As part of the new regulations for the 2022 Formula 1 season, the single-seaters had increased in weight, going from a minimum of 752 to 795 kilos, largely due to the 18-inch wheels and the safety elements that have been included.
This has been a challenge for the teams when it comes to designing their cars with ground effect, and it continued to cause headaches during the Barcelona and Bahrain tests.
During a meeting at the Sakhir track, the teams agreed to increase the minimum weight of the single-seaters by 3 kilos before the start of the 2022 course, although confirmation from the F1 Commission and the World Motor Sport Council was still lacking for the Bahrain Grand Prix.
The FIA’s head of single-seater affairs, Nikolas Tombazis , explained to the media on Saturday at the circuit where pre-season testing is taking place that standard components have turned out to be heavier than expected, meaning that the increase of the weight is necessary to ensure that teams are not penalized for something that is out of their control.
“The problem with the weight is that some elements are heavier than anticipated, and it was not controlled by the teams, so we wanted to compensate for that so as not to hurt them,” said Tombazis.
“A lot of teams have struggled with weight this year, more than normal,” he acknowledged. “As part of the regulations, let’s say there was an agreement for an increase of 3 kilos, although it is awaiting approval from the F1 Commission, so it is not a guarantee at the moment.
Tombazis added that the tires and rims were on track, but the new hubcaps are the reason teams have proposed raising the minimum weight to 2022.
“The tires were only slightly heavier, I think 100 grams more than we had anticipated, which is very small,” he explained. “The rims were about the same weight, but the hubcaps turned out to be a bit heavier than expected, that was the important thing.”
“A lot of effort has been made to make them cheap, because they are predictable, and we didn’t want it to be expensive, with lighter material like carbon. That would have been a pretty big cost increase,” continued the Greek.
Another element that the teams have included in their cars are the tie rods near the rear suspension to remedy the problem of porpoising that arose in the first pre-season tests.
Not all the teams have chosen to introduce them in their cars, and Tombazis indicated that it was up to the teams to carry them or not: “Although they have the option, the design of some on the ground can be more or less rigid, their geometry can be such that some need it more, we cannot force them to include it”.
“It’s optional, with them you lose a bit of load because there’s a tube, so we left it optional,” said Tombazis, who was asked if it would be difficult for F1 to approve these modifications to the floor brace.
“We had a long discussion, and there were people with different points of view. There was also the issue of weight on the table, and we tried to reach a sensible balance, hopefully everything will work out in the Formula 1 Commission, “he said. .
