Season 2022 will see Formula 1 enter a new era. The new technical regulation promises to completely redesign the cars that we have become accustomed to seeing over the last few years. The declared objective of the FIA and F1 is to increase overtaking on the track and also to increase the competitive balance between the teams. At Red Bull, after the title won in 2021 with Max Verstappen, everyone is convinced that despite the ongoing revolution their team and Mercedes will still be the teams to beat. In the past, however, it has often happened that a heavy technical revolution overturned the hierarchies and put the reigning world champion in serious difficulty. Here are some illustrious precedents that have occurred over the past 25 years.
1998 – Jacques Villeneuve (Williams) – 0 wins, 2 podiums, 5th in the championship
The Canadian is back from the incredible title won in Jerez, resisting the door of Michael Schumacher. Until the previous year, Williams was the reference point for the whole Circus, but in 1998 things change: narrower cars and grooved tires instead of slicks are only the most evident aspects of a revolution that penalizes above all the Grove team. . The disengagement of Renault as an engineer does the rest. Villeneuve, at the wheel of car # 1, did not win a single race and only won two podiums.
2005 – Michael Schumcher (Ferrari) – 1 win, 5 podiums, 3rd in the championship
After five years of domination, the Ferrari era comes to an end. Accomplice of the abrupt conclusion of the cycle is also the Federation, which distorts the regulation by prohibiting the change of tires. A knockout blow for the Maranello team and for Bridgestone. Schumacher’s only acute arrives in Indianapolis, in a race in which, however, just six cars take part. Without those 10 points, the Kaiser would have closed the year without success and in fifth place in the drivers’ standings.
2009 – Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) – 2 wins, 5 podiums, 5th in the championship
Fresh from a World Cup won at the last corner of the last race, Hamilton dreams of an encore with McLaren. However, F1 has entered a new era: new cars, introduction of the KERS and controversy over the double diffuser. The Woking team and Ferrari’s arch-rivals remain at the post. The scepter of power passes to Brawn GP and Red Bull. The reigning champion collects just eight points in the first nine races; then he manages to raise his head in the second half of the championship. The spoils of two successes, in the end, however, remain a meager consolation.
2014 – Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) – 0 wins, 4 podiums, 5th in the championship
Unstoppable ruler of the previous four seasons, the German of Red Bull accuses more than others of the passage of F1 to the hybrid era. Red Bull and Renault reveal obvious limits, but if Daniel Ricciardo still manages to emerge with three stage wins, Vettel struggles with difficulty, collecting just four podiums and never managing to get on the top step. This remains, at the moment, the last defense of a world title ended without a win.
#Champions #regulations #title #defense #nightmare #FormulaPassionit