2022 Topps Formula 1 Racing Boasts New Inserts, Dramatic Designs
Formula 1 racing is fast and exciting, and Topps works to capture the drama of motorsports speed in its 2022 Formula 1 Racing card set.
Slated for release the week of Sept. 14, a Formula 1 Racing hobby box will contain 20 packs, with eight cards to a pack. This is a slight bump up from the 2021 set, which was released in February 2022. That product had eight cards to a pack, but 18 packs in a hobby box.
Hobby boxes will also contain box toppers.
This release is considered Topps’ flagship F1 product.
Base set
The base set will have 200 cards, with plenty of parallels. New additions to the parallels set include Fuchsia, numbered to 150; Yellow (125) and Green (75).
Rainbow Foil parallels are limited to blaster boxes, and Topps is promising four per box. Checker Flag parallels are hobby exclusives and will fall one per pack.
Other parallels collectors can chase are Aqua (numbered to 199), Blue (99), Gold (50), Orange (25), Black (10), Red (5) and FoilFractor (1/1).
Inserts
This year’s set has five new inserts. The 1968 Hot Rod subset, containing 20 subjects, utilizes the design from Topps’ 1968 Hot Rod set. The 1968 season was a difficult one for motorsports with the race-related deaths of Jim Clark, Ludovico Scarfiotti, Mike Spence and Jo Schlesser. But on a happier note, Graham Hill won his second series title.
Flash of Brilliance features 15 of the top names in Formula 1 racing with a dynamic backdrop behind each driver featured.
Topps waxes poetic in its description of the 10-card Clean Air, Blue Skies insert. Each card captures a driver out on their own, and “there is perfect, unobstructed airstream for their car.”
Bounce, Rock, Race, Roll is a 15-card subset that has a 1970s feel to it, from the headline typography to the streamlined and swirling background elements. Very retro, with stars and a look that is reminiscent of the disco era.
Art du Grand Prix is limited to five inserts. These poster-style cards feature five key tracks on the F1 circuit.
All five insert sets have parallel cards, and the breakdown is the same. There is Gold (numbered to 50), Orange (25), Red (5), FoilFractor (1/1) and Printing Plates (1/1).
Relics
Like the 2021 set, the 2022 Formula 1 Racing set will have relics, rather than autographs. The relics will fall in every other hobby box, on average.
The main F1 relic set will feature 32 subjects and eight alternates. The cards will feature race-worn materials from drivers.
Parallels will be found in Blue (numbered to 99), Green (numbered to 75 and making its debut), Gold (50), Black (10), Red (5) and FoilFractor (1/1).
Box Toppers
Another new element to this year’s set are Art du Grand Prix Post Card box toppers. There are five subjects, which have a larger view of five featured tracks on the F1 circuit. The card packs will look like the backs of postcards.
Parallels can be found in Gold (numbered to 50), Orange (25) and Red (5).
There was no mention of autographs for 2022 Topps Formula 1 in the company’s promotional material.
About Bob D’Angelo
Bob has been a sportswriter and copy editor for more than 35 years and a blogger for a decade. He is celebrating his 50th year of card collecting, and still counts his 1965 Topps Mickey Mantle as his favorite. You can reach him at [email protected].
