F1 predictions 2022 with Sky F1's Rachel Brookes

RadioTimes.com spoke exclusively to Sky F1 expert Rachel Brookes ahead of the new season to gather her thoughts on the bumper campaign to come.

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RB: I'm really excited because the teams don't know who has come up with the right idea with these new rules. All the teams are saying, 'We've gone with this concept... but we've left it open to go with that concept if it's not quite right.'

They've worked incredibly hard already, but everyone is predicting a really, really hard season for the teams to just keep developing all the way through. And I think it's really exciting. I think it means we're in for a really competitive season...

Title contenders

RB: I think the top four will be the same top four. I don't think we're going to get anyone else getting into that territory at the start of the season but I do think they will catch up really quickly. Looking at Red Bull, Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren, they definitely all seemed to come away from testing with answers and also reasonably happy.

Red Bull are up there but it's really hard to know where they slot in at the moment. They're the most curious one of all because I can't work out whether they're up there with Mercedes, whether they're just in behind or whether they're in with McLaren and Ferrari at the moment.

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I always feel that the fastest Lewis Hamilton on track is when he's been knocked down. He's faster than ever when he comes back, and that's what I feel we will get this season. I can't, at this moment, see past him for the title this year. The way last season happened means that there will be no stone unturned in making sure he wins that eighth title this year. I think Max Verstappen is going to find a different Lewis this season.

I think if there is [any challenge to Verstappen and Hamilton], it'll come from outside of Red Bull and Mercedes. I would put Lando Norris down because I saw in him last year a growth, both mentally and technically, that I think surpassed anyone else. And I think that McLaren is capable of getting on the podium this year. He could be winning races and disrupting that battle between the two of them. He's an incredible driver who I think for the first couple of years, everyone looked at him as a young kid on the grid, he was fine and always joking around, but then if you look at what he actually did last year, he put in phenomenal performances.

I think if anyone is going to creep in there, it will be him or potentially Carlos Sainz. I rate Charles Leclerc and think he's up there, but there was just something about Carlos last year.

Midfield stars to look out for

RB: Throughout the rest of the field, there's much more scope now for them to all be way more competitive. I think Aston Martin look like they could be entering into that top four battle a little bit. They've made so many changes of personnel and they've brought some brilliant minds into the team to try and help that along. Once those guys are over their gardening leave and can actually start working on the car and helping develop, I think they will be in amongst that mix. Sebastian Vettel will be amongst it.

I would like to think Fernando Alonso would be there. You saw his defending last year, it was insane, and it shows you that he's still got all the attributes he had when he was winning titles but I'm just not sure about the Alpine. They had a disappointing test [in Spain] and I think they have a lot of work to do there. They're a bit under pressure at the moment.

I'd like to think Mick Schumacher won't just be fighting at the back anymore, but until we know what that Haas car can do, it's hard to say really.

Pierre Gasly always surprises people and I feel like he's so embedded in that AlphaTauri team now, he's leading that team and I think they're building the car around him because he's there and he's settled and he's happy. If that's the case, I think you've got to keep an eye out for him this season. He is a fantastic driver. Whatever happened at Red Bull, it just didn't fit with him. But this AlphaTauri team fits with him. He is quick and he will get points where he's not expected to. Watch out for him.

Drivers under pressure

RB: It's always hard for someone like Guanyu Zhou. It's always gonna be hard when you're coming up from F2 and you come with a lot of money because people don't expect you to actually have the talent. They think you just bought a seat. I really want him to have a good season, he's a really great guy, he's a great driver but I want him to hit the ground running and then silence all of that so he can just get on with the season. He's also got Valtteri Bottas as his teammate, so he's got a big job on his hand. I hope people let him just get used to the whole Formula 1 circus.

I also think Yuki Tsunoda had some great races at the end of last season but he had such a tough year up to that point. He'd have a great race and then a poor race, a great race, a poor race. I hope he's settled, I hope he feels happier and calmer now in the team and can just concentrate on the driving. It always felt like he took two steps forward and one step back. Hopefully his progression will be upwards because I think there'll be a bit of pressure on him this year if he can't turn in the results. It's a high pressure environment in that Red Bull/AlphaTauri.

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