When it is said that 2022 single-seaters are born from a blank sheet of paper, it is not just a saying, but a sacred truth. The regulation that will bring back the ground-effect cars in the 2022 Formula 1 season is destined to change not only the look of the next F1 cars, but also some technical concepts that have characterized the cars of recent years.
A couple of months ago the ten teams received from Formula 1 the latest layout of the 2022 single-seater from an aerodynamic point of view, with all the updates resulting from the continuous revisions of the rules, also taking into consideration any loophole that can appear when writing from scratch new rules.
And by carefully scanning the aerodynamic model created by the staff of Pat Symonds, FOM consultant, it emerges that different teams could revolutionize some concepts, among things such as suspension designs.
In F1, the push rod system in the front and the push rod in the rear have been generalized for years. There is no better solution than the other, but an adaptation of the kinematics to the new rules that induce chief designers to focus on a solution, mostly to derive important aerodynamic advantages. And, therefore, ideas that ended up in the attic could become important again …
According to the rumors filtering from Maranello, the Ferrari car that will have to fight for the world championship in 2022 could have very different suspensions as a scheme from those used on the SF21.
On the contrary, Ferrari is certainly not the team that has recently been appreciated for cutting-edge solutions, adopting very traditional and not very innovative concepts, while Mercedes and Red Bull have pushed themselves with the W12 and RB16B with ideas much more radical.
We knew that the Ferrari Racing Department are working on a Superfast power unit that should close the power gap with Mercedes and Honda, but the Scuderia are considering whether to abandon the push rod front suspension to switch to the pull rod version: the nose of the F1 2022 will return to be low so it could be a competitive advantage to be able to move the masses down to lower the center of gravity.
The rear axle, on the other hand, will be characterized by the continuation of the Venturi channels which will have to generate a large part of the aerodynamic load and having the pull rod tie-rod crossing it would certainly not be ideal if you want to maintain internal fluid dynamics free of harmful turbulence.
Ferrari, therefore, would be considering which solutions to adopt: front pull and rear push would mean a clean break with the culture of recent years.
As for the push rod at the rear, we need to go back to the Ferrari F2012, when the Maranello team aligned itself with the choices that Red Bull had already introduced in 2009, and was then followed by all the teams to date. The last Red car with the previous solution was the Ferrari 150 ° Italia of Nicholas Tombazis and Aldo Costa from 2011.
If the goal is to create a single-seater capable of fighting for the world championship again, it will be essential to introduce concepts that are not obvious, but rather innovative. We are confident that other teams will also go in the same direction, in particular Red Bull, and it will be important to find out how ideas that return to the present from history can be updated with much more modern and functional approaches to the 2022 car.
In Maranello they also have a plan B ready which provides for suspension schemes in line with what we see today, as a valid alternative to a project that should be courageous if the intention is to bring the Scuderia back to fight for the top.
The Maranello team, like others, have already contributed with three days of tests to the development of the new lowered Pirelli tires: the 18 inches, in fact, are one of the great philosophical changes in F1 next year and the Racing Department the technicians have were able to make a clear idea of what the sole supplier’s orientation will be in the management of new generation tires and which could also direct certain design choices of the single-seater.
The analysis and research phase is very interesting when a new regulation is introduced because each team can develop and adopt very different solutions before the teams over time orient themselves towards concepts that will gradually be chosen by everyone as they prove to be more efficient.
Laurent Mekies, the right hand man of Mattia Binotto, recently confirmed that 90-95% of Ferrari technicians are already working full time on the 2022 project: it will be interesting to find out if they will have the courage to take risks with a project that defines the new state the art of F1 …
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