Who are the title favourites and what changes have been made for 2022 F1 season?

The new Formula One season begins in Bahrain on Sunday with Lewis Hamilton bidding to win an unprecedented eighth world championship.

Here, the PA news agency looks at seven key questions heading into the 2022 campaign.

As it stands, no. On the concluding day of last week’s final test in Bahrain, the 37-year-old made the gloomy prediction that his Mercedes team will not be in a position to challenge for wins, let alone the championship.

Max Verstappen, defending the contentious title he won in Abu Dhabi last December, and his Red Bull team appear in good shape – the Dutchman is the championship favourite with the bookmakers – while to many observers, Ferrari look to have the best all-round machine.

Yes. For the past few years both Hamilton and Mercedes have downplayed their chances in pre-season. However, the Silver Arrows have won eight constructors’ crowns in a row – a record in Formula One – and Hamilton has taken six of the last eight drivers’ titles.

But, on the evidence of testing in Barcelona and Bahrain, the Silver Arrows appear to be struggling to get on top of the sport’s biggest technical overhaul in a generation, and Hamilton’s admission that they do not have a race-winning machine is an alarming one when taken at face value.

F1 motorsport boss Ross Brawn has spearheaded a radical revamp of the sport’s rulebook in a bid to improve the racing. It is hoped that the introduction of larger 18-inch wheels, a simpler front and rear wing design, and a revamp of the car’s floor, will make it easier for one driver to follow another.

But fresh off the back of last year’s superb championship fight between Hamilton and Verstappen, Brawn’s position will surely be under scrutiny if one team races out of the blocks with a