So we have 2 races in the books with the new cars. What are your thoughts on them? Has the racing been an improvement? To me it's a hit and a miss. The cars definitely seem to follow another car much better, all the drivers seem to be saying the same and are much happier about it. This is for sure a good thing. Going to 18" wheels was a mistake to me. I did not like the decision from the beginning since it was done as a cosmetic change, but then it got worse by being forced into these hideous hub caps. The low profile tire is less forgiving and a slow tire than the 13" wheel. The tires were a major part of the car's ability to absorb bumps and was factored into the suspension setup. Granted, the stiffer tire does punish a driver for mistakes and makes the car less forgiving over curbs, so maybe that's a positive. The Pirelli tires very strange and pretty much trash. The tires don't really overheat as quickly as in the past, but teams can't seem to get the tires into their optimum window. The reduced tire blanket temps didnt help. These tires don't have a lot of grip to start with, then they have massive tire deg and wear out in 15 laps, but if driven correctly, the tires will sustain after that and last 40 laps? The ground effect might be too powerful. With the reduction of mechanical grip from the tires and the increase in high speed max downforce from the underbody, the aero to tire grip ratio is undesirable. In the medium to high speed corners, the cars have more downforce than before which if corners are easy flat, then the driving element is reduced. DRS has too much of an impact. I personally think there is a myth behind simply killing all the downforce and the cars will be closer together and passing will be plentiful. I watched the Nascar race yesterday and even with a pretty much spec car and very low downforce compared to an open wheeler, it was still follow the leader, even when qualifying was separated by like 8 seconds. At least from 1st to 16th, the driver skill in F1 is much much closer than it ever was "back in the day". There is always only going to be 1 ideal driving line. So I understand why DRS is there, like it or hate it, it did work to get more passing on track. But for 2022 it's now working as a suction zone for a slower car behind. If the following car gets ahead, that car doesn't seem to pull away because it wasn't really a faster car, plus the guy behind is now in that suction zone. The battles between Charles and Max have been entertaining, I can't say I am truly a fan of the slamming on the brakes before the DRS line strategy. The cars are too heavy!! I don't think you will find anyone that disagrees with this. I'm shocked that teams can't seem to get to the minimum weight of 798 kg. That's insane to me. The cars are just so sluggish now, especially with 100 kg of fuel on board. The slow speed corners are terrible. We generally know why the cars are this heavy, but the FIA has forced such big increases in weight. The rear tires alone are 23 kg each! I was shocked to hear that. The halo of course added a few kg, but that has to stay. The crash bars have gotten bigger, which has increased weight. But the cars are just too big. To reduce the size of the cars would likely mean going back to 1.8 meters wide and therefore smaller tires (back to 2016 sizes). To reduce the length we would need to see the hybrid PU get replaced, and/or smaller fuel cells. Keep in mind that teams are limited to carrying a max of 105 kg (did it get upped to 110?) of fuel over a race. That's approx 133-145 Liters of fuel. I'm not sure an NA V10 could ever only use that little of fuel. Even the KERS assisted V8s in 2013 still used well over 200 L per race. The current hybrid engines are for sure the most efficient engines in F1, perhaps motorsport history. If F1 want to continue that illusion of a green sport, then that won't allow going back to V10s. So it's not an easy problem to solve. I'd love to see V10s return. I think a V8 + kers solution like we saw in 2009-2013 may be a good direction. I personally would love to see a return of refueling during the race. I kind of miss the different strategies, yet it would likely come at the cost of less passing on track. I for sure think they need to do something to make the cars lighter.
For me it's quite simple: The 2022 cars finds Ferrari competitive again. Therefore the new rules are wonderful! Case closed.
I like the cars, they are a bit heavy but as shown by Leclerc and Verstappen driving you can still dance with them very close to the wall and show your talent. Going back to v10 can only be done by scaling back the f1 budget drastically, no manufacturer will invest in them.
I think the overall concept of the car is an improvement. Clearly, the cars can follow a lot closer for much longer than before. I've been critical of F1's increase in weight for years now and I was astounded they increased the weight yet again for 2022. I also believe the cars are too wide since 2017. I'm also critical of the engines still. With F1 announcing they're going to even more races in the future, F1's ''green'' label is hypocritical at best. My improvements, to make F1 a true spectacle again are as follows: Width reduced to 1800mm Weight lowered to under 650kg, preferably even lower but with the added safety areas I understand that going much lower than this will be very difficult. Narrower front wing, lowered possibly. The width i'm puzzled by, why with the new ''racier'' regs did F1 opt for such wide wings still? It's very hard for the drivers to see them. Tucking the wing in to between the inside of front wheels would solve that issue. Lowering only for aesthetics reasons, though in the mid 2000s we had high-ish wings like now and that looked good. Airflow when following may be interrupted too much with lower wings. Removal of DRS. Simplification of the floor. No more wavey floors with holes or even spikes anymore (see Alpine). Tyres: I'm not very satisfied with the current tyres either and Pirelli doesn't seem to know either what it wants of what F1 wants. However, it's a sensitive area...bring in a 2nd manufacturer and start another costly tyre war and again have a divisive grid is not what I want, either. I don't want a team designing an excellent car only to be held completely back because their tyre manufacturer did a poor job. Rather I'd get rid of the use 2 compounds per race rule, and simply allow teams to specify to Pirelli which tyres they want in advance for the weekend. Want to use hards all weekend? Be my guess. Want to go ballistic and use softest compounds and 4 pitstops. Go right ahead. Engines: I'd seriously force a move back to 3.5 liter V10 or 12 NA. Like the V8 era, I'd introduce a minimum weight, 16.5k Maximum RPM, fixed bore/stroke, fixed materials. There won't be a lot of difference in the engines again. Cost to develop will be low. There will be a fixed cost per engine of around 400K. Engines will run on Synthetic fuel. Great way for Porsche to enter F1. I'm sure I'll get the usual comments of ''you'll never see V10/12 again" and "it won't be interesting enough for the 0.1% who love to see the development race (that they can't see), it will ruin F1" and "the manufacturers will all pack up and leave so you won't have anyone there to build the engines!". 1) I'm sure those that screech they won't be watching anymore are lying, and such a minority and be replaced with (returning) fans. 2) Even if some manufacturers leave, they'll be replaced by independent engine builders. Some math why it indeed will be very interesting for those independents: Mecachrome supplies the F2 grid with engines, a turbo 3.4 V6. This entire engine typically is used for the season (rebuild at 8K). Each engine is sold for €67K. With the F1 cost cap remaining in place dictating how many engines to be used (so no more penalties), we can assume engine use of 1 engine per race, perhaps even every other race. On a 25 race season, that's 25 engines per team at 400K each. If Mecachrome can develop an engine for F2, sell it in small quantities and maintain it for the cost they say...the maths sure as hell work for F1. More engines sold and maintained build to a spec formula. It's a no brainer from a business perspective. Ferrari, Red Bull would definitely remain. And frankly speaking, with the low development cost I'd be surprised if others left given the very favourable cost to exposure ratio. In summary: Lower weight, no DRS, great engines that sound fantastic yet still fulfill the green agenda and are much more affordable (400K vs the current 15 million per engine (source; Pat Symonds), free tyre choice.
Simple is better (and cheaper). Lighter weight and less complicated aero and power units are the way to go. F1 wants the power units to have some real world relevance and I can accept that but the aero at this level has zero road relevance. Get rid of the clownish front wings and drs. Make the cars smaller. The current cars are too big. The fact that they had to paint additional lines for grid position indication Is ridiculous. Can’t wait for the front wing carnage at Monaco…
I like that the changes have meant that there is some racing. The tyres maybe a bit disappointing but everyone has the same issues, and racing is better because of it. It would be good to open the engine configuration up to promote technical development, I am sure some technical people could come up with some rules to keep the playing field relatively level. i agree that the minimum weight should be lower and the cars smaller, seems crazy to drive fuel efficiency then mandate heavier cars…
