One of the main objectives that Formula 1 has tried to pursue with the introduction of the new technical regulation is to give the public more exciting races and a greater number of duels on the track.
To do this, it was decided to adopt ground-effect single-seaters starting this year, the purpose of which is to allow the drivers behind another car to be able to follow those in front closely without paying a high price for the harmful turbulence.
During the two pre-season test sessions, some drivers experienced the sensations experienced behind the wheel in these situations and in many cases positive feedback was received. Obviously the first response will only take place this weekend in Bahrain, home of the inaugural race of the 2022 Formula 1 season, but according to the words of Max Verstappen it seems that the drivers will suffer less turbulence.
The world champion, who finished the tests in Bahrain with the best time on Saturday and the feeling of having a decidedly well-balanced Red Bull in his hands, ready to play the leading role, admitted that this year’s reactions of a single-seater in the wake are much more predictable.
“I think the situation has improved a lot compared to last year. Until last season when you followed another car your car suddenly felt understeer or oversteer. It was uncontrollable ”.
“Now, on the occasions when I have been behind another car, I have noticed that yes there is a loss of load but it is balanced both at the front and at the rear and this makes the car more predictable and more controllable for the pilots “.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18
Photo by: Lars Baron
In Bahrain, admiring the images of the camera cars broadcast by the international directors, it was possible to see how some drivers struggled to find the limit of their cars. According to the Dutchman, however, even with the new ground-effect single-seaters, and with the specific driving style required by these cars, it will be just as challenging as in the past to extract the maximum potential from the available package.
“Of course it depends on the balance of the car, but even last year if you had a lot of understeer or oversteer it was difficult to push the car to the limit. Driving every car to the limit is always difficult and I think it will be the same this year too ”.
Finally, Max admitted how the spectacularity of the races will vary greatly depending on the layout of the track.
In fact, according to the Dutchman of Red Bull, in the slower circuits the drivers will struggle more due to the greater weight of the new generation single-seaters.
“I think it will depend on circuit to circuit. These ground-effect single-seaters are slower in slow corners because they are much heavier than those of the previous generation ”.
“I think that in the more tortuous tracks it will be less exciting for us to drive, while the situation will be decidedly different in the circuits with a lot of fast corners”.
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