Formula 1 Dates 2022

Last October 15, the Formula 1 announced the provisional calendar for the upcoming 2022 season. It promises to be a super-exciting season, in every sense of the word: a record 23 races that will take place around the world, with some welcome returns and some new features. As with the 2021 season, the championship will kick off in Bahrain on March 20 and end with the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on November 20.

Formula 1 calendar 2022: return to normal?

The Coronavirus pandemic has greatly impacted or conduct of races in the past two years, especially in terms of the calendar. That is why the returns of such beloved circuits and races as the Australian Grand Prix at the Melbourne track, the Canadian Grand Prix at Montreal’s Villeneuve, the Japanese Grand Prix, and the Singapore Grand Prix have importance. However, the still unstable situation and continuing uncertainties over travel restrictions have forced the circus not to include China in the current 2022 provisional: Shanghai, for the third consecutive year, will not host Formula 1. It will return-or rather continue-to racing instead at the historic Imola racetrack in Italy, with the Grand Prix of Emilia Romagna set for April 24.

The real, and much anticipated, change is the inclusion of the Miami Grand Prix scheduled for May 8. The first of the two races in America, it will take place around the Miami Dolphins’ Hard Rock Stadium, with the U.S. Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas scheduled for October instead.

It has raised some doubts, especially among the insiders, the presence of two groups of 3 consecutive races; an incredible effort for the teams and drivers, but they have had to accept hoping that it will not become a rule. Let us remember that the presence of the World Cup in November also has a decisive weight on the definition of calendars and forces Formula 1 to end the championship in November, before the World Cup.

The triple headers currently planned are: Great Britain, Austria and France in July; Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy in August/September; Russia, Singapore and Japan in September/October.

Next season will also see the return of the Singapore Grand Prix and the shortening of the Monaco Grand Prix weekend from four days to three, with the return of Friday, which solitamente in Monaco was a day off (traditionally, Friday is market day in Monaco). Media activities would then take place on Wednesday, Free Practice 1 and 2 on Thursday, then FP3 and qualifying on Saturday and the race on Sunday.

Another new feature of note is confirmation of sprint qualifying for a third of the races. The system was tested in 2021 at the British and Italian Grand Prix and will be confirmed for the next calendar as well. The result will certainly be a more entertaining show for fans throughout the weekend, with traditional qualifying starting on Friday afternoon.

Formula 1 president and CEO Stefano Domenicali said, “We are thrilled to announce the 2022 calendar as we prepare to enter a new era for the sport with new regulations and cars for next year designed to create more hard-fought races.” It is certainly an ambitious project that clearly had to adapt to the current global situation, but it is also a rich program of races for spectators at home to enjoy an unprecedented spectacle.

Revolution or evolution?

The year 2022 will be the longest calendar in the history of motorsport’s top formula. An organizational, sporting, logistical, and media commitment that is unprecedented in the history of motorsport and will -juggling- force additional effort from teams, organizing bodies, and sports marketing agencies. It is yet another step in an evolutionary process that the circus is trying to take in order to regain the ground lost in the past years, to further expand its boundaries and to win new slices of the public, taking them away from other forms of entertainment.

Changes to the calendar are not the only weapon with which Domenicali and his people are preparing to face the future. 2022 also sees a substantial revolution in car design: simpler, easier to pass, safer and more sustainable. Tires, wings, and airflow are being reshaped to provide cleaner, fresher, more linear air for the chasing cars, maximizing the ease of overtaking and consequently the spectacle on the track. Visually, too, another world. At the same time, upgrades to fuels and a general simplification of design should ensure a rise in sustainability, both environmental and economic, both of which are two issues often circled in red on the circus priority agenda.

It is hard to say whether all this is a revolution or an evolution. Among the skeptics there are already those who say that it is turning a recipe that basically worked into a snza fondant mess. Among the enthusiasts, on the other hand, there is the smile of those who see a sport that is not afraid to face modernity by changing and progressing. What is certain is that from the 2022 calendar we will be faced with a very different Formula 1 and in which the values on the field will go -once again- to be rediscussed. All that remains is to wait.