What the FIA must do to restore F1’s credibility

OPINION: The first stage of the 2022 Formula 1 pre-season is just over a month away, but the championship is still reeling from the controversial results of last year’s finale. The FIA acknowledges F1 has had its reputation dented as a result, so here’s how it could go about putting things right

Author Alex Kalinauckas

Updated Jan 25, 2022, 5:48 PM

Has everyone calmed down now?

The 2021 Formula 1 season finale has gone down as one of the most controversial in the championship’s history – overshadowing Max Verstappen’s triumph and leaving Lewis Hamilton disillusioned (Toto Wolff’s word) with the series in which he is statistically the greatest ever competitor. And that’s even without what would’ve been a record breaking eighth world title.

Over a month on from the Abu Dhabi farce and with pre-season testing for the new campaign now just under a month away, this is where F1 stands: the championship is finally on the verge of seeing if its latest attempt to improve racing quality through regulation overhaul will work, but its benchmark champion is not certain to return.

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Author Alex Kalinauckas

Alex Kalinauckas is Autosport's Grand Prix Editor, covering every Formula 1 race since the start of 2020. After completing a master's degree in journalism at Goldsmiths College University of London in 2014, he worked for a range of motorsport and technology publications while covering national racing as an Autosport freelancer.

A lifelong motorsport fan - no one in his family can explain quite how or why such a development first occurred - Alex joined the Autosport staff in April 2017 as the magazine’s Assistant Editor covering Formula 2 and GP3, before being made Formula E correspondent and Autosport.com’s Plus Editor in March 2018. He lives in north-east London and is constantly frustrated by the Central Line.