we just didn't anticipate. And we will look at other cars and think, 'Oh, why didn't we think of that?' 

"Then we'll be scrambling around to try to get that idea onto our car as fast as possible, so that we can claw our way, from whatever position we land in that first race, forwards. Or, if we're lucky enough to be in front, to keep the attacking wolves behind us. 

"It's going to be quite a rush and definitely something that's going to keep us all from having too much sleep for the whole of the season." 

George Russell is joining Hamilton at Mercedes this year, replacing Valtteri Bottas after impressing with Williams. 

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    He made early exits in both qualifying sessions and started the race at Interlagos from 15th on the grid.

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    But he was left frustrated in Brazil, expressing his disappointment with the car.

    "We were just slow," Hamilton told Sky Sports F1. "The car was really, really tough. I do really want to say still a big thank you to the guys in the garage. They turned up super early this morning and still did a great job throughout the weekend.

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    With the race suspended, Verstappen was also able to change tires for the restart, negating Norris' advantage from pitting as the world champion raced to a commanding victory.

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    "I have faith in the team in what they are saying and they have trust in me," he told Sky Sports F1. 

     

    "It was just unlucky. I don't care about the hindsight side of things, that's luck for them, nothing more.

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    A rain-affected race saw several incidents, with Lance Stroll, Alex Albon, Nico Hulkenberg, Franco Colapinto and Carlos Sainz all failing to finish the race.

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    And the three-time world champion believed his latest win, which was his 62nd in the competition, was his best one to date. 

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    “There was a lot at stake because I had to be aware of the championship, so for me this is the best one (victory).

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    Verstappen is now 62 points clear of Norris in the drivers' championship with just 86 points remaining, and can win a fourth consecutive drivers' title at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

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    “Now it’s of course a great result, which if you look a few hours ago, was definitely the other way around, looking like we were going to lose a lot of points," he said. 

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