In the coming weeks, the Formula 1 teams will present their new cars with which they will compete in the 2022 season, a course in which there will be very significant changes in the technical regulations, being the biggest revolution since 2014.
The aerodynamic regulations have been revised with the aim that the pilots can fight wheel to wheel on the track thanks to the reduction of dirty air. In addition, the technical freedom has also been reduced in an attempt to create a more even grid. The cars will also be heavier for 2021 and will switch to Pirelli’s new 18-inch wheels.
All of these changes were initially expected to slow the cars by several seconds per lap compared to the 2021 cars, but the expected time loss has decreased as the teams have progressed over the winter.
In a video published by Mercedes explaining the changes to the technical regulations, Mike Elliott stated that he does not expect any big changes in the performance of the cars.
“The overall performance of the new cars probably won’t be too different from the old ones,” Elliott said.
“Obviously the intention of these rules is to try to improve the chances of overtaking, but it will be a bit of time before we can see if that has actually happened.
“The car is a bit heavier, the power unit on the E10 fuel is going to perform slightly differently, and the way the aerodynamics are going to work and the set-up of the car is also going to be different.
“Until we get the most out of it, until we’ve developed everything through testing and the first few races, we won’t really know. But overall I suspect the performance will be relatively similar to last year,” he said.
FIA single-seater boss Nikolas Tombazis estimated at the end of last season that the time loss would be “pretty close” to 0.5 seconds.
“I don’t know for sure because it will depend on the tires and also how much power they find in the engine and in the aerodynamics part,” said Tombazis.
“I’m afraid I can’t give an answer to that. But I think he’s going to be in the spotlight.”
Mercedes will unveil its new car for the 2022 season, the W13 , on February 18, and is expected to complete an initial shakedown at Silverstone as part of the launch.
Rumors have surfaced in recent days that Mercedes had failed a crash test with part of the new chassis, but the team has since clarified that its car passed the FIA homologation process on January 13.
