We all know the 2022 F1 championship could have been closer. The racing has generally been pretty good and the ground-effects machines have largely done what they were supposed to do, but we only had a brief illusion of a title fight.
What Mercedes did wrong is easy to see (though complex to fix): the W13 isn’t very good. But Ferrari did produce a fine car in the F1-75. Given how the Red Bull RB18 has developed during the year, it’s probably fair to say Ferrari was always destined to lose but, should it find itself in a similar position in future, it has many issues to fix.
The 2022 campaign has revealed quite a few Ferrari shortcomings that need to be addressed – from strategy fumbles to backing a number one driver – if it is to end its wait since Kimi Raikkonen won the 2007 F1 drivers’ title. Alex Kalinauckas examines them in our cover feature this week.
Matt Kew also outlines the reasons why Verstappen and Charles Leclerc still have much to fight for over the remainder of 2022 and makes the case for the final four GPs still being worth looking out for despite the destiny of the championship having been settled.
Mark Webber came close to winning the title for Red Bull before Sebastian Vettel or Max Verstappen. The nine-time grand prix winner helps us pick out his finest drives from an illustrious career for the latest in our Greatest Races series.
The UK motorsport scene is still very busy, with many championships being decided and the famous Formula Ford Festival on the horizon this weekend. Autosport’s extensive coverage is underlined this week by our 23-page National section.
Stefan Mackley was at Donington Park to see the British GT and GB3 titles decided, Steve Hindle looks at the legend of Formula Ford’s most famous engine and we preview next month’s MotorsportDays LIVE extravaganza.
Sebastien Bourdais tells us about the time he almost ended up in the DTM, while fellow Indycar legend Rick Mears picks out his favourite race circuit.
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