For the nineteenth round of the 2022 season, Formula 1 arrives in the United States, for a Grand Prix which has now been on the calendar for many editions.
There are several particularities of the track. Circuit of the Americas (COTA) is made up of a first area where we find fast corners with a wide radius and a second section where medium speeds are encountered, with slower sections where traction will play a fundamental role. Without forgetting the long straight, where the aerodynamic drag will make a difference.
The approach of Scuderia Ferrari will be the same, despite the fact that the Maranello team has basically thrown away the chance to win. Unfortunately, the F1-75 project was not properly developed over the course of the 2022 Formula 1 season and the consequences are more than obvious. The goal for the last few races is quite clear: to collect all possible data and move forward for next year. Red Bull, on the other hand, is ready to celebrate the constructors’ title.
Let’s go in order and talk about aerodynamics, the first major factor which teams must consider at this track. Technicians consider imposing a high level of downforce in the first sector, vertical thrust which will also be necessary for the last part of Circuit of the Americas. However, in sector 2, this setting could be a disadvantage given the presence of the aforementioned long straight.
It will be even more complicated to establish the position of the center of pressure, in order to guarantee both good stability and the correct downforce at the rear. Cars with a low coefficient of drag, such as the Red Bull RB18, will be able to benefit greatly during the lap, although they will have less downforce in the slow parts.
Cars that have less aerodynamic efficiency at base, such as Ferrari, will decrease the incidence of the wings by seeking a medium-downforce set-up. In this way the top speeds will be higher and in the race they will be able to defend themselves more against any attacks.
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The compromise regarding the suspension will also create many problems for the technicians, as it is very difficult to find. Favoring aerodynamics would mean having a very stable car in the first part of the circuit, where you face many fast corners where a good level of stability is required. However, in the last section of the track, on average softer elements would help traction.
For this simple reason, greater stiffness will be sought to ensure a good level of downforce generated by the floor, to have efficiency and decrease the aerodynamic resistance experienced by cars as they travel trough the air. Finally, in the last section, a softer configuration would provide advantages in the acceleration phases.
The importance of mechanical balance will therefore be taken into very high consideration, which, as usual, will have to marry properly with the aerodynamic one. During the free practice sessions there will be frequent setup changes. On the other hand, history teaches us that oversteer is often triggered during the tuning work, an element under close observation that the teams will have to understand if it will be countered through the wings or with the suspensions.
Another very important aspect concerns the power unit. Taking into consideration past editions, in fact, cars that could benefit from more power have enjoyed many advantages, useful for “masking” some small deficiencies.
Generally speaking, we can assert that the two RB18s will have an advantage in Austin, although the F1-75 cars could assert themselves in the first and third sectors, as the suspension they adopt develops a lot of traction and is more rigid than the Red Bull version.
Ultimately it should be remembered that Ferrari is still struggling with the anti porpoising technical directive. This factor, at the moment, does not allow the Maranello team to take to the track with the ride height it used before the summer break and, consequently, the Ferrari cars could suffer more than Red Bull in balancing the car.
Although the bouncing and porpoising effects seem partly fixed, high speeds, softer suspension settings and the presence of some bumps in the first part of the track could be a good mix to trigger the phenomena, which is why the engineers could modify the set up according to the DT039.
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