The ground effect helps, but the sliding current is missing

(Motorsport-Total.com) – Formula 1 cars generation 2022 It follows a new philosophy: more weight, aerodynamically simpler, but with a ground-up effect to compensate. This affects the driving physics, but also the racing. The Driving test in Barcelona Confirm their findings in theory.

“I definitely think cornering has improved,” says McLaren driver Lando Norris. “How much? It’s hard to say because you always drive with different amounts of fuel and different tires and things. And when you have two, three, four, five, six cars in front of you, it can be completely different again.”

During three days of testing at the Barcelona Circuit de Catalunya, there were frequent scenes of some drivers intentionally clinging to a competitor’s rear for a few laps. The aim was to find out the effect of reducing “polluted air” on the rear fender.

Interesting results also emerged. It is said that driving in the range between half a second and a second has not improved. Outside this window, however, there should be a marked improvement.

George Russell: Less Flow

But when there are positive consequences on the one hand, there are negative consequences on the other. “The slipstream effect has been reduced a little bit, I think. You obviously need that delta on the straight line to be able to overtake because you can’t just overtake at the end of the straight corner,” notes George Russell.

“I was right behind Lando, the length of a car or two,” says the Mercedes driver. “And I couldn’t…I couldn’t catch him straight, so that was a bit worrying.” Experiments also confirmed by Norris and Pierre Gasly.

However, anticipation for the new generation of vehicles prevails. “I am looking forward to the high-speed courses,” Norris said. “Obviously these are the kind of corners you haven’t been able to follow very well in recent years. If you are able to follow a lot better at circuits like this, then there should be good races and it should be exciting for everyone.”

Lando Norris: Slow turn feels bad

AlphaTauri driver Gasly agrees: “As Lando said, the cars seem to run really well at high speeds. That’s where we usually get excited, so I’m looking forward to Silverstone, Suzuka, all those tracks.”

Just going on slow roads, like Monaco, causes headaches for drivers. This is where the heavyweights come into play. “What feels bad now are the slow corners,” Norris squabbles.

“Maybe some are better than others. For us, that’s the point where we have problems and it’s a lot worse than in previous years. We would like the cars to be lighter and so, with that the racing gets a little better more often.” After all, here too, practice confirmed theory.