The surprising F1 first race win trend its new era may alter

OPINION: Formula 1 is about to embark on the first race of its eagerly anticipated new era. Every team is talking the rest up, but only one can be the 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix victor and very likely set the tone for the championship’s coming campaign.

Alex Kalinauckas Mar 16, 2022, 10:51 AM

Looking back on the 2021 Formula 1 season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, it really set the tone for the campaign to come. Max Verstappen’s stunning speed, Lewis Hamilton’s tenacity in a slower car, Red Bull and Mercedes falling out over a minor rules gripe. It had comfortably more and greater real drama than Netflix's Drive to Survive series.

Now, 2022’s first race has finally arrived. And where last year’s opening event attracted intrigue because of Mercedes’ testing struggles, that is a secondary factor this time around.

Share Or Save This Story

Author Alex Kalinauckas

Alex Kalinauckas is Autosport's Grand Prix Editor, covering every Formula 1 race since the start of 2020. After completing a master's degree in journalism at Goldsmiths College University of London in 2014, he worked for a range of motorsport and technology publications while covering national racing as an Autosport freelancer.

A lifelong motorsport fan - no one in his family can explain quite how or why such a development first occurred - Alex joined the Autosport staff in April 2017 as the magazine’s Assistant Editor covering Formula 2 and GP3, before being made Formula E correspondent and Autosport.com’s Plus Editor in March 2018. He lives in north-east London and is constantly frustrated by the Central Line.