C’is the recovery. Four months ago, the 2021 season ended in immense suspense: the two title candidates tied at the final GP and a crazy last lap, where Max Verstappen snatched the title from Lewis Hamilton, ending nine months of an intense and dramatic struggle, but so exciting. Exciting too, the new season which opens this weekend in Bahrain with new regulations and completely overhauled single-seaters. Who will have worked the best in the factory and which driver will know how to adapt the most to these new conditions? Answer in the next few weeks.
While the Netflix documentary series Drive to survive a hit, we asked Franck Montagny, former pilot and Canal+ consultant, to present the challenges of this season. On track.
Point : After last year’s exceptional season, should we be passionate about this new cuvée? Isn’t there a risk of being disappointed?
Frank Montagny: Formula 1 is off to a good start. I’ve been around the paddock, talked to the engineers and, quite frankly, the cars are going to be so crazy that I think we’re going to have a brilliant championship. There are of course the big teams – Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari – but we have the impression that the hierarchy has changed with a slightly less efficient Mercedes. The technical regulations have changed so much that there will be uncertainty almost every weekend. There are many things that are not predictable in the wind tunnel or at the factory.
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There is the technical aspect, but also the human aspect. And a certain Lewis Hamilton, beaten in the last lap and who wants his revenge…
Lewis Hamilton said last year that a season was a marathon. This will be the case again this year. As we start with new cars, we will see who is the strongest in the head and who has the best adaptability. The tension of last year is still palpable: it seems that the Abu Dhabi GP [où Verstappen a décroché le titre, NDLR] ended 15 days ago… Hamilton and Verstappen still have those moments in their heads. We’re going for a start to the season where we’re going to want to achieve performance right away. Except that this will not be the case: beware of tensions! The mid-championship leader will not necessarily be the world champion.
What conclusions can be drawn from the pre-tests in Barcelona and Bahrain?
Those who have succeeded in their return to school are Ferrari. They had been dominated for three years and they will start the season very well. We have seen them perform very well on fast laps and also on long sessions. They ticked all the boxes. Mercedes is a little behind, a little slower, but they have chosen a very different technical option, which allows them to have a very high percentage of progress: they should not be buried if they do not have good results at the start of the season.
And the world champion…
Max can keep his title. Red Bull will be present. They are fast and have reliability. McLaren are going to be pretty good too, even if they have brake problems.
And the French? Can Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly win a GP?
We expect performance and victories. We got used to it! Both drivers can do a lot of things: we expect a lot from Alpine – Fernando Alonso came out of retirement last year because he knew the regulations were going to change in 2022 – and Pierre Gasly is a safe bet. Either way, this season is gonna be crazy (laughs).
How are you approaching this season?
There are so many new cars that we are going to talk technical. We are going to try to bring Canal+ viewers a little more into these machines. We are going to touch the evolution of cars.
F1 must be a little shaken up.
Finger touch literally! You dare to venture into the garages, touch the single-seaters… even if it means upsetting the marshals!
Not the marshals, but rather the team bosses (laughs). It’s my trademark, I’m like that and I have no reason to change, especially since in general, it’s still good-natured because we all know each other. Even though I got slapped on the knuckles like in Baku when I hit the tires of a wrecked car. But viewers like that we don’t stay in the meadows. F1 must be a little shaken up.
Precisely, we feel that there is a new freedom in this discipline which has long been stilted…
We are American! The owners of F1 are American, we put on a show. It’s a good thing that it’s open but, be careful, it’s a sport that remains very coded. We listen to what they want us to listen to. I like to comment too, with Julien Fébreau who is a great teammate. I feel like I’m at home, on my sofa, with a friend.