F1 teams back in action ahead of the 2022 season

Two teams have already started their on-track preparations for the 2022 F1 season, staging private sessions.

Ferrari and AlphaTauri have begun blowing off the winter cobwebs, with AlphaTauri heading along to Imola for some track time.

Both Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda are getting the feeling back for the speed of an F1 car as they share driving duties of the 2020-spec AT01 over the three-day test running until Thursday.

Meanwhile, at Maranello, Ferrari kicked off several days of running with the 2018 SF71-H.

Initially set to use the 2021 car, Ferrari opted to change to the 2018 machine – RacingNews365.com was able to reveal the reasons behind the switch.

Ferrari Driver Academy member Robert Shwartzman kicked off proceedings by driving the car on Wednesday afternoon. Race drivers Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc will be in action on Thursday, before Shwartzman returns on Friday.

Teams are permitted to carry out private testing using cars of two seasons or older, but official 2022 pre-season action with the new cars won't get underway until the first three-day test in Barcelona on 23 February.