F1 teams are working relentlessly on the new ground-effect single-seaters that will be introduced in 2022, with the aim of improving the quality of racing, allowing drivers to follow each other more easily.
A number of pilots who have started testing them on the simulator have said they will require a different approach than the current one. However, Valtteri Bottas, who got to work on the simulator with the 2022 version of the Mercedes and Alfa Romeo, believes that things will not be totally different.
Referring to his experience with the Mercedes simulator earlier this year, and then his experience with the Alfa Romeo simulator a few months ago, Bottas said: “You feel that something is missing in terms of downforce.”
“But the general feeling, at least in the simulator, wasn’t too different on both. We can’t simulate following other cars or anything like that, but it’s not insanely different. Maybe there’s a little less downforce and that will change.”
Bottas’ comments are in contrast with those of McLaren driver Lando Norris, who instead said he found a feeling similar to that of Formula 2.
Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes W12
Photo by: Erik Junius
“For sure there will be a slightly different style,” Norris said recently when Motorsport.com asked him about the differences.
“I don’t think they will be so good to drive in a way. I think we will be a little bit more at the limit, a bit like Formula 2, where you fight more with the car and things like that.”
“But I could be wrong, because things are always changing. The one I tried in the simulator a month ago will now be very different, and will probably be even more so when we get to the first race.”
Bottas did not hide the fact that he was a little sad at the idea of having to abandon the cars with very high downforce that have allowed us to achieve record times in recent seasons.
“It was fun, especially last year, because the cars were even faster this year, with more downforce,” he said.
“They were good, but I will let you know next year how the new ones are. If the racing is better, we can follow each other more closely and it should be even more fun. I think in the future the cars will be as fast as they are now pretty quickly,” we hope so “.
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