Formula 1 started its new era in Barcelona. After the first big showdown, the fans have a lot of burning questions. German automobile magazine ‘Auto Motor und Sport’ takes a close look at the data and provides the answers to the ten most important questions in their analysis.
The fans were more excited about these testing session than they had been for a long time. It’s not that often that Formula 1 enters a new era. New cars, new tires, new engines: That raises many questions. One thing in particular: will everything stay the same or do we have to get used to a different balance of power? The three days of Barcelona testing provided some answers, but not all. AMuS gives an overview of the status quo.
Who has the fastest car?
Ferrari is currently leading the form table ahead of McLaren. The drivers set their fast laps with greater ease than their Red Bull and Mercedes counterparts: the Maranello team did not run with the two soft tire compounds and still easily managed to get under the 1.20 mark.
Charles Leclerc set his personal best of 1m 19.689s on C3 tires on day two during an 18-lap stint. Lando Norris was on the track for seven laps with his best time on the first day of 1:19.568 minutes. However, on C4 tyres.
Max Verstappen turned back into the pit lane on the fifth lap on day three after a lap of 1m 19.756s, while the Mercedes drivers needed the C5 compound for their fastest laps. According to initial data, Ferrari wins its time in the slow corners.
Which concept will prevail?
That cannot be predicted at the moment. Anyone who builds wide side boxes is certainly not wrong. That also reassures Aston Martin. The Ferrari’s front wing concept is an indication that the F1-75 needs a lot of downforce at the front in order to be able to balance the downforce at the rear.
In principle, Red Bull and Alpha Tauri also operate with long sidepods. In contrast to the Ferrari and Aston Martin, however, they drop backwards in a gentle step. Mercedes and Williams went in an opposite direction: sidepods with a short bulge that narrows extremely towards the rear. It will be interesting to see whether Mercedes will remain true to its line with the announced upgrade.
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What’s the biggest problem with the new cars?
Definitely the bouncing on the straights – the English engineers call it “purpoising”. It occurs when too much downforce builds up on the straights then the downforce breaks off and the process starts all over again. All teams faced this problem in Barcelona. The softer the tyre, the more problems on the straights.
Ferrari and McLaren solved it the quickest. Ferrari by introducing a new floor and raising the back without losing too much time. McLaren by using a slot on the underbody edges which prevented intake and exhaust. That’s why the two cars looked the best. But that doesn’t say anything about the quality of the two cars. Many teams were only able to fix the bouncing problem provisionally. They had to ride high and hard in the back. That’s the worst case.
How much slower are the new cars?
If we compare the best time of 1:19.138 minutes with the 2020 test drives, then Lewis Hamilton was 3.406 seconds slower. At that time, however, the distance was 20 meters shorter. Compared to pole position in 2021, Hamilton was 2.397 seconds slower. That sounds like a lot. In fact, the difference is now said to be less than a second.
“We were all on track with a trim and a load of gas like we normally do on a Friday. So we also have to compare ourselves to a Friday,” explains McLaren team boss Andreas Seidl who puts things into perspective. So let’s compare it with Friday practice for the 2021 Spanish GP. Hamilton set the best time of 1:18.170 minutes. So the difference is around one second.
Has the field moved closer together?
The four top teams Mercedes, Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren were within half a second. However, on different tires: with Mercedes you have to deduct time because of the C5 tires so when you take all of that into account, the top has come even closer.
There is a small gap to the rest of the field. But even that seems to have shrunk. Alpha Tauri, Aston Martin, Alpine, Williams, Alfa Romeo and Haas are just as close as the top 4. There doesn’t seem to be one team clearly nehind, not until now. Let’s wait and see what the “Upgrade Festival” in Bahrain brings.
Is it easier to overtake now?
The drivers say that it has become a little easier to follow another car. Charles Leclerc feels a significant difference, especially in a range under ten meters and from 30 meters. In between, the loss of downforce feels similar to what it used to be.
The spray when the track is wet shows that until now the plan of the regulators to divert all turbulent air behind the car upwards has been successful. The flow between the axles lies nicely against the car instead of being deflected outwards. But that can change quickly. All teams are working on ways to expel bad air from behind the front wheels. It’s just faster.
How do the drivers have to adapt?
The driving style changes mainly in slow corners. “You feel the weight. When driving and when watching,” reports Sebastian Vettel, who also stood as a spy on the side of the track on the last day of testing. “The car is incredibly sluggish in the slow corners. Once you’re late, the crowd pushes you in directions you don’t want to go.”
In the fast corners, the feeling is the same as before. So far there has not been a driver who has made a big complaint. One issue, of course, is visibility. “It’s clearly limited. The big wheels and the covers over them block your view ahead,” said Daniel Ricciardo. “Wait until we get to Monte Carlo. It gets really hard there,” warns Max Verstappen.
How do the engines run with E10 fuel?
The ten teams and 21 drivers covered 14,502 kilometers. All were spared from engine damage. All issues took place in the environment: oil leaks in tanks and lines (Aston Martin, Haas), defective fuel pumps (Red Bull, Haas), a hydraulic fire (Alpine), damage to the drive of the MGU-K (Red Bull).
In theory, the engines lose 20 hp. Since all manufacturers have reacted to the E10 fuel with new engines, it may well be that one has even increased performance compared to last year. According to measurements from Mercedes, Ferrari has made the biggest leap. Renault definitely improved on weight. For the first time, the French power unit is at the limit of 150 kilograms.
What technology is still to come in Bahrain?
Despite the budget cap, many teams want to show up in Bahrain with an upgrade. Mercedes and Red Bull even with a significant step. Ferrari states that they are satisfied with optimization work on the F1-75. It must be assumed that all teams will show modifications to the underbody in order to constructively solve the problem with bouncing on the straights. Otherwise, the compromise in the setup would involve too great a sacrifice in lap time.
Nobody showed all the cards in Barcelona. “We won’t see the delicate things that could lie in a gray area until we get to Bahrain,” predicts an engineer. From FIA sources, AMuS heard that they [the FIA] can already see from the CAD (Computer Aided Design) data for the legality check of the upgrades, that some teams are bringing upgrades [to Bahrain] that do not quite correspond to the spirit of the regulations.
Many teams will also start slimming down their cars. Except for Alfa Sauber, all are above the limit of 795 kilograms, some teams even significantly over. However, the teams will combine their “diet” with car upgrades to save money.
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