How fast are the Formula 1 cars for the 2022 season? Experts and fans alike are curious to see how fast the 2022 Formula 1 cars will be compared to the previous generation. Unfortunately, the answer will not be known until the winter testing sessions which take place in Barcelona and Bahrain. But Pirelli has already received the first simulations from the teams for tyre development.
Auto Motor und Sport Formula 1 reported Tobias Grüner explains:
It’s an equation with many unknowns. The new cars for the 2022 season will be 43 kilograms heavier, the engines will have to run on 10 per cent biofuel, which in theory costs power. And then the wings of the racing cars will also be clipped. In future, downforce will be generated largely by the large ducts in the underbody.
But nobody knows yet exactly how much downforce will be generated in the end, how much power will really be lost by the engines and how this will ultimately affect the lap times. Fans will have to wait at least until the start of the winter tests at the Circuit de Catalunya (23-25 February) for the first answers.
First simulations of the teams
Of course, the teams are already a bit smarter. Engineers can use their complicated simulation programmes to calculate relatively precisely how good the performance will be in comparison with the previous models. But of course none of the technicians wants to lay their cards on the table early.
But now, thanks to Pirelli, there is at least a first clue. The tyre supplier has to rely on the data of the teams for its new tyre generation and is therefore always informed about the current state of development. Unfortunately, the converted “mule cars” that were used during the tests in the 2021 season and were supposed to simulate the characteristics of the new cars are not perfect to replicate all factors.
“We asked the teams to load in extra weight to get to the 2022 figures. But the biggest difference from before is the new aero package. The downforce will be produced quite differently in the future. That then has a big influence on the wear and the compounds,” explains Pirelli sports director Mario Isola.
2022 cars at most one second slower
The conclusion of the last tests in Abu Dhabi was positive, according to Mario Isola: “We measured the loss of grip over the distance. That was within the range of what we expected. But we can’t make any statement about the wear yet. Unfortunately, this cannot be simulated one hundred per cent with the mule cars. But we have received current data from the teams. They say that the new cars will not be much slower than last year’s cars.”
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The engineers from Milan were the first to get a glimpse of what we can expect in 2022. “At the beginning we were talking about a difference of three seconds. Now we are assuming more like half a second to a second. And if the teams start with a gap of one second, it means that over the course of the season they will come to the same performance level as in the previous season,” Mario Isola calculates.
This puts the teams’ data in the range that Formula One officials have also recently predicted. F1 technical director Pat Symonds assumed a time loss of half a second after the internal simulations in autumn.
Should the cars behave quite differently on the track than expected, however, Pirelli can still react, according to Mario Isola. “We are satisfied with the current product. But we are also prepared for the fact that we still have to do some fine-tuning.”
Less wear, fewer stops?
To make it easier for the teams, Pirelli has not changed the hardness of the compounds compared to before. “But we have used a new chemical compound. There are new ingredients in the compounds now. During development, we started with the middle grade and then derived the compounds above and below it,” Mario Isola explains the procedure.
The main aim of the new composition is to reduce the risk of overheating. In the past, cars began to slide quickly in traffic, causing temperatures on the surface of the tyres to skyrocket. This increased wear and reduced grip.
The question, however, is whether the improved durability comes at the expense of strategy variance. Pirelli is also eager to see how the new product performs in practice. “I hope not that there will be fewer strategy options. Our aim in development was to get a good mix of one-stop and two-stop races,” – the Pirelli boss explained.
“But it may be that there is less attrition, which leads to fewer pit stops. Already last season we saw more one-stop races. But for me it is not a big problem as long as we have good races with action on the track. We want the drivers to be able to attack properly.” – he concluded.
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