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The 2022 FIA Formula One World Championship was a motor racing championship for Formula One cars, which was the 73rd running of the Formula One World Championship. It is recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), the governing body of international motorsport, as the highest class of competition for open-wheel racing cars. The championship was contested over twenty-two Grands Prix, which were held around the world, and ended earlier than in recent years to avoid overlapping with the FIFA World Cup.

Drivers and teams competed for the titles of World Drivers' Champion and World Constructors' Champion, respectively. The 2022 championship saw the introduction of significant changes to the sport's technical regulations. These changes had been intended to be introduced in, but were delayed until 2022 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Max Verstappen, who was the reigning Drivers' Champion, claimed his second title at the Japanese Grand Prix, while his team, Red Bull Racing, achieved their fifth World Constructor Championship, and first since, at the following United States Grand Prix. Mercedes were the reigning Constructors' Champion.

This was the final season for four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel. Seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton endured a difficult season with Mercedes, failing to secure either a pole position or Grand Prix win during the season, the first time either occurrence had happened in his Formula One career since it began in.

Entries
The following constructors and drivers were under contract to compete in the 2022 World Championship. All teams competed with tyres supplied by Pirelli. Each team was required to enter at least two drivers, one for each of the two mandatory cars.

Free practice drivers
In at least two sessions of Grand Prix weekends, one for each car entered in the championship, each team was required to field a driver who had not taken part in more than two Grands Prix. The following drivers were entered at selected events to drive in free practice:

Team changes
Honda initially stated that they would not supply power units beyond. The company had provided power units to Scuderia AlphaTauri (previously called Scuderia Toro Rosso) since and to Red Bull Racing since. Initially, Red Bull Racing planned to take over Honda's engine programme and manage it in-house, under a new division called Red Bull Powertrains. The decision was made after lobbying the other nine teams to negotiate an engine development freeze until 2025. Red Bull Racing acknowledged that they would have left the championship if the engine development freeze had not been agreed to as they could not develop a brand new engine, and both Red Bull Racing and Renault were unwilling to resume their former partnership. Honda later agreed to continue supplying Red Bull Racing and AlphaTauri for with engines for this season, which were rebadged to Red Bull Powertrains. In addition to the assembly and maintenance of the engines, Honda continued to provide Red Bull Racing and AlphaTauri with technical and operational oversight during race weekends.

Driver changes
Kimi Räikkönen retired following the conclusion of the 2021 championship; Räikkönen won 21 races, and the 2007 World Drivers' Championship across a 19 season Formula career. Räikkönen's seat at Alfa Romeo was filled by Valtteri Bottas, who left Mercedes after 5 seasons. George Russell replaced Bottas, vacating the seat that he had held for the past 3 seasons at Williams. Russell was replaced by former Red Bull Racing driver Alex Albon.

Zhou Guanyu, who finished third in the 2021 Formula 2 Championship, joined Alfa Romeo, in place of Antonio Giovinazzi, who had been at the team since 2019. Zhou became the first Chinese driver to compete in Formula One.

Nikita Mazepin was originally contracted to compete for Haas, as part of a multi-year contract that started in 2021. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the resultant cancellation of Uralkali's title sponsorship of Haas, his contract was terminated. He was replaced by Kevin Magnussen, who had last competed in with the same team.

Calendar
The 2022 calendar consisted of twenty-two events. The Emilia Romagna, Austrian and São Paulo Grands Prix featured the sprint format.

Calendar expansion and changes

 * The Australian, Canadian, Japanese, and Singapore Grands Prix returned to the calendar after a two-year absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
 * The Miami Grand Prix made its debut, with the race taking place at the Miami International Autodrome in Miami Gardens, Florida.
 * The Portuguese, Styrian, and Turkish Grands Prix were not included in the list of 2022 races. These Grands Prix were specifically added to the calendar in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, to ensure that as many races as possible could be held.
 * The Qatar Grand Prix, which made its debut in the 2021 championship at the Lusail International Circuit, was not present on the 2022 calendar. The Grand Prix returned in after a one-year hiatus during which the country focused on hosting the FIFA World Cup, and remained in Lusail despite originally being planned to move to a new purpose-built circuit.
 * The Chinese Grand Prix was under contract to feature on the 2022 calendar, but it was not included due to Chinese travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
 * The Russian Grand Prix, which was scheduled to take place on 25 September as the 17th round of the championship, was initially suspended from the calendar in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, before being ultimately cancelled. The Grand Prix was due to be replaced, but that plan was later scrapped.

Race direction
Michael Masi, who had served as race director since the death of Charlie Whiting in, was removed from the role of race director after an inquiry into the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. As part of a restructuring of race control, Masi was replaced by former DTM race director Niels Wittich and World Endurance Championship race director Eduardo Freitas. The pair assumed the role on an alternating basis. Herbie Blash, Whiting's former deputy, was appointed as permanent senior advisor to the race director.

The FIA also introduced a new virtual race control system, much like the video assistant referee in football, as well as a ban on team communications that lobby race officials. Radio between teams and FIA officials also is no longer broadcast on television in order to protect race officials. Unlapping procedures were reassessed by the Formula One Sporting Advisory Committee following the controversy of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and presented prior to the start of the season.

Prior to the United States Grand Prix, the FIA abandoned the idea of rotating race directors, leaving Niels Wittich as the sole serving race director for the final four rounds of the championship. The rotation policy was not met with favourable reviews from drivers, as well as being in response to criticism of Eduardo Freitas's performance as race director at the Japanese Grand Prix.

Technical regulations
The 2022 World Championship saw an overhaul of the technical regulations. These changes had been planned for introduction in, with teams developing their cars throughout. The introduction of the regulations was delayed until the 2022 championship in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Once the delay was announced, teams were banned from carrying out any development of their 2022 cars during the 2020 calendar year. Prior to the season, the FIA said it anticipated that the car performance deficit between the fastest and slowest teams on the grid would be cut by half when compared to 2021.

Drivers were consulted on developing the new technical regulations, that were deliberately written to be restrictive so as to prevent teams from developing radical designs that limited the ability of drivers to overtake. The FIA created a specialist Working Group, or committee of engineers, tasked with identifying and closing loopholes in the regulations before their publication. The elimination of loopholes will, in theory, stop one team from having a dominant car, and in turn allow for closer competition throughout the field while improving the aesthetics of the cars. This philosophy was a major aim of the new regulations. Red Bull car designer Adrian Newey noted that the regulation changes were the most significant in Formula One since the season.

Aerodynamics and bodywork
The technical regulations reintroduced the use of ground effects for the first time since venturi tunnels under cars were banned in 1983. This coincides with a simplification of the bodywork, making the underside of the car the primary source of aerodynamic grip. This aims to reduce the turbulent air in the wake of the cars to allow drivers to follow each other more closely whilst still maintaining a similar level of downforce compared to previous years. Further changes to the aerodynamics are aimed at limiting the teams' ability to control airflow around the front wheels and further reduce the cars' aerodynamic wake. This includes the elimination of bargeboards, the complex aerodynamic devices that manipulate airflow around the body of the car. The front wing and endplates have been simplified, reducing the number and complexity of aerodynamic elements. The front wing must also directly connect to the nosecone, unlike pre-2022 designs where the wing could be connected to the nose via supports to create a space under the monocoque, thereby encouraging airflow under the car by way of the wing's larger surface area and the nose's increased height. The rear wings are wider and mounted higher than in previous years, with additional restrictions in place to limit the constructors' ability to use a car's exhaust gases to generate downforce. Figures released by the Working Group revealed that where a -specification car following another car had just 55% of its normal levels of downforce available, a 2022-specification car following another car would have up to 86% of its normal levels of downforce.

Teams have been further restricted in the number of aerodynamic upgrades they can introduce to the car, both over the course of a race weekend and over the course of the championship. These rules were introduced to further cut the costs of competing. Following the decision to delay the 2021 regulations to 2022, aerodynamic development of the cars was banned from 28 March 2020 to the end of 2020.

In 2021, the championship introduced a sliding scale system to regulate aerodynamic testing. Under this system, the least successful teams in the previous year's World Constructors' Championship standings would be given additional time for aerodynamic testing. Conversely, the most successful teams would be given less time to complete testing. The system was trialled in 2021 with the results used to create a more formal, structured and steeper model for the 2022 championship.

Mid-season aerodynamics directive
The introduction of ground effect meant that cars that ride high off the ground get less benefit from aerodynamic ground effects, which translates to slower speed on the track. Conversely, cars that run low to the ground gain maximum speed and benefits from this effect, but only up to the point where airflow under the car is interrupted. When ground effect is interrupted, a car experiences an aerodynamic stall, and the car lifts from the track surface. When airflow re-establishes, the car is pulled down again. When this effect occurs repeatedly, it is colloquially known as "porpoising". Teams with low riding cars sometimes also experience "bottoming out", where tracks with uneven surfaces combined with a low ride height simply means the car's floor will scrape the track surface. Bottoming out and porpoising can both cause significant forces readily felt by drivers; McLaren's Daniel Ricciardo described these as being "rattled" or "shaken".

By June 2022, several drivers had raised concerns about the effects of both of these problems. Haas's Kevin Magnussen had complained of nerve issues, and both of Mercedes's drivers had complained of back pain. As a result, the FIA decided that from the Belgian Grand Prix onwards a technical directive would be introduced to prevent cars from porpoising and bottoming out to an unsafe level following safety and legality concerns in the first half of the season. The FIA's proposal is for a specific addition to Article 3.15.8 of the technical regulations, addressing the flexibility of the plank underneath a car. The changes were initially proposed to come into force at the French Grand Prix but were pushed back in order to give teams enough time to comply with the directive.

Power units
Discussions over the 2022 engine regulations began in 2017 and were finalised in May 2018. The proposed regulations involved removing the motor generator unit–heat (MGU-H) to simplify the technology used in the engine whilst raising the maximum rev limit by 3,000 rpm. Further proposals dubbed "plug-and-play" would see engine suppliers bound by the regulations to make individual engine components universally compatible, allowing teams to source their components from multiple suppliers. Manufacturers would also be subject to a similar regulation concerning commercially available materials as chassis constructors would be subject to from 2021. The proposals were designed to simplify the engine technology whilst making the sport more attractive to new entrants. As no new power unit suppliers committed themselves to entering the sport in 2022, the existing suppliers proposed to retain the existing power unit formula in a bid to reduce overall development costs.

The quota system of power unit components was continued in 2022, with teams given a limited number of individual components that can be used before incurring a penalty.

Standardised components
Standardised components were introduced in 2022, with the technical regulations requiring standard components to be in place until 2024. These standardised components include the gearbox and fuel system. Some aerodynamic components—such as the tray that sits at the front of the car floor—will also be standardised so as to restrict teams' ability to develop the area and gain a competitive advantage. Individual parts will now be classified as a way of clarifying the rules surrounding them:


 * "Listed parts" refers to the parts of the car that teams are required to design by themselves.
 * "Standard parts" is the name given to the parts of the car that all teams must use, including wheel rims and equipment used in pit stops.
 * "Transferable parts" are parts that a team can develop and sell on to another team, such as the gearbox and the clutch.
 * "Prescribed parts" are parts that teams are required to develop according to a prescriptive set of regulations. Prescribed parts include wheel arches and wheel aerodynamics.
 * "Open-source parts" may be developed collectively by teams and sold on to customers. Steering wheels and the DRS mechanism are listed as open-source parts.

The system of categorising parts was introduced to allow for design freedom as the overhaul to the aerodynamic regulations was highly prescriptive.

Tyres
Wheel diameter increased from 13 in to 18 in. The 18-inch wheels were introduced into the Formula 2 Championship in 2020 to test changes in tyre behaviour. It was originally proposed that the use of tyre warmers—electric blankets designed to keep the tyres at the optimal operating temperature when not in use—would be banned, although this decision was later reversed after opposition from the tyre supplier Pirelli. The temperature of the tyre blankets was reduced. Previously, the front tyres could be heated to 100 C, while the rears were at 80 C. Both dropped to 70 C from the start of the season. Tyre warmers will instead become a standardised piece of equipment, with all teams required to use the same product with a view to eventually phase them out altogether by 2024. While Pirelli remain the official tyre partner and provider, BBS would partner and supply the rims to all Formula One teams from 2022 as part of a four-year deal.

Sprint points system and events
Having been first trialled under the name "sprint qualifying" in, the format returned also for this championship with the name changed to "sprint". The weekend format was unchanged from 2021 and was run at the Emilia Romagna, Austrian, and São Paulo Grands Prix with points now awarded to the top eight finishers rather than the top three finishers as was the case in 2021. Unlike the previous season, the driver who sets the fastest time in qualifying was credited as the official polesitter, with the winner of sprint continuing to have the right to start the Grand Prix from the first place grid spot.

The sprint was originally planned to appear at six Grands Prix before it was reduced to three in a compromise with teams, who wanted an increased cost cap for sprint races, to cover the cost of potential car damage.

Points system for shortened races
Following the controversy surrounding the awarding of points at the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix, which was only run behind the safety car, the criteria needed for points to be awarded for uncompleted events was altered. The requirement was changed so that no points are awarded unless a minimum of two laps had been completed under green flag conditions. Additionally, in the event of a race that was suspended and could not be restarted, points would be awarded as follows:


 * If less than 25% of the scheduled race distance, points are awarded on a 6–4–3–2–1 basis to the top 5.
 * If 25%–50% of the scheduled race distance is completed, points are awarded on a 13–10–8–6–5–4–3–2–1 basis to the top 9.
 * If 50%–75% of the scheduled race distance is completed, points are awarded on a 19–14–12–10–8–6–4–3–2–1 basis to the top 10.
 * If more than 75% of the scheduled race distance is completed, full points are awarded.

The previous criteria had been in place for over 40 years prior to the change, last being altered some time between the 1977 and 1980 seasons.

Additionally, the fastest lap point is now awarded only if a minimum of 50% of the scheduled race distance is completed while ending up in the top ten.

Safety car procedures and protocols
In light of the controversy surrounding the safety car at the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the procedures for the safety car restart were changed. Rather than waiting until the lap after the last car has unlapped itself from the leader, the safety car would now be withdrawn one lap after the instruction that lapped cars may unlap themselves has been given. Additionally, the wording of the regulations was altered and now state that "all" cars rather than "any" cars will be allowed to unlap themselves, if deemed safe by the race director.

From the Australian Grand Prix onwards, the FIA started clamping down on the kinds of tactics Max Verstappen employed during the final safety car restart at the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and at subsequent safety car restarts at the first two rounds of the championship, the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix, where he aggressively accelerated, braked, and drew alongside another car during the restart, trying to seek a tactical advantage over rival drivers. Drivers would be expected to drive in a consistent manner during race restarts.

Starting tyre choice
The rule that had been in place since, requiring drivers that advance to the third segment of qualifying to start the race on the tyres they used to set their fastest time in the second segment of qualifying, was scrapped; all drivers now have free choice of starting tyre for the race on Sunday at all events.

Financial regulations
In July, ahead of the 11th round, the Austrian Grand Prix, it was announced that the planned spending allowance of US$141.2 million would be increased by 3.1% after concerns that high inflation could lead to several teams spending over the originally planned budget cap.

Pre-season
Due to the change in technical regulations, Formula One decided to hold two winter tests at two different tracks to help teams gather more data on their new cars, with Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Montmeló hosting the first on 23–25 February and Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir hosting the second on 10–12 March. The pre-season test suggested that Ferrari and Red Bull were the two strongest teams, ahead of reigning Constructors' Champion Mercedes.

Scoring system
Points were awarded to the top ten classified drivers, the driver who set the fastest lap during the Grand Prix (only if one of the top ten), and the top eight of the sprint. In the case of a tie on points a countback system was used where the driver with the most Grand Prix wins was ranked higher. If the number of wins was identical then the number of second places was considered, and so on. The points were awarded for every race using the following system:

World Drivers' Championship standings
Notes:
 * † – Driver did not finish the Grand Prix but was classified, as he completed more than 90% of the race distance.

World Constructors' Championship standings
Notes:
 * † – Driver did not finish the Grand Prix, but was classified as he completed more than 90% of the race distance.
 * Rows are not related to the drivers: within each team, individual Grand Prix standings are sorted purely based on the final classification in the race (not by total points scored in the event, which includes points awarded for fastest lap and sprint).