Who has the best 2022 livery?

By Joe Murphy

In this piece, Joe Murphy of wheel2wheelreports.com writes in partnership with FANABOX.COM, in an analysis of the latest liveries for the upcoming 2022 Formula 1 season. There are changes across all the teams from their respective 2021 designs, with some striking looks and sensational design changes already having been displayed. Let’s now go through them, team by team, and see what’s new. 

MCLAREN

Not the first reveal of the season, but certainly one of the more newsworthy. McLaren technical director James Key described the team’s newly-launched 2022 Formula 1 car as “future-proofed for development”.
The extent to which that development occurs, should be extremely fast throughout the year. The car, sticking to that orange look from 2021 but with an additional lighter tinge of blue, the MCL36 is very much a baseline for the team to build on. This means that fans should expect minor changes and improvements to be made, throughout the season.

Although McLaren designed the car to the best standard it can be, they also factor in what scope there is for future development to ensure that they do not end up in stagnation, in terms of progress.

Then there’s the cost cap to deal with. The deployment of upgrades must now be done with maximum efficiency, creating an additional challenge for all teams, with McLaren no exception. This cap has forced the constructor to think smartly and with long term visions in mind. Therefore, despite the impressive looks, it is very much “jury’s out” for how competitive Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris, will be able to be. It appears that strategy will be more important than ever, in the quest for success.

ASTON MARTIN

The car may have looked impressive, but Sebastian Vettel’s hairline was the best revelation of the week. On a serious note, Aston Martin were the third F1 team to unveil their car for the 2022 season and have named it the ‘AMR22’. In Warwickshire, where the team’s headquarters are based, they showed the results of hours and hours of work to make the car more competitive. Having taken something of a backwards step in 2021 from the performances seen in Force India/Racing Point spells, work on the AMR22 has been long in the making, with test runs in this car occurring as early as a year ago.

The team seem to be heading in the right direction, although the extent to which this will be immediately visible to the sport’s spectators, is still very much up for debate. Like with the aforementioned McLaren, it could be a more long-term plan.
Test drivers and simulators alike both show positive starting points for the team, who can yet again been seen sporting a dark green livery. Perhaps the most striking change are the Gill-like vents on the side of the car.

ALPHA TAURI

Alpha Tauri have revealed their masterpiece in line with F1’s revolutionary new technical rules. The AT03 was revealed digitally to the world this week, to worldwide praise. Gasly and Tsunoda, both of whom remain with the team for another year, will line up in a car that is, somehow, even more beautiful than we saw in 2021. Sticking with the white and dark blue mix design, the constructor will look to build on the team-best 142 points picked up in last season as they finish 6th in the standings, just short of Alpine. In this new era for the sport, this package should be mightily strong.

Despite similarities, because of the changing regulations, the team have had to, in the words of Pierre Gasly; “start from scratch”.

Team Principal Franz Tost, revealed how excited he was to reveal the car to the world. Although nobody will know the true pace of the car until testing commences, everybody who works with the team seems confident that they have produced something special.

RED BULL

Red Bull launched their car for 2022, with Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez and Christian Horner all at the RB18 unveiling
Yet again, this car has been tailored to work with the sport’s revolutionary new rules.

The car sports the usual red, blue and yellow streaks of what has become the traditional Red Bull livery, but this time with new sponsor Oracle plastered across the side.
Team Boss Christian Horner did declare that whilst fans were taken aback by the changes in design, “by the time we get to the first race… the car will not look very much like this.” One of the RB18’s will of course be car number 1, and be driven by the reigning World Champion, Max Verstappen himself.

FERRARI

In a launch season characterized by the visual differences between cars, the new Ferrari F1-75 stands for more than this. With new aero regulations to work with, Ferrari has gone above and beyond to make this car, a title challenger. The only thing that doesn’t appear to have changed, is the suspension. The same cannot be said for the Fashion lines available on this site. The classic Red/White combo has been drastically changed to a more serious and slightly naughty Red and Black. Sainz and Leclerc certainly looked the part at the new reveal, more striking and sophisticated than ever.

There is a new sidepod arrangement which ramps gently down towards the lower areas. However, there is also an upward ramp where these sidepods merge into the engine cover. Like the previously discussed Aston Martin, it has cooling vents on the top surface, to allow continuous air flow without compromising the aerodynamics.

Meanwhile, the profile of the upper bodywork resembles an upward trajectory. It appears as if the radiators have been laid out in a horizontal fashion, with the cooling tunnels running along the engine cam covers.

This has given a vastly undercut sidepod shape which quickly merges with the flat, slab side before then heavily undercutting once more. As a result, the rear of the car resembles a bottle like shape.

Furthermore, with wheel to wheel racing the aim of these regulations, both the floor and wheels look very different. Ferrari have taken a lot of forward sidepod area up with the floor venturi tunnels and the wheelbases have been shortened to a maximum of 3600 mm, extremely different to last season’s car. The reason all the cars discussed so far appear so different, is that all engineers across the sport have different ideas of what constitutes optimum aerodynamics. It will be interesting to see just who has got it right. The real challenge is direction of air flow, either through or around the car itself. Every team, Ferrari included, are looking to be efficient in their compromise.

The effectiveness of the venturi tunnel shape in lowering the air pressure of the underside will determine how strongly the airflow is pulled into those inlets. This, in turn, has an impact on both cooling and downforce. The size and shape of these inlets is therefore absolutely vital.

Whilst McLaren have opted for a very bluff sidepod shape at first glance, Ferrari have used only the top leading edge to do that and, as a result, instead are left with a hollowed out area beneath, meaning no area of immense high pressure.

The red team also appear to have made the same ‘double tea tray’ ruse as seen on the Aston Martin, allowing a split in the airflow around the bodywork. I haven’t even got onto the brand new power unit, which should see the Prancing Horses significantly faster than last term. Aided of course by the new and improved energy recycling system.

The architecture of the engine is quite different, though it is believed to retain the combined turbine and compressor turbo, which means Ferrari are the only team to opt for this design.

Finally, the nose shape can be seen to have a pronounced hollowed out section beneath which will further reduce the air pressure and enhance downforce, making the car stick to the road like it has glue on the tyres.

WILLIAMS

Williams presented their new livery for the 2022 season, but with a twist.
Team boss Jost Capito explained that it elected not to show its new colours on its actual 2022 car because they are waiting for that perfect design. Hence, we were only left with a show car.

With Alex Albon and Nicolas Latifi ready to race in a few weeks time, it has been revealed that Williams’ 2022 car the “FW44”, looks significantly different than the car unveiled during the digital launch, with the front end, the sidepods and the engine cover area, expected to be similar to that of the new McLaren. The team will be looking for an improvement on 8th place in the constructors standings, having only amassed 23 points in what was, rather depressingly, an improvement from the years prior. Don’t forget, they have won the constructor’s title nine times in their illustrious history.

Capito admitted it is almost impossible for Williams to set targets for 2022 considering that all teams are starting from scratch thanks to the radical changes.

HAAS

This article ends with Haas, who were actually the first team to unveil their new car, that surely has to be a step up from last year. 2021 was a miserable campaign for the American team, with 2022 always the priority. In essence, 2021 was a developmental year in preparation for improvements this, and next, season. Team boss Gunther Steiner was clear that there is much with more to come when the VF-22 hits the track for the first time in Barcelona.

Aside from the livery, which is similar to what we saw in 2021, there are plenty of observations to be had. Arguably, the most obvious difference is the team’s approach to the sidepods, with a very narrow inlet being utilized by the radiators in the car.

A large undercut is also evident under the sidepod, which should work well with the suspension elements in order for that all-important airflow to move freely. Moreover, the sidepod bodywork shifts outwards to meet the maximum dimensions prescribed.

Haas have also tried to make the rear as slim as possible, with a narrow cooling outlet. On the other hand, there’s no sign on the current revelation of a cooling panel with louvres. Something currently permitted yet Haas don’t seem to have opted for it.

MERCEDES

The Silver Arrows return. With latest revelation of the 2022 calendar comes from the defending constructors champions. The W13 was displayed to the world for the first time Friday morning to much acclaim. Dropping the black colour scheme, the tema have gone back to their more traditional and well-loved Sterling.

With Lewis Hamilton set to return alongside new teammate George Russell for the coming season, there are many visible changes to the design of the already successful formula. With the combination of other teams making tremendous strides and the changing regulations, Mercedes are no exception with Lewis Hamilton himself labelling the changes as “drastic”. The man from Stevenage hopes he can win back his World Title and set a new record in doing so, by claiming what would be an eighth Driver’s Championship.

That being said, on the chassis side, the changes are monumental. Breaking this down, the way the regulations are constructed are very different. This is particularly evident in the aerodynamic design. This, understandably, has a big impact. Furtheremore, what Mercedes are trying to achieve with the aerodynamics means the cars are literally a contrasting shape. Finally, this is the first time the constructor will have attempted such a drastic change with a cap enforced on the costings.