FIA afraid of super trick with 2022 cars: 'That's our biggest fear'

F1 News

22 October 2021 at 11:30
Last update 22 October 2021 at 11:38
  • GPblog.com

In 2022 the new Formula 1 regulations will come into force and the cars will undergo a major metamorphosis. Until now it was always assumed that the cars would become much slower, but this seems to be the case now. At the beginning of the season, the difference would be about half a second, which could even be made up by the end of the season.

Biggest fear of the FIA

With the new cars, the FIA mainly wants to make it easier for the cars to drive close together. Pat Symonds, who developed the concept of the cars with a group of engineers, says that it was never the intention to make the cars slower. Better racing is the only goal with the new regulations. During the development of the new cars, the teams are in close contact with the FIA to avoid any surprises.

"Our biggest fear is that someone manages to channel the bad air created at the front of the car to the outside of the car. That then causes the problems when driving at the back," Symonds told Auto Motor und Sport. "Our plan is to feed the bad air into the front wheels and channel it upwards from some point. Everything has to submit to that idea." So several loopholes have already been found, by both teams and the FIA itself, which have now been closed.

Prohibiting developments

The transparency between the FIA and the teams is also there to ensure that the teams don't get any nasty surprises. "The FIA can ban a development if they feel it is not in the spirit of the regulations," warns Symonds. In view of the budget cap, the FIA banning certain developments could have nasty consequences if teams have to go back to the drawing board.