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The 2022 Formula 1 season is officially technically underway, as the first pre-season test at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya took place under beautiful sunshine. For Williams Racing it was a very productive day, Nicholas Latifi and new to the team Alex Albon completed a modest 66 laps in the new FW44.

Albon was second to go out on the opening day of testing, and ran the FW44 during the afternoon, it was the Thai driver’s first real experience behind the wheel of the FW44. Having spent a year out of Formula 1 competitively, Albon is very pleased at how his first day as a Williams driver went.

“I’m really happy with my first proper session in the FW44 this afternoon. The car felt great and the team here in Barcelona did an incredible job. We got some good mileage in which is really important and a great start to the year. The first days on track are usually spent making sure everything is running smoothly and, because it is, we managed to make a start working on the performance of the car. We only have six days testing before the first race, so to be honing in on performance already is a real positive. I’m looking forward to getting back out tomorrow morning!”

“You can tell it’s a different design philosophy” – Nicholas Latifi

It was Canadian Nicholas Latifi who got things underway for Williams, after being the first of the Williams drivers to run the FW44 under the Spanish sun. Latifi who is entering his third season in the sport and at Williams, found plenty of positives on the opening day, in what was a successful day’s work for the Canadian.

“The first session back in the car after a few months off is always interesting. You can tell it’s a different design philosophy, especially with the tyres, as it was my first time driving the new 18-inch Pirellis. Overall, it feels different and there are a few things that, for me, feel quite positive already compared to last year and there are things that need adjusting. But it is still very early days. This morning’s focus was about understanding the systems and the aero platform sensitivities. It was a good day overall.”

Douglas Motorsport will field a three-car attack for the 2022 GB3 Championship season, with Australian Marcos Flack graduating to the series for 2022.

Flack ran with Argenti Motorsport in the F4 British Championship last year, also competing in Italian Formula 4 and ADAC Formula 4 in his first season of single-seater racing.

He will also compete in Italian F4 with R-ace GP alongside his GB3 commitments, having made three starts with Cram Motorsport in the series in 2021.

Fellow Australian Tommy Smith and Walter Hayes Trophy winner Max Esterson will join him as the team looks to improve on its seventh-place finish in the Teams’ Championship.

While in British F4, Flack took three overall podiums and a Rookie Cup class win, gaining GB3 testing experience with Douglas towards the end of the season.

Jak Crawford was announced as a Prema Racing driver for the 2022 FIA Formula 3 Championship in January.

Since then, he’s competed in the Formula Regional Asian Championship (FRAC) with Abu Dhabi Racing by Prema.

The Red Bull junior driver took three podiums and a fastest lap in his first outings since a maiden FIA F3 campaign with Hitech GP in 2021.

Prema’s involvement in FRAC has given Crawford some key experience in working with the team as he looks to build on his sole podium finish in Race 1 at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps last year.

“[FRAC] was definitely a learning series for me,” the American said.

Yuki Tsunoda enjoyed a positive opening testing day of 2022, with the Japanese racer completing one hundred and twenty-one laps of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

The Japanese racer was given the responsibility to be the first to run Scuderia AlphaTauri’s AT03 on Wednesday, and he was happy with how the day progressed as he almost two complete race distances without any drama.

Tsunoda said it was important to put mileage on the car, which is AlphaTauri’s first adhering to the new aerodynamic regulations in place in 2022, but the true pace will not be seen until the opening round of the season in Bahrain next month.

“It’s been a really productive day and a good start to testing for the team,” admitted Tsunoda. “This is the first proper outing in the 2022 car, so everything we’ve done has been super important for our learnings, as obviously this car is completely different to last year.

“Mileage, and also the changes we were making to the set-up, were key today and we managed to achieve everything we wanted to. We found a few things that we still need to play with but we’re happy with how things are going so far.

Max Verstappen said it was important for the Oracle Red Bull Racing team to get laps on the board on the opening day of pre-season testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on Wednesday.

The reigning World Champion did just that, completing a day high one hundred and forty-seven laps, with the Dutchman’s best lap time good enough to see him place ninth fastest of the sixteen drivers to take to the Spanish track.

The RB18 was shown to the public for the first time on Wednesday, and whilst Verstappen acknowledges that it is a good-looking car, it is more important that it is fast, and that is what the team will be working on across the remainder of the testing season.

“I think the car looks good, but the most important thing is that it is fast, and that’s what we are trying to see,” said Verstappen.  “We wanted to get laps in today to get used to the car and to get a general understanding about how it’s behaving.

“As well as that, we needed the mileage to see how the parts held up. Everything worked pretty well, so it was a good start and a positive day. Tonight, we will look into things in more detail and see what we need to do to improve.

Pre-season testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya did not start the way the Uralkali Haas F1 Team were hoping for as they completed only forty-three laps across the eight hours of running on Wednesday.

A cooling leak during the morning session meant Nikita Mazepin could only manage twenty laps on board the VF-22, leaving him down in fifteenth place of the sixteen drivers to take to the track, but the Russian says it is important for them to get significant running in on Thursday to catch up.

“Firstly, it was great to get out,” said Mazepin.  “The whole team is coming alive, and the car has been born. It felt nice because the set-up and the way you run the car during these days is different to how we ran it on filming day.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t get too many laps in – we had a cooling leak which prevented us from doing more laps – but it’s just the beginning. I think the car is looking strong when figuring out the balance.

“Everyone is learning about this very new car and there are some things that don’t quite match the simulations, but we’re quick learners!”

Arden Motorsport have finalised their 2022 Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine line-up by signing Joshua Dürksen and Eduardo Barrichello to race alongside the already confirmed Noel León.

Paraguayan racer Dürksen steps up to FRECA having raced in the Italian Formula 4 championship in 2021, and he was twice a race winner as he finished sixth in the final standings.  He also has previous race winning experience in racing in the ADAC and UAE F4 championships.

Dürksen says he is delighted to be progressing his career into Formula 3 machinery for the first time with Arden Motorsport, and the eighteen-year-old is proud to be taking the Paraguayan flag around with him to such historic circuits as Spa-Francorchamps and Monaco.

“I am very happy to be taking a step forward in my career with the Arden motorsport team,” said Dürksen.  “Competing in this category is a new opportunity to advance my personal long-term project road to F1 and I think we took the right step since the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine is a very competitive category where I will race on incredible circuits like Spa Francorchamps and Monaco.

“It is also very special for me since I will be taking with me the Paraguayan flag to unique and new places. It will be historic for my country and a great pride for myself. I will do everything in my power to meet the expectations for all the support I am receiving from the fans, which excites and inspires me to do my best in this very special year.

Lando Norris topped the opening day of pre-season testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on Wednesday as all ten teams took to the track in their new-look cars competitively for the first time.

Charles Leclerc had topped the morning session for Scuderia Ferrari, but overall, the best time of the day went the way of Norris and the McLaren F1 Team with a 1:19.568.  

However, as with any test session, times meant very little, particularly on a day like this when everyone was coming to terms with the feel of the new cars, which have all been designed around the new aerodynamic regulations.

Sixteen drivers took to the track on Wednesday, with Norris being the first of those to venture out when the green light illuminated early on in his MCL36. 

The only ones not to see any action were Norris’ team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, BWT Alpine F1 Team’s Esteban Ocon, Scuderia AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly, Oracle Red Bull Racing’s Sergio Pérez and Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN’s rookie Guanyu Zhou.

Estonian racer Paul Aron has completed Prema Racing’s Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine line-up for the 2022 season.

The eighteen-year-old remains with the team that took him to third place in the standings last year, with Aron taking two victories at the Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello as well as five further podium finishes.

Aron, who is a part of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team’s young driver programme, says he is eager to improve on what he achieved in 2021 and is bidding to become FRECA champion this time around.

“I’m very glad to announce that I will be joining PREMA Racing for another year in the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine,” said Aron, who will join Swede Dino Beganovic and Colombian Sebastián Montoya in the team in 2022.

“We had a great run last year, but the job is not finished. It is now time to finish it.”

The M-Sport Ford World Rally Team will be starting their 2022 FIA World Rally Championship WRC2 class campaign in Rally Sweden this weekend and they have brought two of the finest upcoming talents to the team.

With most experience of snow and ice of them all in the team are the local talent Mattias Adielsson and the Finnish native Jari Huttunen, both entering for the team in a pair of Ford Fiesta Rally2.

Adielsson will be making his debut for the team in WRC on home soil, he has previously ran with support by M-Sport in the Swedish Rally Championship last season but now taking a step-up and joining for Rally Sweden.

Adielsson feels comfortable to be doing the home rally in a car that he knows well: “It will be a fantastic opportunity and proud moment for me to start our home rally in WRC with M-Sport Ford World Rally Team. I feel very well prepared for the upcoming challenge, and I know I have the material to be at our best in a Fiesta Rally2!“

“But I’m also humble and I know the guys in WRC2 are much more experienced drivers then I am; luckily it is our home surface and I think we can put down some really good pace during the rally once we start feeling comfortable.”

On Friday last week, the contract between the Belgian organizer of the Ypres Rally and the WRC Promoter for a FIA World Rally Championship round in 2022 was secured. The Belgian organiser Club Superstage has been working hard on securing the deal since the British organiser for the Wales Rally GB resigned their interest and assignment to host a round.

The Belgian organiser jumped in during 2021 as some rounds were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and they were delivering successful results.

Two weeks ago, it was clear that Ypres was offered a place, all that was left was to secure the national federation and the region for the competition area’s financial support, something that is now clear.

Jona Siebel, managing director at WRC Promoter, welcomed the Belgian round: “Belgium brought something quite different to last year’s WRC due to its tricky special stages and fast-paced format, which meant there was little time for anyone to pause for breath.” 

“The Ypres region whole-heartedly throws itself into rally week. There’s a great buzz out on the stages and we’re sure that will be replicated in the town itself this time round when fans will be allowed in the beautiful Grote Markt service park.” 

The M-Sport Ford World Rally Team rising star Gus Greensmith will be arriving to Rally Sweden, fresh from his first stage win of his career in FIA World Rally Championship at Rallye Monte-Carlo, and now he will be hunting for more stage wins as the second round will be taking place at a new location of Umeå in northern Sweden this weekend.

Prepared for his first full-snow rally in the all-new Ford Puma Rally1, the young Englishman entered a local Norwegian Rally Championship round in a Ford Fiesta Rally2 and used that to help acclimatise to the specialist conditions and driving style.

With the stage win in Monte-Carlo, Greensmith is now aiming for more wins and a possibly first stage win on loose-surface and he is excited to get out on new stages; We’re looking forward to Rally Sweden, especially now it’s based up in Umea. From what we’ve seen the stages look really, really fast, some of the fastest I’ve ever seen, so that’s going to be really exciting.”

Greensmith is also comfortable that the Puma Rally1 is well balanced on loose surfaces, the team have also ran some pre-event tests last week and he is happy with what they found.

“Generally, the conditions sound great so we’re looking forward to having big snowbanks to lean on. From my previous experience of testing the Puma last year on loose surfaces, the balance of the car and everything feels great, so we’re excited for this one.”

After a big crash on the first full-day of the 2022 FIA World Rally Championship in Rallye Monte-Carlo, the M-Sport Ford World Rally Team, along with a helping hand from Adrien Fourmaux, have prepared an all-new Ford Puma Rally1 for the young Frenchman as the team set sights for Rally Sweden this weekend.

Over the past couple of weeks, Fourmaux has spent time at the team’s Dovenby headquarters in Cumbria, helping his technicians build the new car, everything from getting the powertrain from the wrecked chassis over to all the finest small details.

Along with that Fourmaux has a better understanding of how the new hybrid powertrain, suspension and parts work together, and will use that benefit with setting the car up for upcoming events.

Building on his limited experience on snow with only two outtings to date in a four-wheel-drive car the Frenchman is aiming for a solid performance in Sweden and he is hoping to get his 2022 campaign back on track after his misfortune earlier: “I’m really happy to come back to Sweden after two years, and it looks like we’ll have nice road conditions for this famous rally. The atmosphere is so special with this being the only event with 100 per cent snow, so its always something I look forward to as I enjoy driving on snow.”

“For sure, I want a good result but first of all I want to enjoy it and get some experience on this surface. It’ll be the first time for me on snow in a WRC car, so it will be quite a big step, but I’m really looking forward to it.”

After losing out on a place in the 2022 FIA World Rally Championship schedule, Rally Mexico organisers will instead be hosting a Nations Rally Mexico in hopes to secure a bid in the next years calendar.

The event will be using the same format previously run with in 2009 when the event lost out a place in the WRC calendar. The Rally of Nations type of event will be taking place at Guanajuato on 1-3 April using stages from the WRC itinerary and will invite countries from around the world to race against eachothers.

“It’s an Olympic year right now and everybody understands what it means to compete beneath your national flag. That’s the format we used in 2009 and it’s the format we’re using this time around.” Gilles Spitalier, Nation’s Rally Guanajuato manager, said.

“We have some incredible names coming for this event, but they all know they will be part of a team fighting for national pride. In 2009, Xevi Pons and Dani Sola combined to win the event for Spain. National teams will be coming from around the world to try to defeat the reigning champions.”

For the first time since 1995 no South American country is in the WRC calendar as both Argentina and Chile are also out and Mexico was forced to drop out last season due to the on-going pandemic but now Mexico are demostrating a commitment to make a return in 2023.

For Pat Fry, the new aerodynamic regulations that came into effect for the 2022 Formula 1 season were amongst the most complex of his extensive career in the sport, and he says it will be interesting to see how the ten teams on the grid interpret them heading into pre-season testing.

Speaking at the launch of the A522, Fry, the Chief Technical Officer of the BWT Alpine F1 Team, says the Formula 1 rule book has grown significantly since he debuted in the sport in 1987, but he understands why the changes were made ahead of the 2022 season in order to make following other cars easier and the racing closer.

“Quite simply, it’s a massive overhaul of the technical regulations for this year, which Formula 1 have been working on for five years or more now,” said Fry.  “I’ve seen a number of big rule changes in my Formula 1 career and this one is certainly up there in terms of its complexity and how restrictive the regulations are.

“When I first started in Formula 1 the rule book was relatively short and now it’s very extensive! The main concept of the change is to make overtaking easier and allow cars to run closer together, though, the complexity of the rules does heavily restrict what we can do aerodynamically.

“It’s going to be interesting to see the ten different versions of the cars as each team brings their own interpretation to the track. Of course, there is always an opportunity to get these things right, or wrong, so it will be intriguing to see what our rivals have come up with.”