Pat Symonds, the FIA’s technical director for F1, has revealed that he has received many fears about new Formula 1 cars for 2022. One of these came from Red Bull designer Adrian Newey, who feared restrictive regulations would cause single-seaters look alike.
“There was skepticism about the grill” said Symonds. “Adrian Newey was initially concerned that all the cars would look the same because the rules are restrictive, but that wasn’t the case.
“Remember the sketches we showed in Austin in 2019 when the new rules were presented? Without constructively working out the shapes, we just wanted to show that there really is freedom in different areas of the car.”
“We’re glad we got it right. Some have even come close to our sketches. I’d say the cars are more diverse now than they were before, although many would probably still have a hard time recognizing all the cars if they were painted black.”
While single-seaters have been slower this year, Symonds expects lap times to drop dramatically from 2023 as teams begin to understand the new F1 cars, even if their characteristics won’t change.
“It could happen as early as next year. The engineers now know what factors are slowing down the car. They will be expanded next year. The big picture will remain the same. These cars will always be faster cornering and slower cornering. slow curves.”
