The great AUTOhebdo 2022 retro: the highlights of the season (3/3)

September 11: Dream debut for Nyck de Vries in F1

It's the kind of fairy tale that only the Formula 1 knows how to echo. After taking part in Free Practice 1 young drivers of the Italian Grand Prix with Aston Martin, Nyck De Vries is called at short notice by Williams before Free Practice 3, due to the appendicitis attack ofAlexander albon. The Dutchman dives into qualifying like one would jump into the unknown. First surprise: not only does he beat his teammate Nicholas latifi, but he qualified for Q2 and set the 13th fastest time in qualifying. Due to the numerous engine penalties taken that day, De Vries started 8th on the grid and managed to finish in the points (9th), after resisting Guanyu-Zhou (Alfa Romeo) at the end of the race. A successful audition for this luxury joker, also world champion of Formula E the previous year and who took advantage of his superb performance to land a contract with Alpha Tauri in 2023. This is the great story of this season. A meeting with his destiny perfectly negotiated.

De Vries will not have missed the opportunity to shine / © Williams Racing

October 8: Gasly announced at Alpine

It had become an open secret. On Saturday October 8 at 02:00 a.m. French time, at 09:00 a.m. Japanese time where F1 threw its marquee, Pierre Gasly is made official pilot Alpine from the 2023 season. Thus concludes the saga triggered during the summer by the retirement of Sebastian Vettel, its replacement by Fernando Alonso, and the refusal toOscar piastri to succeed the Spaniard at Alpine. Forced to find an emergency solution, the French manufacturer decided to play the patriotic and Norman fiber by poaching Gasly, who was starting to find it long on the side of AlphaTauri. Before this recruitment can be announced, it will have been necessary Red Bull finds a quality replacement for the Rouennais in Faenza. This is done after the signing of Nyck de Vries, who impressed the paddock during his F1 debut at Monza.

Gasly needed to embrace a new challenge after a decade in the Red Bull fold / © DPPI

October 9: Verstappen crowned in confusion

It's raining at Suzuka on this Sunday of the Japanese Grand Prix. Good news: the race direction opts for a standing start, which offers us a very nice pass from the first turn between Max Verstappen (Red Bull) the pole sitter and his championship rival Charles Leclerc (Ferrari). However, the situation will quickly turn sour. It's first Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) who suffered a violent exit from the track and narrowly missed being hit by his pursuers. Starting further back in the peloton, Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri) crashes into an advertising panel taken down by Sainz on the Halo. After passing through the pits, the Frenchman gets back on the track and tries to catch up with his little comrades behind the Safety Car when he comes across a towing vehicle on the circuit! 8 years after Jules Bianchi's fatal accident, have we learned nothing? The red flag is waved, and Gasly livid in the pit lane. After a long interruption, the GP resumes for 45 minutes, or 28 laps. While almost all observers and members of the paddock expected half of the points to be awarded, the FIA ​​announced at the last minute that the full scale would be applied. The reason: an obscure regulatory adjustment stipulating that a race which resumes and goes to the checkerboard results in a normal scale, regardless of the length of the event. In the midst of this confusion, Max Verstappen is crowned world champion for the second time in his career after an impeccable race at Suzuka. The Dutchman benefited from the penalty received by Leclerc on the last lap for cutting the chicane while trying to resist Sergio Pérez (Red Bull).

The circumstances of this Japanese GP will not have prevented Verstappen from celebrating his 2nd title as it should be / © DPPI

October 20-23: Victory for Sébastien Ogier in Catalonia

Our Sebastians are immortal. A few months after the victory of Loeb au Rally Monte-Carlo, it was Ogier who went with his victory on the Rally of Catalonia. The eight-time world champion WRC, who had given up his crown a few days earlier to Kalle Rovanperä, proved that he had some nice remains. As a boss, the Gapençais went to win in Spain with disconcerting ease to glean his 55th WRC success. What makes us wonder about two things: what is the real level of the world championship field and above all, Sébastien Ogier can he go for this 9th title in the future and thus equal Loeb? Talent and experience speak for themselves…

Like his friend Loeb, the semi-retired Ogier will have managed to secure a WRC victory in 2022 / © DPPI

October 22: Death of Dieter Mateschitz, Red Bull crowned among the Manufacturers the next day in Austin

Strange weekend for Red Bull at the United States Grand Prix. On Saturday, the Austrian team learned of the death, at the age of 78 and following a long illness, of big boss Dietrich Mateschitz, co-founder of the Red Bull brand and owner of the eponymous team as well as AlphaTauri. The emotion, palpable in the Austrian ranks, transformed into a wonderful tribute the next day, when Max Verstappen's victory and Sergio Pérez's 4th place gave Red Bull its fifth constructors' title, its first since 2013. A weekend rich in contrary emotions... A few weeks later, the Red Bull brand announced an internal reorganization, with son Mark Mateschitz at the helm and Oliver Mintlaff as F1 referent. We've probably not yet finished hearing about the brand that's giving wings to F1, and that's a good thing!

F1 paid tribute to Dietrich Mateschitz on the sidelines of the US GP in Austin / © DPPI

October 28: Budget cap: Red Bull caught by the patrol, Horner defends herself during a significant press conference in Mexico

This is one of the soap operas of the season. The new financial regulations gave Red Bull a cold sweat. The Austrian team was in fact the only team to have exceeded the ceiling defined by the FIA ​​($140 million) by $1,8 million. In return, Red Bull was given a painless fine of $7 million, and above all a 10% reduction in its 2023 wind tunnel time coefficient. But that is almost nothing compared to the image deficit created by this controversy, with the competition even speaking of a form of cheating. This earned us a memorable press conference from the incomparable Christian Horner, glasses on his nose and figures to back it up, where the British leader defended himself from any advantage that the team could have derived from this surplus, arguing in fact that the additional costs incurred were mainly linked to the Milton Keynes canteen. A big moment.

Christian Horner did not shy away when stepping up to defend his Red Bull team / © DPPI

October 29: Presentation of the Ferrari 499P Hypercar

On the Enzo e Dino Ferrari circuit, in Imola on the occasion of its Finali Mondiali, Ferrari lifted the veil on the Hypercar prototype which will represent it at the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2023, marking the end of 50 years of absence in the premier category ofEndurance. The Italian firm has thus confirmed its commitment to the next FIA World Endurance Championship as well as to the Centenary of the 24 Hours of Le Mans (June 10-11, 2023) with this LMH called 499P. A return awaited since 1973. The number 50 displayed by the prototype presented in Italy symbolized this return after half a century of absence. Two examples will be presented at Sebring (United States), on March 11-12, 2023, for the Prologue of the season. WEC before the official competition debut on March 17 for the 1000 Miles.

The 499P marks Ferrari's return to the premier category of the 24 Hours of Le Mans after a 50-year absence / © DPPI

November 11-13: Historic pole for Magnussen, first F1 victory for Russell in Brazil.

Interlagos never disappoints. The Autódromo José Carlos Pace will once again have been faithful to its legend, starting with qualifying, which was brought forward to Friday, the Sprint weekend. Faced with uncertain weather, Haas et Kevin Magnussen read the conditions perfectly and took advantage of the red flag raised by George Russell (Mercedes) to secure a sensational and historic pole position. The next day, the Dane sold his skin dearly but logically suffered the law of more upscale single-seaters. While we think Max Verstappen is on course to win a 3rd Sprint in 2022, the Dutchman can do nothing against the Mercedes of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton. The young Briton thus climbs to the head of the grid for Sunday's Grand Prix. Russell did not let himself be impressed by the challenge and transformed the attempt the next day after a very solid and controlled performance. The late Safety Car, the regrouping behind him that it caused, and the restart that followed did not worry him more than that. After a very complicated season, the success was total for Mercedes, which signed the double and avoided ending the year with a 0 point in the victory column.

A historic pole for Magnussen and Haas, but it was Russell (Mercedes) who won the race, twice / © DPPI

November 29: Resignation of Binotto at Ferrari

Qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix. Charles Leclerc comes out in Q3 equipped with Intermediate tires on a dry track, when everyone else was wearing soft tires. The expected rain finally arrived too late. The failure is enormous. Fighting for the honorary title of vice-champion, Leclerc also did not understand why the Scuderia did not ask Sainz, 3rd, to let him finish in front as was normally planned. One last straw that broke the camel's back for Mattia Binotto. The Italian, a brilliant engine manufacturer but who has not been able to convince with his qualities as a leader of men since his arrival in 2019, was in the sights of the Ferrari pundits. He will end up resigning himself, officially of his own accord, after spending 27 years in Maranello (Italy)!

Despite a clear rebound in performance, Binotto will have paid for the Scuderia's operational delays / © DPPI

December 4: Disappearance of Patrick Tambay

The world of French motorsport is in mourning at the start of December. Patrick Tambay, Formula 1 driver between 1977 and 1986 (114 Grands Prix), died at the age of 73. Born in Paris in 1949, the Frenchman had competed in the premier category with six different teams, including Ferrari, with whom he won two victories in Germany in 1982 and at Imola in 1983. Called up by Maranello (Italy) after the death of Gilles Villeneuve, Tambay was an essential player in the Manufacturers' championship titles obtained by the Scuderia in those years. In total, the Cannes native will have amassed five pole positions, 11 podiums and two best laps in the race in addition to his two victories. Victorious in the Volant Elf in 1973, he won the honorary title of vice-champion of F2 two years later.

Patrick Tambay (1949-2022) / © DPPI

December 12-13: Vasseur confirmed at Ferrari, the waltz of the team bosses

Monday December 12, to everyone's surprise, Williams announced the departure of its main team Jost Capito and its technical director François-Xavier Demaison. Is the German, formerly of Volkswagen, heading for Sauber where the Audi project is being implemented? Especially since Frédéric Vasseur has been insistently announced on the Ferrari side, replacing Mattia Binotto who resigned, for weeks. The next morning, the French manager was officially confirmed at Maranello. A few hours later, Sauber revealed the identity of its new CEO: it was Andreas Seidl, who served as team principal at McLaren since 2019. The German also has ties to the VW group since he oversaw the program Porsche LMP1 before his arrival in Woking (three victories at Le Mans between 2015 and 2017). In the space of a few weeks, 40% of the teams on the F1 field have changed heads. A winter transfer window that we didn't really see coming.

The challenge is big for Vasseur at Maranello / © Ferrari

December 23: Death of Philippe Streiff

Barely three weeks after the death of Patrick Tambay, the world of French Formula 1 is once again in mourning. His former comrade Philippe Streiff, author of a podium (Australia 1985) in 53 starts between 1984 and 1988, has also left. Twice on the podium at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Isérois native, who was born on June 26, 1955 in La Tronche, saw his life turned upside down on March 15, 1989 following a terrible accident during testing. private events organized on the Jacarepaguá circuit in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). Having become quadriplegic, Streiff was able to overcome this ordeal with great courage to launch himself into the organization of the Elf Masters Kart of Bercy, then by becoming actively involved in improving the situation and living conditions of disabled people.

Philippe Streiff (1955-2022) / © DPPI

The great AUTOhebdo 2022 retro: the highlights of the season (1/3)

The great AUTOhebdo 2022 retro: the highlights of the season (2/3)