Formula 3’s 2021 runner-up Australian Jack Doohan has joined Alpine’s driver academy program.The same academy which promoted fellow countryman Oscar Piastri into the team’s Formula 1 reserve driver seat for 2022. PHOTO: Alpineracing.com

BRENDAN LINES FEBRUARY 15, 2022

JACK Doohan becomes the next Australian knocking on the door of Formula 1 joining Alpine’s driver academy on Monday.  

The 19-year-old becomes the second Australian driver to join the Academy ranks, following in the footsteps of 2021 Formula 2 champion Oscar Piastri. 

Doohan, a former Red Bull junior driver was absent from its 2022 line-up after he finished runner-up in the 2021 FIA Formula 3 Drivers’ Championship.

The Australian visited the Enstone-based team last October and told formula2.com he was convinced it was the right move.

“The option came up for me to go to Alpine for the season and I had a bit of time to think about it and to decide what was going to be the best option for me moving forward,” explained Doohan.

“It wasn’t a certainty for me to join the academy then, it was just to go and get a feel for it, to do some physical tests and to see how I got on in that atmosphere.

“Within the first day, I felt at home. The relationship and the atmosphere was just what I needed and I was very happy with the structure that they’ve got going forward.”

Doohan, the son of five-time MotoGP (then 500cc) world champion Mick Doohan is among the two newest additions to the academy with Olli Caldwell. While Caio Collet and Victor Martins continue with the program for a second consecutive season.

Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi said its driver academy “remains an extremely valuable part” in finding the next top talent in Formula 1.

“As with every year we have high expectations for our Academy and it’s no different heading into this season,” Rossi said.

“We welcome two new drivers, Jack and Olli, combined with the returning Formula 3 duo of Caio and Victor. Each brings their own personality and talent and we are excited to see how our drivers develop this season, individually and as a group.” 

All four of this year’s Academy crop start their respective campaigns on March 18-20 alongside Formula 1’s opening Grand Prix in Bahrain.

Alpha Tauri unveiled renderings of its 2022 challenger the AT03 in a launch video from is Faezna base on Monday. PHOTO: Redbullcontentpool.com

BRENDAN LINES FEBRUARY15, 2022

ALPHA Tauri broke cover of its AT03, the car the Italian-based team hopes will complete its rise from the mid-field to a serious contender in 2022.

Mixing fashion and function in its launch video, the arm of Red Bull’s clothing brand showcased renderings of the AT03 alongside drivers Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda.

At first look the ATO3’s livery sports a negative-effect look from its predecessor — the AT02 — but that’s where the similarities end, with the AT03 the team’s first interpretation of Formula 1’s new ground-effect led rule changes.

Side-pod concepts unveiled by the teams have piqued curious intrigue throughout 2022’s launch season, the AT03 appears to have blended the divergent concepts seen so far.

In that, the ATO3 has opted for an elongated top surface forward of the cockpit with an aggressive undercut— like Aston Martin’s AMR22 — but sweeps to a smooth outwash to the rear end of the floor, like the McLaren ML36.

Alpha Tauri has opted for a push-rod style front suspension, most likely adopted from its big brother Red Bull.

The actual AT03 will make its first official Formula 1 appearance at next week’s Barcelona test, wether the renderings are accurate remains to be seen. 

Team principal Franz Tost hoped the AT03 would deliver on the team’s expectations.

“I am excited to finally reveal what our 2022 Formula 1 car will look like,” Most said.

“It is a completely new era for F1 and we hope that this package will be very strong, following last year’s success. 

“Once again, we have worked closely with AlphaTauri to launch our new car and I think we’ve managed to deliver something very special.”

Following the team’s highest points scoring season to date – picking up 142 points in 2021 – the AT03 could be the car which sees the Faenza-based team become a contender and close the gap to the top end of the grid.

Alpha Tauri has backed lead driver of Gasly and Tsunoda, “Pierre’s experience makes him the natural team leader, while teammate Yuki continues his F1 journey in what will be his second season in the sport” a team spokesperson said.

Gasly, accumulated a career-best 110 championship points in 2021.

The AT03 will make its on-track debut at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on February 23.

Aston Martin drivers Lance Stroll (left) and Sebastian Vettel with the teams 2022 challenger the AMR22. PHOTO: Aston Martin

BRENDAN LINES FEBRUARY 11, 2022

ASTON Martin was the first Formula 1 team to reveal a real version of its 2022 challenger — the AMR22 — off its Graydon assembly line on Friday.

The launch of the AMR22 was a significant step for the factory team entering its second season, its first interpretation of Formula 1’s new regulations and marking the British manufacturer’s centenary of its maiden Grand Prix at the 1922 French Grand Prix.

Aside from carrying a new and much brighter Aston Martin Racing Green livery, the car’s noticeable elongated side pod concept, is a clear departure from the ‘coke bottle’ design, which has become a standard in recent years.

The addition of gill-like slots along the length of side pod’s top is another new design unseen in recent iterations of Formula 1 cars.

But that is just one in a raft of visible cues laden across the AMR22 chassis design, which performance director Tom McCullough said “was a clean sheet of paper in so many areas”.

“But this launch car will change quickly,” he said.

Aston Martin executive chairman Lawrence Stroll said last year was “year one” of the team’s five year plan towards re-establishing itself as a serious contender.

Stroll said a work-in-progress new factory and technology campus, due for completion next year was a “serious statement of intent” of the team’s commitment.

Red Bull unveiled its 2021 RB18 at its Technology Campus in Milton Keynes. PHOTO: redbullcontentpool.com

BRENDAN LINES February 10, 2022

RED BULL has unveiled its RB18, the car world champion Max Verstappen will take the wheel in defending his 2021 crown.

Red Bull is the first team in 2022 to produce a physical concept — other than Haas’ renderings on Friday — of its interpretation of Formula 1’s new regulations.

But world champion Verstappen revealed adapting to the RB18 should be “straightforward” with no added pressure to his title-defence season.

“I will just do what I do all the time because I don’t think there is any reason to be different,” Verstappen said.

“Now I just I can’t wait for that first moment when I drive out of the pitlane in the RB18.”

The Milton-Keynes-based team wheeled out a rolling chassis of its 2022 design, but team principal Christian Horner suggested the RB18 is likely to “evolve”  before its on-track debut.

“With the new regulation changes this year, the whole philosophy has altered from last year, which means every single component is different to last year’s car. It’s a clean sheet of paper for every single team,” he said.

“By the time we get to the first race, the RB18 won’t look much like it looks today, the evolution will be very quick as we progress through the season. 

“It is a steep learning curve for everyone and it is a race of development between the first race and the last race.”

A learning curve that will start from “zero” according to driver Sergio Perez.

“The new regulations are said to improve the competition on track, so I hope that for us as drivers we can compete more, race more and follow each other more closely,” Perez said.

“There will be a lot of things we need to learn and adapt to but these new regulations are set to make everything very interesting.”

The RB18 will make its preseason testing debut at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on February 23.

Haas broke cover of its VF-22 with renderings of the 2022 challenger. A first glimpse of an interpretation of the sport’s new regulations. PHOTO:HaasF1team

BRENDAN LINES FEBRUARY 5, 2022

HAAS are the first Formal 1 team to unveil its 2022 challenger, its VF-22 offering the first interpretation of the sport’s new regulations on Friday.

The team’s renderings of the VF-22 might be just a glimpse of the car that eventually turn a wheel at pre-season testing in Barcelona in a few weeks time.

Yet its unveiling is a telling vision of the work behind the scenes of the US-based team’s collaboration with technical partner Ferrari.

The VF-22 is the first entry to emerge from the American-owned team’s all-new design-office in Maranello, Italy – led by Technical Director Simone Resta. 

Resta was tasked with bringing together a new personnel group into the existing fabric of the team.

Now entering its seventh season in Formula 1, integrating with Maranello was just one of many challenges tackled through 2021, plus the team’s freezing of development of its 2021 VF-21 car  — a carryover of the previous year’s VF-20 — in response to Covid-19’s delay of the new regulations. 

Resta said the VF-22 was a “revolution” in design to meet the overhauled regulations.

“In terms of the car itself – other than the steering wheel, pedals, and extinguisher – there are no carryovers,” Resta said.

“Everything must be changed essentially. In certain aspects, freedom is limited compared to previous years, but the devil is in the detail, so I suspect that we will see a vast difference in performance across all cars.

“The biggest change is the aerodynamics, and from that perspective it’s a complete revolution because the regulations are so different.”

Resta said the VF-22 was a significant increase of the North Carolina-based team’s interaction with its engine supplier Ferrari.

“This is probably the most complex project the Haas F1 Team has dealt with to-date for many reasons,” Resta reflected.

“Haas has been working with Ferrari since 2016, and in those years the collaboration has been progressing step-by-step and we’re doing our best to build on this and keep improving the efficiency of the collaboration,” Resta said.

“Ferrari is supplying several components to us although the supply perimeter has changed this year as a result of the new components classification regulation.”

But Haas may have gone out on its own limb adding a push-rod suspension arm, where Ferrari is expected to run a pull-rod on its 2022 challenger.

However the renderings show no definitive blend of the VF-22’s suspension components and could be quite different to the on-track version of the car.

All 10 Formula 1 teams will gather to shakedown their new entries at Spain’s Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya February 23-25.

Alpine’s Pat Fry (pictured) was promoted to chief technical officer and Matt Harman to technical director, the latest appointments in the teams off-season reshuffling. PHOTO: Alpine Racing

BRENDAN LINES February 4, 2022

ALPINE has promoted Pat Fry to the role of chief technical officer and Matt Harman as technical director in its off-season re-shuffle, but the makeup of its three-pronged team leadership group remains unclear.

Fry and Harman are the latest promotions within the Franco-British team, after the razor-sharp gutting of the team’s top brass which included the unceremonious ousting of three-time world champion Alain Prost from an advisory role, plus the parting of executive director Marcin Budkowski.

But another appointment still remains.

In 2021, the team principal role was shared between Budkowski, Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi and racing director Davide Brivio, since the reshuffling began in November, Rossi has reportedly taken over as interim team principal.

Departed Aston Martin team principal Otmar Szafnauer has been linked to Alpine, brining with him the former’s title sponsor BWT.

A statement from Alpine said the decision making behind Fry and Harman’s promotions “is part of a new organisation designed to maximise the team’s performance, initiated in November 2021”.

“Their mission is to contribute to developing the car’s performance to achieve the objectives defined by Luca de Meo, CEO of the Renault Group, and Laurent Rossi, Alpine CEO, to fight for the championship within 100 races after Alpine’s arrival into F1,” the statement said.

Rossi said Alpine was “considerably strengthening” the team with its latest promotions which will be based at the team’s Enstone factory.

“Pat is one of the most experienced engineers in Formula 1, while Matt’s drive and expertise will prove critical in extracting the full potential of our race cars, thanks in particular to his unique expertise combining chassis and engine development,” Rossi said.

Fry will oversee all technical activities in Enstone, and will be responsible for setting the performance target of the car.

Harman will oversee chassis technical direction and bring to the team experience in chassis/power unit technical integration, taken from his time at the the team’s Viry base.

The newly-modified Albert Park track will feature five new grandstands when the Australian Grand Prix comes back to Melbourne after a two-year hiatus. PHOTO F1.com

BRENDAN LINES January 31, 2022

FIVE brand-new grandstands will be added to a newly-modified Albert Park track ahead of the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix, when it returns from its two-year hiatus in April.

One of the new grandstands will offer fans views of the never-before-seen high speed zone between the new Turn 8 and the new Turn 9, created as a result of removing the chicane on the Lakeside Drive portion of the circuit.  

The Waite Grandstand will also be expanded cater for “the surge in demand for the 2022 race” an Australian Grand Prix Corporation spokesperson said.

“We’re blown away by the incredible enthusiasm ahead of this year’s event is on track to be the best Melbourne has ever seen and we cannot wait to welcome crowds back to Albert Park,” the spokesperson said. 

“Not only will these additional Grandstands allow more people to experience the Australian Grand Prix 2022’s electrifying atmosphere, they also offer new and exciting views of a faster and more competitive Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit.”

Other new grandstand locations include Turn 5, Turn 8, Turn 11 and Turn 12.

The additional grandstand tickets will go on sale at 10:00am Tuesday, 8 February 2022 AEDT.

Australian Grand Prix CEO Andrew Westacott said there would be “zero chance of cancellation” of the 2022 race at Albert Park. PHOTO: AGPC 

BRENDAN LINES January 21, 2022

AUSTRALIAN Grand Prix Corporation (AGPC) CEO Andrew Westacott assured there would be “zero chance of cancellation” of this year’s Formula 1 race at Albert Park.

Westacott gave the assurance when presenting a first look of the newly resurfaced Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit on Friday.

It would mean an end to the long-awaited return of the Australian Grand Prix to the Formula 1 calendar after its two-year hiatus.

The cancellation of the  2020 Albert Park race would be notoriously remembered when thousands of fans were left stranded at the gates on the opening morning of the race, the first world-class event to be a casualty of the Covid-19 pandemic.

But nearly two years on, 39 successful grands prix have been held across the pandemic-stricken world, with varying local testing and border controls.

Mr Westacott stressed the AGPC and Victorian Government had an “underlined and defined position” the race would go ahead as a double-vaccinated event and would be avoiding any kind of exemption.

In the wake of the Australian Open tennis saga ending in the Australian Government’s deportation of Novak Djokovic “there won’t be exemption sought for anyone, from anyone,” Mr Westacott said.

“Formula 1 has always recognised around the world it needs to comply with the rules for the borders of the jurisdictions in which they race.

“They’ve raced in 41 locations since Melbourne in 2020.

“We’re going to be welcoming them back in the country and they know the rules and we’re comfortable with that.”

The promise of a race finally returning to Albert Park was aimed at fans twice-bitten by the 2020 and 2021 cancellations.

“People should be confident to come out and purchase tickets…” Mr Westacott said.

“I really did feel disappointed for those fans who were at the gate on the morning of the Friday, 13th of March. And we want to make sure we’re welcoming them back here for a great weekend of entertainment.”

Work building grandstands and facilities around the circuit for the race in April will begin on February 1.

With the freshly laid asphalt and upgrades to the track surface now complete, significant changes include modifications to seven corners, in the hope of faster and more competitive racing.

The Australian Grand prix will be held from April 7-10, 2022.

Former Red Bull aerodynamics chief Dan Fallows will join Aston Martin as its technical director in 2022. PHOTO: Red Bull content pool

BRENDAN LINES January 19, 2022

ASTON Martin confirmed it has reached an agreement with Red Bull regarding the notice period of chief aerodynamics engineer Dan Fallows on Tuesday.

The agreement comes after Red Bull announced Fallows would leave the team in June last year.

Fallows will join Aston Martin as its technical director on April 2, 2022 — earlier than his Red Bull contract expires — until then “he remains a Red Bull Technology employee” the statement said.

Christian Horner, Red Bull Racing’s team principal and CEO, said: “We would like to thank Dan for his many years of excellent service and wish him well for the future.”

A mainstay at Red Bull since 2006, Fallows rose through the ranks of the Milton-Keynes-based team during its Sebastian Vettel-led dominance across the V8-era, winning four drivers’ and constructors’ championships from 2010-14.

Martin Whitmarsh, group CEO of Aston Martin, said: “We are pleased to have reached an agreement with Red Bull which releases Dan early from his contract and are looking forward to him joining the team.”

Fallows, said: “I’ve enjoyed many happy years at Red Bull Racing and am proud of what we achieved. I am looking forward to next season and a new challenge.”

The news comes after raft of management changes at the Silverstone-based team led by billionaire Lawrence Stroll, including the recent appointment of former BMW motorsport head Mike Krack as team principal.

BRENDAN LINES January 18, 2022

FOUR-time Formula 1 world champion Alain Prost has unceremoniously split from Alpine criticising the team and its announcement, potentially making way for a key appointment as the team’s preseason management re-shuffle continues.

Prost had joined the Enstone-Viry based team as Renault in an advisory role in 2017, the Frenchman remained with the team when it re-branded as Alpine for the 2021 season.

It was reported by the F1.com website, senior management had decided against renewing the deal, although Prost claimed he had rejected an offer by the team.

“I am very disappointed how this new has been announced today!” Prost said on his social media.

“It was agreed that we would announce together with Alpine.

“No respect sorry! I have refused the offer made to me in Abu Dhabi for the 2022 season because of a personal relationship and I was right! 

“To the Enstone and Viry team I will miss you.”

The 66-year-old had been with the team during his Formula 1 driving career from 1981 to 1983.

Prost’s departure is part of a revolving door in the team’s management structure as executive director and acting team principle Marcin Budkowski left just days before — almost a year to the day of former team principal Cyril Abiteboul’s exit.

Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi is reported to have stepped into the role of team principal for the interim.

Recently departed Aston Martin team principal Otmar Szafnauer has been linked to Alpine as Budkowski’s replacement. 

Szafnauer could bring Aston Martin and its former guise Racing Point title sponsor BWT with him.