'Red Bull and Mercedes are among toughest cars on the grid'
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- GPblog.com
Formula One teams are having the greatest difficulty in getting close to the minimum weight with the new regulations. Most cars are too heavy and the most drastic things are devised to get rid of the 'overweight.'
The official lower limit for 2022 was 795 kilograms per car, but after nine out of ten teams proposed to the FIA that this limit be increased, the new lower limit is 798kg. It helps the teams that are too heavy slightly, but many teams are still way above it. Especially if you want to put new updates on your car.
F1 teams overweight
Teams are coming up with all kinds of solutions to get rid of the extra weight. Andy Green, the technical director of Aston Martin, explains at Autosport.com for example, that his team removed paint from the car to save weight. The AMR22 so 350 grams lighter by scraping off that paint.
It's a tricky balance for teams. On the one hand they want to test and put as many updates on the car as possible, but more weight also means a loss in performance. The top teams also notice this. According to Toto Wolff the cars of Mercedes and Red Bull Racing are the heaviest cars in the top ten. Paul Monaghan of Red Bull acknowledges this problem. Red Bull has also been far above the lower limit since day one and hopes to get closer to it.