Why this Formula 1 season will be “1” for the books
This is what happens when no one writes for the sports section—you get articles written by queer English and creative writing majors about Formula 1 racing: arguably the best sport there is, but definitely not the sports content that SUNY Geneseo yearns for. Needless to say, you have brought this rant upon yourselves.
I started watching F1 in 2019, around the time Netflix’s documentary series about the sport, Drive to Survive, came out, and ever since then I have been an avid fan. I was introduced to F1 when the Mercedes-Benz team was the top dog, and racers Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas were winning virtually every race. Red Bull had Max Verstappen but weren’t getting the points that they needed with their second driver Alex Albon. Other top contender Ferrari had just undergone a scandal regarding cheating, and Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel were barely getting top three positions in qualifying.
Such clear winners made the races feel boring—every weekend I watched Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen battle it out for first place, and the results were always anti-climactic. Save for the occasional crash or red flag that made for closer competition, the races were dominated by Mercedes and Red Bull—none of the other teams stood a chance against them.
And then, something crazy happened. F1 announced that for the 2022 season, there would be a budget cap for the racing teams of 140 million dollars. This means that the top teams can only spend so much on their cars, a rule that evened out the playing field significantly.
On top of that, top teams like Mercedes, Red Bull, and Ferrari were choosing younger drivers for their teams. Rookie F2 2018 champion George Russell, who was previously on the Williams team, signed a contract with Mercedes, replacing Valtteri Bottas, who was picked up by Alfa Romeo. Ferrari gained Carlos Sainz Jr., a legacy racer from Spain who showed amazing speed while racing for McLaren, to race alongside Leclerc.
Additionally, the cars themselves are faster now, with new, more eco-friendly engines and designs that make them more efficient on the tracks. The cars are also a lot safer now, which gives drivers the ability to take more risks and. making race-viewing much more exciting.
There have been three races this season so far—two won by Leclerc and one by Verstappen. The races have been captivating from the start and have continued to keep me enamored for the full two hour-length of each race. Instead of having three racers constantly fighting over the same positions, there are six-eighth racers that are all viable to get podiums.
My hope for this season is that Leclerc will be this year's F1 champion, with Russell and Sianz close behind him, but there is no way to know this early in the season; the championship could really go to anyone. I encourage you all to go watch F1 this year, as there are bound to be some incredible races.