The regulatory overhaul is successful on several aspects: each team has a very different design philosophy and the following cars have an easier life.<\/p>\n
Speaking of design, Mercedes’ design has stunned observers: “a nearly invisible absence of side pods!”<\/p>\n
The world championship team, however, encountered a major setback with the new regulation. The ground effect is compensated by reduced aerodynamic support: in Bahrain, almost all the cars experienced significant understeer…or oversteer.<\/p>\n
These phenomena were observable in both top teams of 2021: the Mercedes, with its wasp-like waist, proved to be very unstable. Lewis Hamilton, coming out of turn 12, had a little scare.<\/p>\n
It’s the opposite for the reigning world champion: Max Verstappen’s Red Bull RB18 is also not an example of stability. The Dutch driver seemed to struggle to hit the ideal racing line.<\/p>\n
Lance Stroll, finally, missed the braking point at turn 7. It was quite astonishing to see how much he had to slow down, wheels locked, in order to regain traction.<\/p>\n
This trend has been observed in all cars, despite a calmed down porpoise-ing. However, the Ferraris seem to have a head start on the pack… at least for now.<\/p>\n
This reduction in support makes the single-seaters much more temperamental (and slower as well).<\/p>\n
Less support leads to less stability, and less stability makes wheel lock-ups more frequent. It is even possible that all four wheels are locked up at the same time.<\/p>\n
Charles Leclerc has given a name to his new braking technique: the triangle! In other words, releasing the brakes just after applying them.<\/p>\n
The 2021 F1 cars being aerodynamic gems, the braking points could be later and more stable. However, this year’s ones require a lot of delicacy on the brake pedal.<\/p>\n
The biggest brakers, like Max Verstappen, will have to find a smoother method for their attacks. However, it’s not certain that the “divebombs” will disappear.<\/p>\n
The 2022 season promises to be very interesting to watch. The race conditions will provide a much clearer idea of who has done the best job. It’s up to the drivers to make good use of it!<\/p>\n
It can be anticipated that these new cars will be less forgiving of mistakes than their predecessors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There is one day left before the end of pre-season testing. After two days, the Bahrain circuit has unveiled astonishing and difficult-to-tame F1 cars.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":87,"featured_media":35674,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,1749],"tags":[15,324,1543],"class_list":["post-7214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-f1","category-news","tag-15","tag-essais-hivernaux","tag-technique"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n