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Sky Sports F1 expert Nat Pinkham believes the new F1 2022 regulations could offer a chance for a team to emulate Brawn\u2019s stunning world title victory in 2009.<\/p>\n
Jenson Button was crowned champion that year after a remarkable performance during the newly-created Brawn GP team\u2019s only season in Formula 1.<\/p>\n
The British driver won six of the opening seven races and held his own throughout the rest of the campaign to secure the world title against all the odds.<\/p>\n
Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com<\/a>, Pinkham believes next season could witness another huge shock on par with the success of Brawn and picked out notable highlights to come in 2022,\u00a0including the sight of \u201cgood guy\u201d George Russell stepping into a seat at Mercedes.<\/p>\n She said: \u201cWhat excites me most is the fact that the regulation changes make it such a blank canvas that you could well see a team, even like Alfa Romeo, be able to perform.<\/p>\n \u201cWho knows, they might just have found something, particularly with the help of Ferrari, to surprise a few people. They\u2019ve got Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou as their driver line-up.<\/p>\n \u201cYou could just see some sort of freak case like that where someone just suddenly comes good, a bit like Brawn in \u201909. I think 2022 will offer that opportunity.<\/p> \u201cWe\u2019ve got a lot of new fans to the sport and I don\u2019t think they\u2019re going to be disappointed because it\u2019s going to keep everyone on their toes.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s sort of ironic in a way that we thought that 2021 would be like a holding pattern for the year and it\u2019s been the most exciting year we\u2019ve ever had \u2013 it\u2019s crazy!<\/p>\n \u201cWe thought we were just going to tread water until next year but it\u2019s actually been the opposite. We\u2019ve set the bar pretty high for next year to entertain us, haven\u2019t we? I think it will in a different way.<\/p>\n \u201cIt will be so interesting to see these cars and how they\u2019ll cope and whether overtaking will be improved, which I\u2019m sure it will be because the greatest brains in the sport have gotten together to find ways of achieving that.\u201d<\/p>\n Read more: Inside F1 2021 finale paddock: Nat Pinkham on \u201csurreal\u201d scenes after Lewis Hamilton loss<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Not only will the cars look different next season but the usual merry-go-round of drivers sitting in the cockpits of each car has thrown up some terrific prospects.<\/p>\n Pinkham believes Russell\u2019s debut season alongside Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes has all the ingredients to energise the front of the Formula 1 grid all over again.<\/p>\n She said: \u201cGeorge getting in the Mercedes \u2013 I am so excited about that! That\u2019s what\u2019s so brilliant about this sport, there\u2019s sub-plots everywhere. George is the real deal \u2013 he is without doubt the real deal.<\/p>\n \u201cThis guy is so talented, you only have to see how he was able to step in at the very last minute in Bahrain in 2020 and to do what he did under that level of pressure was incredible. He\u2019s also just such a nice guy. You want the good guys to do well, and he\u2019s brilliant. That will be amazing to see.<\/p>\n \u201cI think he will come out of the blocks and be great. What Lewis has been able to do this year is that he\u2019s been tested in new ways by Max and he\u2019s been able to rise to that challenge. I think the same will happen again next year with George, who will push and test Lewis.<\/p>\n \u201cLewis has said this year that\u2019s been why he\u2019s enjoyed it so much. It will sort of breathe new life into Lewis\u2019 career as well.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t wait. Wait, I\u2019m not saying that yet! Let me have two days off! I need a bit of a kip first, and then I\u2019ll say I can\u2019t wait!\u201d<\/p>\n If you\u2019re looking for something else to watch, check out our\u00a0<\/b>TV Guid<\/b>e<\/strong><\/span><\/a> or visit our Sport<\/a> hub.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n