SIDETRACK – MIKE BLANCHET
All that glitters Initial thoughts on the emerging 2022 Formula 1 contenders
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urely this is the most nerve racking, yet exciting time for F1 design teams in years? The long-awaited new breed of Formula 1 cars being revealed as I write do, actually, present quite major differences in appearance, even if camouflaged to some extent by the launch liveries and acknowledging the desire for retention of secrecy concerning some features. The ridiculous and hugely costly to develop bargeboard arrays have been banned, and the 2022 cars look sleeker and less bizarre as a result, if not quite as stunning as the futuristic images doing the media rounds a couple of years back. Ironically, however, the most radical and important design features – bearing in mind that these are responsible for at least 50 per cent of the overall car downforce – are the ground effect venturis, which of course cannot be seen. Certainly, the subtle shaping of these to achieve the optimum downforce at different speeds, without the centre of pressure migrating unfavourably under braking and acceleration, has no doubt received a great deal of CFD and wind tunnel attention. As with engines, though, peak figures do not always translate into the best on-track performance.
techniques to spy on their rivals, just as Racing Point did to mimic the 2020 Mercedes W10. Nonetheless, one cannot envisage significant changes being made involving the monocoque structure and fundamentals such as the chosen wheelbase, unless a team’s situation is desperate.
I cannot see how cars can be run much closer to the ground than before, judging from the sparks that regularly streamed from front skid blocks. Yes, the greater sidewall rigidity of the latest low-profile tyres will enable chassis to be set a little lower statically, but the final dynamic clearance will surely be similar, especially as there is supposed to be a reduction in overall Timeframes, and the budget cap, mean downforce under the latest regulations. developments must be limited to bolt-on / off In fact, the pitch sensitivity that is endemic appendages, examples being wing assemblies to a flat-bottom surface should be reduced and parts controlling airflow to the underbody considerably by the adoption of the ground venturis, possibly even the venturis themselves. effect underbody tunnels, their behaviour in this There will be a myriad smaller revisions and I respect being inherently more benign. expect many to be around the rear of the cars as Enough compliance for drivers to be able engineers get to grips with the testing feedback. to use kerbs without completely upsetting the car will still exist. So will managing temperature and degradation of the 2022 Pirelli tyres without the benefit of some of the past clever gizmos. Suspension generally should assume prominence in the scale of performance factors, so I really don’t ‘get’ these go-kart allusions. As for predictions that these cars will be harder to drive. Well, once a mechanical and aero balance is achieved, any car should be decently driveable, especially with the PU power and torque delivery As this photo shows, one thing that has not improved on the 2022 cars is driver visibility characteristics staying largely Unsurprisingly, sidepods and engine unchanged. But bring it on and we’ll covers appear to vary the most in designers’ initial Achieving the best interaction of all elements see. Let courage and talent shine through! interpretations of the 2022 regulations, mainly in that area that can contribute to downforce With barely a shakedown having taken place driven by varying PU cooling requirements is vital. There are distinct probabilities of as my deadline closes, the only real on-track and their solutions. As always, these external components appearing that are missing on the driver feedback so far echoes what was already aerodynamic surfaces are a compromise between launch cars. Williams’ FW44, for example, looks evident from the simulator work: visibility is poor, keeping temperatures of the hybrid package distinctly unfinished around the Coke bottle due to the larger front tyres and air deflectors. within tolerances, minimising drag, achieving and rear tyre area. The Ferrari F75 front wing I’ve written before how bad the drivers’ view is the desired weight distribution fore and aft and assembly appears deliberately anodyne. Red already through the ‘letterbox’ bounded by high keeping the car’s c of g as low as possible. Bull has been playing games and I simply can’t monocoque sides, low seating position and the Packaging is, of course, a fundamental issue believe the Haas renderings revealed so far. Halo strut. To add another restriction isn’t good, within the overall layout, and minimising weight As usual, most attention focuses on the and to my mind it’s dangerous. is always a given. This is not to say that one aerodynamic stuff, but mechanical design is Given the 2022 tyre is only 60mm greater in concept is going to prove superior to all the extremely important, too. I confess I’m puzzled OD than before, I suspect the main problem lies others – there can of course be more than one by what seems to be a common theme: that with the deflector. Maybe this will have to go way to achieve a similar level of performance the spring / damping will need to be a lot stiffer then, or be revised? Shucks, valuable sponsor – but certain design features from the most than before, because ride heights will be lower space gone along with it… competitive cars will doubtless become more to maximise the ground effect. Well, except for The big question, however, still remains. Will generally adopted as the season progresses. the Red Bull philosophy of ungainly high rear the racing be improved? Probably, but ‘difficult Without question, a great deal of effort will be ride height, though that’s likely to be gone in to follow closely’ will likely remain an easy expended by teams using sophisticated photo the new generation car. driver excuse for not trying harder. Motorsport Images
Cool runnings
Bolt-on goodies
I cannot see how cars can be run much closer to the ground than before APRIL 2022 www.racecar-engineering.com 5
