What will the 2022 single-seaters be like? The FIA regulations require the return of ground-effect single-seaters. So far we have seen some images that represent the show car that Formula 1 has built to give an idea of what the cars of the next championship will look like, but with anyone who talks about the Circus, a rather interesting fact emerges: the cars will be substantially different. from what the legislators have shown us.
Each team will have interpreted in their own way the rules that were defined too prescriptive and are working on the “holes” in the writing of the rules to go and look for performance where.
Here is the foreshadowing of Red Bull based on the 2022 regulation
Photo by: Red Bull Racing
This time we are not dealing with the aerodynamics of which much has already been said regarding the ability of the forms to favor the following of another single-seater, with a lower loss of load on the front which should favor cars closer in the group. , capable of overtaking more easily.
Thanks to the drawings by Giorgio Piola let’s try to put the cornerstones on the suspensions that will return to have a more important role than now. The reason is simple: now much of the damping work is done by the deformations of the 13-inch Pirelli tire, while from 2022, with the introduction of low-profile 18-inch tires, featuring a much stiffer shoulder, shaking control will return. to be entrusted to suspensions.
The adoption of a very low nose had suggested that the F1 cars could have returned to the use of the pull-rod system at the front, moving the internal kinematics of the body onto the floor, with a significant lowering of the center of gravity.
2004 McLaren MP4-19 with the high chassis and low nose: is this a solution that we will see again next year?
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
In reality, the designers would have gone in another direction: if the nose has to be low, it is likely that anteater shapes will be seen because the frame in the front will remain quite high to favor a good passage of air under the body for obvious aerodynamic reasons. , so there will be no space to place torsion bars, third element and shock absorbers, thus requiring a more traditional push rod scheme.
Mercedes W12, detail of the very raised front suspension
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
On current cars we have seen how the suspension kinematics have been strongly influenced by aerodynamics: the arms of the two triangles have been considerably raised. The lower one has been brought to the center of the wheel, while the upper one has protrusions from the hub holder thanks to very conspicuous brackets that have aligned these arms to the mouth of the radiators.
Mercedes W12: the bracket for lifting the upper triangle will be banned in 2022
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
The extremes that we have observed in recent seasons will be banned in 2022, since the suspension attachments will not be able to protrude from the rim which, however, will have a larger diameter and, therefore, something can still be recovered. It would seem that Ferrari will be able to benefit from this regulatory constraint, since the SF21 is the only one of the top single-seaters not to have superior pivots.
Remaining at the front train, it is right to remember that the suspension command will no longer have hydraulic control: Mercedes has already removed it on the W12, while Ferrari has never introduced it.
Mercedes W12: the pivot that protrudes to anchor the push rod strut can be more than 25 mm
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Another aspect not to be overlooked is the prohibition of the rules in using a very protruding bracket to change the angle at which the push rod strut is pivoted to the hub holder: thanks to this system it is possible to have a better footprint of the tires because the car lowers to one side when the steering is turned.
The 2022 regulations require the strut to attach to a sphere protruding a maximum of 25 mm from the rim, greatly limiting the effect that the technicians were able to obtain up to now. As you can imagine, these restrictions will certainly have an effect, at least initially, on the performances that the engineers will then be able to find with the development work that will lead to deliberating different solutions.
Mercedes W12: here is the rear bracket that will have to disappear in 2022
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Also in the rear we will see the disappearance of the brackets to raise the upper triangle: the conspicuous protrusion that has been adopted by all to improve not only the aerodynamics but also the kinematics of the suspensions will disappear for the benefit of a better exploitation of the rear tires that also suffer from the traction forces.
There are those who have evaluated the introduction of the push rod scheme also behind, to free the two channels intended to seek the Venturi effect from the suspension arms that would dirty the flows, but a careful analysis would have shown that the delicate area of the bonnet, where the hot air produced by the power units must be evacuated, so the concept of the pull rod we know would come back into play.
It is clear that there is a desire to simplify certain technical choices to make the single-seaters less sensitive to aerodynamics: the attempt is commendable, but the ability of the engineers and the knowledge they have acquired over the years is not lost, so let’s expect interesting surprises.
F1 2022: here is the show car shown by the FIA and F1. Actually, next year’s cars will be quite different
Photo by: Formula 1
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