To put some numbers on it, research shows that current F1 machines lose 35% of their downforce when running three car lengths behind a leading car (approximately 20 metres, measured from the lead car’s nose to the following car’s nose), while closing up to one car length (around 10 metres) results in a 47% loss. What’s preventing closer racing currently? The effect of the 'catastrophic downforce loss' – to quote an engineer centrally involved with the project – resulting from the ‘dirty air’ being churned chaotically off a leading car currently. GALLERY: A first look at the life-size 2022 F1 car, after drivers get up close at Silverstone The 2022 regulations, originally slated to arrive in 2021 but delayed by Covid-19, had one guiding principle: to allow closer racing – with the potential for more overtakes a happy, but secondary, benefit. It’s been designed specifically to promote better racing Here are the 10 key things you need to know about the game-changing 2022 car, a full-scale model of which broke cover at the British Grand Prix on Thursday.
There’s a revolution coming in Formula 1 in 2022 and it’s shaped… well, much like the car you see in the image above.
