The problem Formula 1’s new cars haven’t solved
Ferrari and Red Bull are leading the 2022 field. Then there’s a massive gap to everyone else. But, will it last?
Formula 1’s new cars have not removed the chasm separating the frontrunners from the midfield. But, Fernando Alonso is proof it may not stay that way for long.
In July last year, Formula 1’s motorsport director Ross Brawn made a clear proclamation: 2022’s radical new cars would create, with the help of a cost cap, a more balanced championship.
He promised “for the gaps across the grid to close”.
But, this year’s opening races have shown a sizeable gap still exists between the frontrunners and the midfield. Ferrari and Red Bull are well ahead of everyone else and Mercedes sit in a weird spot between the two groups.
It has looked this way for the entire year, except for a fleeting moment during qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix.
It was there that Fernando Alonso diverted from the script and strayed into frontrunning territory. On a push lap in Q3, he aced the first two sectors, putting up times that were equal to eventual polesitter Charles Leclerc.
But the miracle lap did not come together. Just a few corners from the end, Alonso lost hydraulics and crashed out of the session.
It will never be known if he really could’ve taken pole.
Before all this, I had an early draft of this post with same point to make - that Ferrari and Red Bull were untouchable. In a bid to prove it, I put forward an example.
“It still looks unlikely that a midfield runner, say Fernando Alonso, will find the perfect lap - and two extra tenths - in qualifying, leapfrogging from seventh to pole.”
Eerily, this is exactly what Alonso was on track to due in Melbourne, had his hydraulics not let him down.
Still, the lap was an encouraging sign that at least one driver could give Ferrari and Red Bull a run for their money. Then again, it came in qualifying, and points are handed out on Sunday.
The next slew of races should show whether Alonso’s antics were a one-time miracle, or something that other midfield contenders will be capable of.
Performances like his in Melbourne are part of what Formula 1 has tried to deliver with the new 2022 cars. The sport is moving away from dominant eras.
The hope was to create a championship where a midfield team with less of a profile could actually best the big name players on a good day. As Brawn put it, the new rules were meant to close the gaps.
If Alonso’s hydraulics can hold it together in Imola this weekend, maybe he’ll actually do it.