we've waited patiently for years to see the new generation of formula one cars in action and the
2022 Bahrain grand prix finally gave us the chance to see the new era at work in racing conditions
the first race of the season had plenty of excitement drama and story lines that
will leave f1 fans with plenty to talk about post-race but there isn't much time to digest
the first race of 2022 as we'll be back racing in Jeddah in just a few days time so with that
being said we thought we'd put together a short list of some of the things we learned from race
number one of the 2022 season and what that potentially tells us about the rest of the year
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Ferrari has made a habit of having good preseason tests with fast lap times only to go on and
disappoint the Tifosi when the actual season gets underway 2022 started very well for the
Scuderia as they were the best team in testing and were tipped as the early favorites by many
after the checkered flag dropped on the 2022 Bahrain grand prix it's safe to say that Ferrari
is back but for real this time the atmosphere around the Maranello team is unlike anything in
the last few seasons and they feel that they've got the whole package to win it all this year
Charles Leclerc had a redemption weekend in Bahrain taking pole position and a commanding race
victory Leclerc drove a fantastic race weathering the storm of max Verstappen's attacks and keeping
a cool head during the late safety car scenario even with the pressure from Verstappen Leclerc and
Ferrari look to have plenty of pace in hand and much more tire life than the Red Bull's if you're
a Ferrari fan you'll be pleased with how the team operated the race with good strategy calls
and quick no-nonsense pit stops although Carlos Sainz was off the pace this weekend it's still
a perfect start for Ferrari as they leave both the drivers and constructors world championships
the Bahrain GP confirms Ferrari's pace reliability and that the hype could very well be real for 2022
not only is the works team back to their best the Ferrari power unit has made a huge leap as well
as five of the six Ferrari-powered cars finished inside the top 10
while other manufacturers struggled to even finish the 57 lap race
besides eagerly awaiting to see what the running order would be fans were equally excited to see
whether these new regulations were actually going to do what they were designed to do
and from the early signs in Bahrain it does indeed look like the drivers will be able to
race closer this season throughout the race we saw plenty of close battles up and down the grid
with drivers able to follow in the dirty air much closer than we've seen in recent years
the DRS also didn't seem quite as powerful as the last few seasons with drivers actually having to
complete overtakes under braking instead of just easy blow-bys on the straights
it seemed the limitation for drivers in the race was coming from tire degradation
instead of the dirty air problem of past seasons as many drivers opted for a three-stop strategy
it is the first race of 2022 so let's be careful and cautious but all signs point
to a move in the direction f1 wanted to go and that overall the racing has improved
as with this entire list it's important to remember that this is only the first
race of the season and not a final indication of what the order will be
if you're a McLaren or Aston Martin fan you're certainly hoping the Bahrain gp is an anomaly
but the first race of 2022 does give us an indication of the potential pecking order
one of the most positive surprises of the Bahrain grand prix
was the resurgence of the backmarker teams from the last few seasons
after finishing 9th and 10th in the constructor standings in 2021 Alfa Romeo and hass looked to be
back markers no more as all four of their drivers had stellar races on his f1 return Kevin Magnussen
scored a p5 thanks to some great racing and a little bit of luck with the red bull's retirements
Alfa Romeo's Valtteri Bottas recovered from a poor lap one start to finish in p6 on his debut
for the team and his teammate had a great race on his debut in formula one Guanyu Zhou picked
up one point in 10th place and became the first Chinese driver to score a point in f1
Alfa Romeo will be encouraged by their lap times as will Haas and early indications are
that these two teams are going to be fighting at the sharp end of the midfield where they finish
at the end of 2022 no one knows but let's just enjoy the fact that hass is currently sitting
third in the constructors championship with Alfa Romeo right behind and fourth
a major storyline coming out of the Bahrain grand prix would have been the Leclerc versus Verstappen
battle for the lead but that has somewhat taken a back seat to red bull's reliability issues
regardless the Leclerc Verstappen duel in the desert potentially shows us what's to come in 2022
and that is awesome news for f1 fans we've seen the two drivers have plenty of battles
in the past but with both of them now having top machinery the prospect of a Leclerc Verstappen
championship fight might even be more exciting than what we got last season Leclerc showed his
brilliance by fending off the reigning world champion and even regaining the lead into turn
4 as he went side by side with Verstappen and not giving the world champion an inch
it was a big statement drive from Leclerc and he's now set the benchmark for his rivals to chase
red bull do have a fast car maybe not as fast as Ferrari at the moment but the bigger issue is
their reliability concerns firstly Verstappen had overheating brakes during the race which made it
difficult to attack Leclerc for an extended period of time then during the safety car pit stops
Verstappen returned to the track with a steering issue that red bull say was caused when the car
was dropped from the jack and led to track rod damage the nightmare was completed for red bull
when both cars suffered fuel supply issues that many f1 teams say is related to the new e-10 fuel
and the temperature it runs at when being pumped around the tank when the car is on low fuel
hopefully these issues for red bull aren't the beginning of a season-long headache because
this potential championship fight between f1's brightest young stars could be won for the ages
so what did you think of the 2022 Bahrain grand prix and how do you see the rest of the season
playing out comment your thoughts down below and if you enjoyed watching this video leave
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