Formula 1’s new era of rules has caused a shift towards a ground effect concept, where there will be much more downforce generated by airflow running under the flat bottom of the car.
The new cars have large Venturi tunnels at the bottom to help direct air, however those design changes have also seen teams look for new ways to improve their performance.
As teams gained a better understanding of this new generation of single-seaters, they quickly realized there was great benefit to be gained by maximizing all of the airflow under the floor.
This has seen teams opt for a much stiffer suspension setup than in previous years, but now the FIA’s fear is that some teams may start using tricks to flex the edges of the car’s floor.
Said flex could help to better seal the flow of air that passes under the car, which would favor the phenomenon of ground effect much more to increase downforce.
The FIA is aware that this is one of the paths that some teams could follow in 2022, but ensures that they will be attentive to what is done and that they will not hesitate to respond immediately if they notice something out of the ordinary.
Nikolas Tombazis , FIA single-seater director, said: “With regard to the flexing of the diffuser or the edges of the floor, we will always be very attentive to any flex that occurs and we will impose, where necessary, extra tests to reduce its impact. “.
“When there is new regulation, it is inevitable that there will be some areas that are not perfect in terms of flexibility, and these may need to be improved as we go forward.”
“We won’t hesitate to do that. In fact, the current rules allow us to intervene if we find that abuse is taking place in certain areas.”
F1’s general manager of motorsports, Ross Brawn , acknowledged that teams were unlikely to get away with trying to play a few tricks on it, as rivals will quickly pick up on any odd flex and take it. they will notify, something that already happened with the rear wings in 2021.
“I think aerodynamic elasticity is something we can’t avoid in F1,” he explained. “It’s been around (by any team) for a long time, I was there when the engineers started realizing the performance gains they could get from the flexibility of various parts of the car.
“The FIA has always had to be aware of this, but luckily the regulations allow for a quick response from the FIA. And with all the analysis that can be done, you can quickly see what the teams are doing.
“There’s a great level of analysis of photography, video and all sorts of things, the teams are really on top of each other. We remember all the fuss about the rear wings last season, so they’re almost self-sufficient keeping an eye on each other”.
“The moment a problem arises, they raise an alarm about it. So the FIA will be almost immediately aware of any concern, and I’m sure they can address it overnight.”
Another consequence of ground effect cars, mentioned above, is that teams will be forced to fit much stiffer suspension in an attempt to ensure ride height remains as stable as possible.
That has led to some concerns that the cars could be brutally hard on the drivers, as was the case in the early 1980s, when ground effect also existed.
However, Tombazis is not too concerned about that situation and believes it will be a good thing if the 2022 F1 cars are more difficult and tough to drive.
“We are aware that the cars, in order to meet the needs of the new rules, will need to run as close to the ground as possible. As a result, they will be a bit stiffer than previous cars that had more rake.”
“We believe that the features that make the car easier to drive are not something that should necessarily be kept in F1.
“We want the drivers to make a difference and we want the cars to be difficult to drive. An F1 car is never easy to drive, but you know what I mean. I think having certain aspects that make the car a bit more aggressive when it comes to driving they are very important”.
“It is a situation that we will be constantly monitoring, but I don’t think it is a cause for great concern.”
The setup changes brought about by the new ground effect cars in F1 2022
Por Matt Somerfield
F1 teams will have to set up their cars differently in 2022, and not just because of the return of ‘classical sprung’ suspension, but because now they will also have to take into account how this suspension change is affected by the new 18-inch wheels.
As a consequence of this and the new aerodynamic concept, teams will have to re-examine the overall ride height and rake of their cars.
It is highly unlikely that leaning the nose down will offer the same benefit as in previous years, instead we could see teams looking for a car that is much stiffer and lower to the ground so that airflow through the floor of the single-seater is more stable.
The FIA has also realized that this could lead to teams trying some interesting aerodynamic stretch tricks on the sides of the flat bottom to flex the edges downwards.
Clearly there is a performance benefit to doing so. Even if it’s not too much of an exaggeration, with the resulting vortices created by the use of some tricks, that could be equivalent to having a physically sealed edge between the car and the track.
At that point, it will all depend on how quickly the FIA reacts to any obvious attempts to flex the floor of the car.
But, as was done in 2021 by adding and strengthening rear wing flexibility tests, the series’ governing body has shown it is willing to intervene if it feels teams are pushing the limits of the regulations.
