Why 2022 can be year of change in Formula One
NEW DELHI: 2005. 2009. 2014. For the uninitiated these are just years of the last two decades but for a Formula 1 aficionado, the numbers indicate one thing—change. It was during these years that major tweaks to racing rules were brought in, which, in turn, upended existing hierarchies.
Michael Schumacher’s record-breaking five-consecutive championship-winning run was halted in 2005 after tyre changes during pit stops were outlawed. The rule resulted in Renault’s Fernando Alonso winning the title using Michelin which had a significant advantage over Bridgestone, which were used by Ferrari.
The global financial crisis of 2007-08 forced the sport to massively cut down on expenses, leading to the simplification of aerodynamics which took away the advantage from Ferrari and McLaren—the two dominant teams of that era. The result—the emergence of Brawn (2009 champions) and Red Bull (2010-13 champions).
Circa 2014 saw the introduction of the 1.6-litre turbocharged V6 engines, now known as the hybrid era, resulting in the ongoing dominance of Mercedes, who have won an unprecedented eight successive constructors’ titles.
Moral of the story—every time massive regulation changes were introduced, the sport saw the tables turn on the traditional powerhouses which gave way to new champions— team or driver—zooming to the front of the grid. This was made possible by the smart engineers employed by teams, outwitting their rivals by interpreting the rules better and exploiting loopholes in the regulations.
We could witness the same in 2022.
Originally planned for 2021 but delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this year’s cars are significantly different, with Red Bull’s chief technical officer Adrian Newey going on record to say that the new regulations could prove to be the biggest in the sport in four decades.
“It’s pretty much possible that teams who didn’t compete for the world championship (in 2021), whether it’s Ferrari, McLaren, Aston Martin or Alpine, come up with intelligent concepts based on more runs than anybody else and just doing it very right,” Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff was quoted as saying by The New York Times. “So we can expect closer fighting for the championships and in races than we have had before, and that’s exciting.”
Radical new cars
The new cars look dramatically different with bigger wheels, expansive front and rear wings but simplified bodywork meant to encourage overtaking—something which Formula 1 fans have complained about in recent years—and closer wheelto-wheel racing.
Though much faster, the generation of F1 cars used till the 2021 season were relatively not conducive to overtaking with the car attempting to pass the one in front losing downforce and performance enormously* in the wake of ‘dirty air’(turbulent, disrupted air) from the car ahead.
Research by F1.com shows that the 2021 cars lose 35% of their downforce when running three car lengths behind a leading car, which increases to 47% loss when behind by a car’s length—eventually making overtaking incredibly difficult despite a slipstream. The 2022 cars will reduce those figures to 4% (three car lengths) and 18% (one car length).
Ground effect
The 2022 season will also see, in a way, the reintroduction of ‘ground effect’ to create downforce and thereby increase cornering speeds. The phenomenon was widely used in the 1970s, until it was banned in 1982, with cars designed in the shape of upside-down airplane wings to generate downforce by being pushed into the track.
According to F1.com, though the 2022 car is not a complete return to full ground effect, it does feature under floor tunnels rather than the stepped floor (used currently in F1) which will allow teams to create efficient downforce.
Meanwhile, the front and the rear wings have been chiefly designed so that the wake of a car doesn’t disrupt the one following behind with dirty air being diverted upwards. With ‘clean air’, the new wings, Drag Reduction System (DRS) and slipstreams, F1 could see many more overtakes on straights in 2022.
The rubber will also change with the new 18-inch tyres replacing the 13-inch ones to reduce tyre overheating thereby encouraging closer racing. Wheel-covers—last seen in 2009—and over-wheel winglets will also help in directing the wake of the front tyres away from the rear wing.
Significantly, the current 1.6l V6 turbo hybrid power units will not change due to the engine freeze which could also mean that Red Bull, who were powered by Honda in 2021, and Mercedes, could well end up dominating this year’s grid too.
With 23 races, starting from Bahrain on March 20—F1’s longest campaign yet—awaiting this year, will we see Max Verstappen try to defend his title against Lewis Hamilton? Or a new driver emerge out in front?