The ground-effect single-seaters will weigh 795 kg excluding fuel. In the latest draft of the 2022 rules, another three kilograms were added leading to a total of 43 kg more than last year’s F1 cars.
An enormous amount if we consider that the original minimum weight had to be 775 kg and that it was then repeatedly increased in order not to explode the costs in the regime dictated by the Budget cap. The delta remains very large (20 kg are danced!) And there is a well-founded suspicion that there may be several single-seaters that will be born with a mass greater than the approved regulatory minimum.
The first consideration is that the new cars will be slower than the 2021 ones by about 1 ”5 only due to the effects of weight gain. Obviously, it is not certain that part of this gap can be recovered on other performance fronts on which the technicians are working, but we are at the second biggest leap in F1 of the recent era, given that in 2014, at the birth of the era hybrid, compared to cars with naturally aspirated engines, there was a weight increase of 48 kg.
It is a pity that over time the mass has always grown, taking away the reactivity of F1 especially in transients. The pilots who drove the new single-seaters in the simulator judged them more physically demanding and more in difficulty in the slow, while exalted in the fast thanks to the downforce produced by the two Venturi ducts. And, most likely, they will require a different driving style than they were used to.
The 2022 power unit will have to weigh at least 150 kg
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
The power unit, to avoid exasperation of very expensive materials, must weigh at least 150 kg (the batteries must be between 20 and 25 kg, while the MGU-K cannot go below 7 kg and the MGU-H under 4 kg).
The braking system with the larger carbon discs and revised calipers will have an influence of around 3 kg, while the 18-inch BBS wheels will cost 2.5 kg each at the front and 3 kg at the rear, plus the rim covers 0.5 kg each for a total of about 13 kg while the lowered Pirelli tires are not worth the 1 kg increase.
McLaren: here is the lentcular rim cover with the LEDs tested in the Abu Dhabi tests
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
We made this long introduction to introduce another important element in the analysis of what F1 this year will be like. The FIA has set a wheelbase that must be between 3,400 and 3,600 mm. Let’s not expect cars with a similar wheelbase, because the distance between the wheels will play a very important role among the basic choices of the project. Let’s try to understand why …
Comparison of downforce generation between F1 2021 and 2022
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
With the return of the Venturi tunnels which will have the task of generating at least 50% of the load with the car body, while it will be reduced at the front and rear with values not exceeding 25%, while on the 2021 cars the values were tripartite more or Less on par, it will be important to have a long car to originate more downforce from the underside of the new F1.
Ideally, therefore, the chief designers will have oriented towards the 3,600 mm of wheelbase, that is to say the maximum value that would be significantly shorter than, for example, the Mercedes W12 which was 3,726 mm, making the black arrow the longest F1.
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W12
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
This value certainly satisfies those who work in the tunnel, but not those who take care of the frame and the mechanical part of the machine. Because if it is true that a longer car is also heavier, it must be considered whether the extra mass could be repaid by substantial aerodynamic advantages.
Since we know that there is a high risk of seeing the birth of cars that do not reach the weight limit and, since we know that on a track like Barcelona 10 kg are worth something like 0 “3 in lap time, we have a strong suspicion that some of the teams will have evaluated the idea of deliberating a shorter car so as not to pay for this weight deficit in performance.
The 2022 single-seater in the Red Bull foreshadowing
Photo by: Red Bull Racing
Indeed, if we want to hazard a prediction, we can think that teams capable of creating more extreme solutions in every area of the single-seater will be more easily able to push towards the maximum wheelbase, while those with more limited resources may not give up on the idea of saving money. weight with a shorter car.
It seems all too evident, therefore, that we will find two different genealogies in the conception of F1 2022 with separate philosophies of approach. And, even, those who do not want to take risks, could have focused on an average wheelbase, leaving themselves the opportunity to work during the season with the developments, perhaps after having understood what is the solution that is the best among the cars that will be. prove more competitive.
The topic of passage, therefore, is more… burning than it may have seemed to some observers who did not consider it relevant. It is not surprising, in fact, if in the absolute lack of data on competing machines, there are several doubts about the choices made even among the top teams. We will have to wait another month to get some answers to our questions …
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