Nico Hulkenberg is interested to see if Formula 1’s “damn fast” 2022 cars will produce the closer racing that is hoped.
This year sees the introduction of a radically different design with simpler front and rear wings and the use of ground effect aerodynamics to produce most of the overall downforce.
Based on the windtunnel figures, the changes will greatly reduce the amount of performance lost due to turbulent air, allowing drivers to follow other cars more closely and encouraging more on-track action.
However, with the new cars now only expected to be a few tenths slower than last year, Hulkenberg, who is now reserve driver at Aston Martin, wonders if the promise of better racing will be fulfilled.
“They aimed to make these cars a bit slower, more challenging to drive and to have more focus on drivers that can make a difference rather than car performance and aerodynamics dominate,” he said in a piece on his LinkedIn account.
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“From my initial experience, however, the new cars are pretty damn fast and not necessarily slower than the last generation. The driving experience hasn’t changed that much either, at least in the simulator.
“So it will be very interesting to see whether these cars can really follow the car in front better.
“In the simulator, the cornering speeds are extremely high, so the risk of “dirty air” is still given and it’s difficult for me to imagine that following another car comfortably at these speeds will be easy.
“Anyhow, I hope we will be positively surprised. Once pre-season testing starts drivers and teams will find out how the cars really behave on track.”
As last season ended, current drivers were sharing their expectations and experiences of the 2022 cars on the simulator and how they compare.
“This is the $1 million question in the paddock,” Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz said. “We know how our car feels. Between the drivers, it’s like ‘how does yours feel?’
“I think there is a trend starting to emerge in the paddock that we all recognise it’s pretty different, very different from how the car feels now.
“It will be a big change. Maybe we are starting to accept among ourselves it is a big change. The rumours in the paddock are also going in that direction.”
Another major change for 2022 is the introduction of 18-inch tyres after decades of 13-inch rims, this means the thick sidewalls F1 is used to will be much thinner from this season.
“It makes it quite tricky,” Charles Leclerc conceded. “It’s challenging for us drivers, and I think it will be more challenging next year to drive those cars.
“Overall, the tyre probably has a bit of a bigger window to work; especially in cold conditions, it feels quite good.
“But it’s also quite tricky when you lose the car in the high-speed [corners] especially.”
Lando Norris also believes the new cars will require a change in approach from the drivers to optimise performance.
“Everyone is going to have to adapt because it’s so different,” he said via GPFans.
“No one’s driving style today is probably going to be one that you can just jump into next year and do exactly the same. It will have to change a little bit.”
As a result, the McLaren driver acknowledged some trepidation ahead of the first pre-season test next month.
“With a lot of it, the car and how it’s all built is going to be the same, but the car is going to be so different, that, we have got no idea how it’s going to be,” he explained.
“I don’t know if I’ll be really good with it or I’ll struggle a little bit with it. I think it’s going to be the same case for everyone.
“Yes, of course, there’s some question marks like, how are you going to have to drive? Is it going to be a driving style that suits me? Like, one that I’m not sure with, or one that I’m going to have to adapt to and a lot of curiosity, that’s the word I want.”