It’s an exciting time to be a Formula 1 fan, as the sport is transitioning into a new era that’s more reliant on ground effect aerodynamics, which should help drivers push their cars harder during “dog fights.”
Of course, this also means that all cars will feature a new design and it’s up to each individual team to put their best foot forward. However, according to Mercedes’ chief technical officer, James Allison, some outfits might end up getting their cars “really badly wrong,” by misinterpreting these new regulations.
“I would imagine, given that the cars are so new and so different, that one or two cars on the grid will have got it really badly wrong. And they will have a terribly painful year,” said Allison as quoted by Autosport.
“I would imagine that all of us to some degree will have left things on the table that we just didn’t anticipate. And we will look at other cars and think, ‘oh, why didn’t we think of that?’ Then we’ll be scrambling around to try to get that idea onto our car as fast as possible, so that we can claw our way, from whatever position we land in that first race, forwards. Or, if we're lucky enough to be in front, to keep the attacking wolves behind us.”
If there’s one team that is the least likely to mess up their 2022 car, it’s probably Mercedes, the same outfit that won every single Constructors’ Championship since 2014. They won last year too, despite Max Verstappen edging out Lewis Hamilton for the Drivers’ title.
From what we’ve learned so far courtesy of various interviews, both drivers and team execs alike are expecting Ferrari to come out of the gate strong in 2022, with McLaren and even Alpine progressing substantially compared to previous years.
“I would imagine, given that the cars are so new and so different, that one or two cars on the grid will have got it really badly wrong. And they will have a terribly painful year,” said Allison as quoted by Autosport.
“I would imagine that all of us to some degree will have left things on the table that we just didn’t anticipate. And we will look at other cars and think, ‘oh, why didn’t we think of that?’ Then we’ll be scrambling around to try to get that idea onto our car as fast as possible, so that we can claw our way, from whatever position we land in that first race, forwards. Or, if we're lucky enough to be in front, to keep the attacking wolves behind us.”
If there’s one team that is the least likely to mess up their 2022 car, it’s probably Mercedes, the same outfit that won every single Constructors’ Championship since 2014. They won last year too, despite Max Verstappen edging out Lewis Hamilton for the Drivers’ title.
From what we’ve learned so far courtesy of various interviews, both drivers and team execs alike are expecting Ferrari to come out of the gate strong in 2022, with McLaren and even Alpine progressing substantially compared to previous years.