What we learned from the first day of F1 2022 pre-season testing

The 2022 Formula 1 pre-season tests got underway on Wednesday at Barcelona, where Lando Norris set the pace for McLaren. There's intense interest because of the rules overhaul for this year - so here are the standout lessons we picked up from the paddock...

Seldom do the Formula 1 rules change quite so extensively as they have done for 2022. And the appetite for the first day of running at the Barcelona circuit on Wednesday reflected this magnitude. Not because any definitive pecking order would be established, or we’d realise if the new cars can follow one another more closely to inspire greater racing. It was instead to see how the design offices of the 10 teams had chosen to skin their respective cats.

Lewis Hamilton assumed the role of plain-clothes detective as he scouted the handiwork of Mercedes’ rivals in the pitlane in the morning. The usually laidback Daniel Ricciardo was the “most excited” he’d been for testing in a long while. There was a rush among the media to see who could publish analysis of the lesser-spotted Red Bull RB18 the fastest.

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Author Matt Kew

Matt Kew is Autosport's F1 Editor, a role he has held since March 2022 after stints covering Formula E, Extreme E and the British Touring Car Championship.

Matt joined Autosport in 2018 to work predominantly on the magazine, but his relentless quoting of Alan Partridge meant office colleagues soon thought he would be better suited to increased field work.

Needless to say, Matt had the last laugh when he won the Motorsport UK Young Journalist of the Year Award in 2019.

His interest in motorsport was sparked by regular trips to watch ASCAR crash around Rockingham's banked oval.

Matt read politics and philosophy at the University of Sheffield - receiving first-class honours for his dissertation assessing the lack of female participation in top-tier motor racing.

He covered a wide variety of national race and rally meetings for Autosport as a freelancer before joining full-time. His best efforts to argue the merits of historic racing is undone by a questionable taste in music and James Bond actors.