The tyre compound choices that will be used for the first three Grands Prix of the 2022 season have been announced by Pirelli.

With tyres being a new factor of consideration for the teams this season as they adjust to life with the bigger 18-inch wheels, Pirelli will continue to manufacture five different compounds of varying grip and longevity for use across the broad spectrum of circuits on the calendar.

The C1 represents the most durable tyre, albeit with the least grip, while the C5 is the softest and, in theory, quickest - the trade-off being a far shorter lifespan.

The characteristics of each circuit is taken into consideration in order to allow Pirelli to make the best choice of compounds to bring along to each race, as the tyre manufacturer chooses which compound will be marked as the 'Soft', 'Medium' and 'Hard' for each event.

While Pirelli have opted for the three hardest compounds for use in Bahrain, as well as their three middle compounds for Saudi Arabia, the tyre manufacturer have chosen to make an unusual choice for the third race of the season.

With F1 returning to Australia for the first time since 2019, and the track heavily revised to a much faster layout, Pirelli have opted to go for two steps of compound separation for the Medium and Soft tyre.

For the Albert Park round, the Medium tyre will be the C3 compound, with the Soft tyre being the C5. It's the first time since moving to the C1-C5 model that Pirelli have gone for two steps of separation.

A spokesperson for Pirelli told RacingNews365.com that the decision was taken as "we believe it's the best choice for the new asphalt and new layout".

The two-step separation should allow for more strategic variety when the teams are deciding on race strategies, given that the Q2 tyre rule has been scrapped for 2022.

The Formula 1 Rolex Grand Prix Made in Italy Emilia-Romagna, at the Enzo e Dino Ferrari International Circuit in Imola, will remain part of the Formula 1 calendar until 2025.

This follows two successful Grands Prix in Imola during the pandemic and the inclusion of the race in the 2022 championship.

Imola first hosted the Italian Grand Prix in 1980 but subsequently became the San Marino Grand Prix venue from 1981-2006.

The circuit returned as a Formula 1 venue for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in 2020.

Stefano Domenicali, President and CEO of Formula 1, said: “I am delighted that we will be continuing our excellent partnership with Imola for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix until 2025. The circuit is iconic and has been part of the history of our sport and they have done an incredible job of hosting two races during the pandemic. It is a proud moment for our Italian fans to host two races and for all our fans around the world to see this fantastic circuit on the calendar for the future.

“I want to thank everyone involved in making this happen and the work of the Emilia-Romagna Region, in particular the President of the Automobile Club of Italy, Angelo Sticchi Damiani, President of Emilia-Romagna, Stefano Bonaccini, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the City of Imola. We are all looking forward to being back in Imola in April to thrill our fans.”

President of the Automobile Club of Italy, Angelo Sticchi Damiani, said: “Today's agreement ratifies the presence of the Formula 1 Rolex Grand Prix of Made in Italy and Emilia Romagna at the Enzo and Dino Ferrari Circuit in Imola until 2025. Imola, its great history and the strong tie of its territory to the world of engines deserved this recognition. This is not only a great success for sport in Italy but also a great enrichment for the top international motorsport series that has confirmed in its calendar for several years one of the most difficult races, but also the greatest, and the one that's mostly loved by both drivers and teams.

“Of course, the long negotiations carried out by the Automobile Club of Italy managed to achieve the desired goal thanks to the important support received from various local authorities. Among all, I would like to underline the enthusiastic work of the Emilia Romagna Region and its President Stefano Bonaccini."

President of Emilia Romagna, Stefano Bonaccini, said: “It's an extraordinary result for the Emilia-Romagna region and for the Motor Valley. The confirmation that the Made in Italy and Emilia-Romagna Formula 1 Grand Prix that will be held at the Enzo and Dino Ferrari Autodrome in Imola until 2025 is a reward to an important team effort that involved the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ice (i.d. the Italian Trade Agency), the City of Imola, ACI, CON.AMI and Formula 1, of course.

“After two successfully organized editions, a unique event of great international appeal and absolute prestige was confirmed in the long run along the Via Emilia despite the limitations imposed by the pandemic and while preparations are already underway for the 2022 edition.

“The event will allow us to turn the spotlight on both a region which is home to great champions and world-famous motorsport brands and Italy, a country rich in unique, internationally renowned excellence in all fields, starting from the automotive industry. For us, this is a great source of pride and a precious opportunity to discuss values, knowledge and professionalism that translate first and foremost into work, innovation and the ability to do business together and with great passion.”

This year will see the Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series serve as the official safety car for half of this season's races, as Mercedes continues to share duties with Aston Martin.

The Black Series replaces the Mercedes-AMG GT R that was supplied by Mercedes as the safety car last year, while the previous C 63 S Estate that had been used since 2015 is replaced as the medical car by the GT 63 S 4MATIC+.

According to Mercedes, they are the most powerful editions of these vehicles.

One noticeable change on the new safety car is the removal of the light bar which previous sat on top of the roof. This has been replaced by a new light signalling system that is built into the windscreen, as well as featuring on the rear spoiler.

The rear number plate will also illuminate in the relevant colours to signal to drivers during races, while lights on the side windows will help spectators in the grandstands to see when the safety car is about to come into the pits.

Inside the cockpit, safety car driver Bernd Maylander will be supported by co-driver Richard Darker, who has access to two monitors with all the race information and TV footage to keep track of the F1 field while on track.

"Since 1996 – that's every single year for more than a quarter of a century – Mercedes-AMG has been supplying the vehicles Formula 1 needs in emergencies," said Christoph Sagemuller, head of motorsport of Mercedes-AMG GmbH.

"In their role as Official F1 Safety Car, our performance vehicles have been safely leading the Formula 1 field around the track when called upon in bad weather or in the event of an incident. When needed, our Official F1 Medical Car is on the spot as quickly as possible

"To ensure this, we have upped the ante even further for the 2022 season with our most powerful models to-date, the AMG GT Black Series and the AMG GT 63 S. What's more, their on-track performance displays their unfiltered motorsport DNA more than any of their predecessors."

The safety and medical car will both retain the red livery adopted by Mercedes last year, and features sponsorship from Crowdstrike.

On weekends where Mercedes does not supply the track vehicles, the Aston Martin Vantage and Aston Martin DBX SUV will serve as the safety and medical car respectively.

Gene Haas says Pietro Fittipaldi will drive for his team in this week’s Bahrain Formula 1 test, but the squad is still considering other options for a full-time race seat.

The American-owned outfit announced last weekend that it was terminating the contract of Nikita Mazepin and its title sponsor Uralkali with immediate effect in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Mazepin’s dismissal means the team now faces an urgent task to work out who will line up alongside Mick Schumacher for the start of the 2022 F1 season later this month.

Fittipaldi is Haas’ official reserve driver, and was famously called up by the team for the final two races of the 2020 season after Romain Grosjean suffered injuries in his fiery crash at that year's Bahrain Grand Prix.

But while team boss Haas has said Fittipaldi will be drafted in for the Bahrain test, he is mindful about the need for a potentially more experienced driver for the bulk of the new campaign.

Speaking to Associated Press, Haas said the only decision that had been made right now was that Fittipaldi would be in for the test.

“We’re in the process of looking at several candidates, we’ll see who is available and what we have to deal with, but we’ll have somebody by Wednesday,” Haas was quoted as saying.

“Pietro will definitely be in it, that’s what he’s for, he’s the test driver.”

One leading candidate for the Haas race seat is Antonio Giovinazzi, who lost his place at Alfa Romeo at the end of last season and has switched to Formula E.

The Italian is part of the Ferrari junior academy, and had been due to attend non-clashing F1 races this year to fulfil a reserve driver role for the Maranello team.

Haas could elect to race the Italian for part of the season, or agree terms for a full-time contract if he can get out of his FE commitments.

Speaking about the decision to drop Mazepin and Uralkali, Haas said that the fallout of the team’s links with Russian partners was too much to accept.

“There was a lot of intense criticism about the Ukrainian invasion and it was just getting overwhelming,” he said. “We can’t deal with all that, our other sponsors can’t deal with all that.”

While the loss of title sponsor Uralkali will deliver a financial hit, Haas is adamant that the team has enough resources to weather the impact.

“Haas has always been the major, primary sponsor, I don’t know why people said it became a Russian team. Haas Automation was always on the car,” he said.

“We’re good. We’re fine. We’d like more money, of course, but we’re fine,” he said. “This just gives us a bigger negative number.”

Haas have had the pre-season from hell. With problems both on and off the track, including troubles with the car in Barcelona testing and terminating their contract with driver Nikita Mazepin, things have now gone from bad to worse.

Turns out, they might be forced to miss the opening day of testing in Bahrain as their cars haven’t arrived yet!

Teams’ equipment was due to arrive in Bahrain yesterday ahead of the three-day test getting underway on Thursday. However, German magazineAuto Motor und Sportfirst reported that the American team’s cargo is still stuck in the UK.
The plane that was due to transport their cars and spare parts has become stranded in Istanbul with technical problems, and as a result, team boss Guenther Steiner believes they may have to “write off” the opening day

Haas are attempting to get their equipment to the Sakhir circuit by Tuesday evening, but their crew will face a race against time to get everything prepared before the first televised pre-season testShould the American team be forced to miss the entirety of Thursday’s running, AMuS have suggested they could get special permission to run separately on the Sunday after testing ends on the grounds of force majeure.

To put it simply, this delay was beyond the team’s or F1’s control.

Starting development on their 2022 car before many of their rivals, Haas were optimistic that this season could see them claw their way off the back of the grid, but pre-season testing has been nothing short of a disaster for them.

Mechanical problems in Barcelona saw them only manage to clock in 160 laps, the lowest out of all ten teams.

Meanwhile, they’ve yet to confirm who will be replacing Nikita Mazepin a week before the season-opener, having axed him and title sponsor Uralkali amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, it does appear Pietro Fittipaldi will be in the car for testing this week as the team’s official reserve!

All teams will be hoping not to miss out on any crucial time on track at their final pre-season test. They’ll be keeping their fingers crossed not to see a repeat of F2/F3 testing last week, which saw its final afternoon cancelled due to a sandstorm.
This isn’t the first timeteams have found themselves waiting for their cars. Bad weather delays following the Mexican Grand Prix saw most of the grid fail to receive there cars until the day before FP1 for the Brazilian Grand Prix...

Alessandro Alunni Bravi has been installed as the new managing director of Sauber Group, the company behind the Alfa Romeo Formula 1 team.

Lawyer Alunni Bravi has been involved with the team as its general counsel and as a board member since 2017.

The Italian is also well known in the F1 paddock as the manager of former McLaren driver Stoffel Vandoorne, who is currently racing for Mercedes in Formula E, while he has also worked with current Alfa reserve driver Robert Kubica.

Previously he operated alongside Nicolas Todt at All Road Management, whose stable of drivers included Felipe Massa, Charles Leclerc and Pastor Maldonado.

He has also worked closely with current Alfa F1 boss Fred Vasseur as the legal advisor to the ART F2 and F3 operation since 2010.

Sauber says that Alunni Bravi will focus "on marketing, communications, sales, legal, IT and finance."

The Swiss company has been keen to maintain the Sauber brand as a separate entity alongside the Alfa-badged F1 team, in order to emphasise that it is also an engineering and technology business, highlighted by its wind tunnel facility.

In 2021 the organisation was nearly sold to Michael Andretti, but main shareholder Finn Rausing was ultimately unwilling to let it go and opted to remain in charge.

"Alessandro has been an integral part of the growth of our company, on and off the track, in the last few years," said Vasseur.

"I am excited about the contribution he will make in his new position. Few can match his knowledge of motorsports with that of business and the complex legal landscape in which we operate, and this makes Alessandro the right person for this challenge."

"It's an honour to take on the challenge of being managing director of a company with the successful history that Sauber has," said Alunni Bravi.

"I am also aware of the responsibility that this position brings towards the more than 500 people employed by Sauber, a commitment I will meet with hard work, passion and dedication.

"I'd like to thank Frederic Vasseur and the Sauber Group shareholders, as well as all those who have been by my side these last years, making it possible for me to achieve this next step. There is much work ahead but I'm excited to begin this new adventure."

Pierre Gasly was fastest for AlphaTauri on Day 1 of Bahrain's Official Pre-Season Test, ahead of Ferrari duo Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc.

Leclerc was top of the morning timesheets but he finished third overall after conditions cooled and grip improved after the sun set. Gasly capitalised to set the fastest lap of Day 1 under the lights with an effort of 1m 33.902s – Sainz going second overall late on.

Although Lance Stroll brought out the first red flag of the day when his Aston Martin jettisoned its aero rakes, the Canadian took P4 with an afternoon flyer – finishing ahead of Williams' Alex Albon in P5.

Stroll and Alpine's Fernando Alonso (12th) also enjoyed a duel with 25 minutes of the day remaining, their wheel-to-wheel bout hopefully a sign of things to come for the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.

McLaren's relatively anonymous showing was improved by a late flying effort from Lando Norris, who took sixth overall.

Valtteri Bottas took P7 in the evening for Alfa Romeo, more than 50 laps under his belt, after team mate Zhou Guanyu (14th) was briefly interrupted by a pit lane stoppage in the morning.

Eighth-place Aston Martin driver Sebastian Vettel set 39 laps in the morning, finishing ahead of George Russell (P9). Mercedes' new recruit took the wheel of the radically redesigned W13 in the afternoon – his team mate Lewis Hamilton 11th overall, having run in the morning.

Between the Mercedes duo was 10th-place Red Bull driver Sergio Perez – the Mexican having brought out the day's second red flag having spun and beached his car in the gravel out of Turn 8 minutes from the end.

Behind the Mercedes pair was Alpine's Alonso in P12, his team mate Esteban Ocon 13th with 42 laps at the start of the day.

With Alfa Romeo's rookie Zhou 14th, Haas rounded out the standings as Pietro Fittipaldi took afternoon duties – the team having missed the morning due to a logistical issue.

Daniel Ricciardo was set to take the wheel on Thursday but had to sit the sessions out with an illness. He, along with Max Verstappen, Nicholas Latifi, Yuki Tsunoda, F1 returnee Kevin Magnussen and Mick Schumacher, are yet to drive a lap in Bahrain testing.

The rumours that Mercedes were bringing a significantly different W13 to Bahrain testing have proven to be true – the car has dramatically narrower sidepod inlets.

In place of the original frontal bulge, which housed quite big radiator inlets, is a dramatically narrower housing that slants heavily inwards at the top when viewed from straight on. This forms a narrow vertical triangular slit for the radiator inlets.

It’s not clear if the radiator layout within has been changed or – more likely – a more effective route for the cooling has been devised, which gives a higher speed to the cooling air. Further back, the sidepods are much as they were before.

Right from the start the W13 has featured an extremely wide outer floor channel, and what this latest change has done is give the airflow a wider entry point to that channel. The air going over the floor here generates its own positive pressure, which in combination with the low pressure beneath the floor, creates the downforce.

This new housing is just in the part of the car where the venturi inlet tunnel is ramping downwards – and that difference in pressure around this outer front corner of the floor will play an important part in accelerating the speed of the airflow down that venturi inlet. The greater the pressure difference, the faster that venturi airflow will travel and the greater the downforce.

But just as importantly, the creation of this extra space at the front of the outer floor will help feed those very wide outer channels, funneling the air to the back, through the coke bottle section of bodywork and exiting in between the rear tyre and the venturi exit ramps. The more this flow can be used to draw upon that coming throuugh the venturis on the underside, the more downforce those venturis will produce.

Accompanying the sidepod change, the floor’s wavy outer edges have been replaced by a conventional straighter edge with a single ‘curl’ part-way along to create the vortices the aerodynamicists will be seeking to further energise the venturi flow.

It could be that with the bigger volume of outer flow enabled by the wider space at the front of the floor, a single bigger vortex is now more feasible than was the case before.

The extra radiator cooling surfaces compared to the Barcelona car are not necessarily inherent to the new layout, given that the ambient temperature in Bahrain is considerably greater than in Barcelona.

We await with great interest to see if the performance change is as dramatic as the visual impact of the new Mercedes.

Formula 1 managing director Ross Brawn says the “extreme” Mercedes sidepod solution unveiled at the Bahrain test was not anticipated when the 2022 regulations were written.

Brawn called the W13 upgrade “impressive” and indicated he believed the FIA has no issue with the route that the Brackley team has chosen.

However, he cautioned rivals could raise objections that could lead to the FIA taking a closer look and which could ultimately trigger a rule change.

The FIA and the F1 organisation that helped to formulate the new rules are both particularly keen to ensure that the main objective of allowing cars to follow is not compromised.

“I think there's no doubt that the Mercedes concept we didn't anticipate, it's a very extreme interpretation of the regulations,” Brawn said in an interview with F1 TV.

“And I think inevitably, there's going be a lot of debate about their interpretation. That's what happens with new regulations. And however hard you try to close off all the options, and believe me, we closed off hundreds of them, as I say the innovation in F1, it's always extreme.

“So from our perspective, it's largely about does it affect the objective of the regulations? From the teams’ perspective, they want to be sure that no one's taken an interpretation that they don't feel is correct. So I think there's going to be a lot of debate in next few days.”

Brawn stressed that it was up to the FIA to judge the legality of every car and suggested there is no issue with the Mercedes so far, but that could change if a rival team lodges an objection that highlights a specific area of concern.

“It's impressive,” Brawn said of the W13. “And I think this is the great thing about the innovation of F1, and it's just keeping it within boundaries which are sensible, and there are no compromises as I say, in terms of the objective of what we wanted to achieve.

“I think you have to be fair, I think when a team comes up with an idea, with innovation, with novelty, you shouldn't penalise it straight away.

“But I think as it's understood more the FIA really, as a regulator of the sport know everything that's going on there, we don't as F1, because we're not entitled to have information. But the regulator of the sport knows what's going on. I think they're okay with it so far.

“But of course, a team may come in and raise an objection that the FIA hadn't considered. And then you have a problem. And I've been through that many times where your idea is okay, the FIA agrees it's okay.

“And then a team comes in with a perspective that have never been considered and have an argument that's valid. So I'm sure there's going to be a lot of discussion about it. But it's impressive for a set of rules, which everybody said was too prescriptive. We're seeing all these solutions."

Brawn made it clear that under F1’s revised governance it is possible to adjust the technical regulations during the season, even if two teams do not agree.

That option was designed into the system in large part to rein in any unexpected innovations, especially if, for example, they compromise the overall objective of enabling the cars to follow each other more easily.

“I think one of the significant things that we changed was the governance in F1,” said Brawn.

“Because in the past who needed everybody to agree to a change in the season, now you can make a change with 80% of the teams agreeing, as long as the FIA and F1 also agree.

“I think once the interpretation that Mercedes have made has been understood, then we can get a balanced view or we can take a view on its impact, what effect it's going to have, because spirit is such a grey area.

“At the end of the day, you have to go on what the wording of the regulation is, because if you take it to a court, that's what they judge it on. But that wording can be changed. With an 80% team majority, we can change the wording.

“So if something has slipped by, then the teams are aware that that could happen. And that can happen live during the season. So we need to see how this one plays out.”

Looking at the pitlane as a whole Brawn stressed he has seen nothing that might trigger such a rule change or clarification.

“It's impossible to anticipate the creative scope of the teams. And once they get the regulations, you've got a thousand engineers working on all the regulations, and they can use them,” he said.

“So some of the solutions quite honestly, we never anticipated. And I think we will go back into investigating those solutions, and make sure they maintain the objective of the new rules.

“I think they do. I mean, our initial impressions are that there's nothing here that we would be overly concerned about in terms of those objectives of the regulations. And so it's just fascinating to see such a wide range of solutions.

“And what's I think become a step change for the teams is a lot of new cooler innovation, a lot of new innovation in the heat exchangers, and the radiators, that has become available, as it's given them more scope to create the designs they've got.”