[Rules] 2022 and beyond... What will be the impact of the new regulations?

[Richard C]

I have had this topic in the back of my mind recently. This isn't exactly a prediction contest, but in some ways I am asking people for their predictions.

While we will still have the current power units, the technical regulations are pushing the cars to implement totally new aero concepts. Plus you have the budget constraints that are trying to put teams on a more (not completely) level playing field.

What do we think the 2022 season (and beyond) might look like?

My thoughts are...

The 2021 cars are the end of a very long line of evolutionary changes for a relatively stable (some recent changes) set of technical regulations. I think teams have generally figured out how to make the cars run quick and be easy to drive. While there are some exceptions (Haas struggles with their own car and Aston Martin with their mostly Mercedes clone), I think that in general most have decently good solutions.

I think the cars will probably behave very differently next year than today's cars. That it might be hard for teams to match their designs to their driver's styles. Take McLaren for example. I think Riccardo has struggled as his driving style may not match well with what the McLaren needs to go quickly. But what might a 2022 McLaren be like?

We have already seen a number of drivers say that based upon their simulator time that the cars will be different.

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/f...orris/6838196/

So there will be winners and losers from a driver perspective. Some drivers may find the new cars not to their liking. Others make take to them immediately. Also, which drivers on the grid are able to adjust their style to their car? Those that can, might be more competitive out of the box.

The teams have massive amounts of setup data for the current cars. They have run most all of the tracks multiple times and know how to show up with a good base setup. If the teams have done a good job modeling their new cars, then they might be able to build starting point setups in the simulators and then reduce the amount of time spent chasing a setup on Friday. If their models suck, then they will struggle to predict how the car works.

Then you have the various team strategies of when and how much do you focus on the 2022 car design. Teams such as Haas probably gave up last year on the 2021 car and have been probably focusing nearly fully on 2022. Of the current teams, who is bringing updates to races? I think that Red Bull and Mercedes are still bringing updates? No doubt others as well? But I believe the cost caps are in place now (but with a higher cap than later I believe). So even today, teams have to decide... how much do they devote to 2021 vs. 2022. The bottom line is... will any of the midfield or lower teams somehow steal a march and produce better cars than those above them?

My feeling is that at the end of the day, everyone can't move forward. There always needs to be someone in last place. I do expect there will be some winners and losers in the overall pecking order, but I also wonder if anyone is going to create some type of magical solution that keeps them in front for a long time (such as a double diffuser trick). The technical regulations include provisions for stopping teams from exploiting unexpected loopholes. So previously, I think it worked like "Congratulations, you figured out something clever, you can keep it this year, but it will be banned next year". But the FIA has said that they will shut down any crazy loopholes right away.

Because of this, I think teams have been running ideas past the FIA in advance to check if they are running the risk of getting a ban hammer in the middle of the season. I think I have heard reports of the FIA already saying "no" to a number of concepts (don't know if the regulations have been tweaked or not yet).

As for fans, I think that if the desire to produce better racing (whatever that is.. and I tend to label it as an increase in number of passes during a race and more variability in winners over the course of a season) then those that are just looking for better racing will be happy... if the better racing materializes! Those that are first and foremost fans of either a specific driver or team will either be delighted or angry depending if their personal favorites win or lose in how things shake out.

Some people who post here will own up to being a clear supporter of a driver or team and may even acknowledge that a personal bias exists. While others will fight you to the death to prove they don't have bias (when they clearly do! And no, I am not going to name names as I don't want to come out black and blue as part of that!) Frankly, I expect fireworks here on the forum with their being either praise of abuse heaped at the new regulations.

As to who will be the winners and losers? I have a hard time imagining those teams currently at the top sinking very low if they don't get it right. And I have a hard time imagining those currently at the bottom rising very high if they get it right. I don't even want to touch the topic of which drivers might benefit. I just don't have a good feel for who might do better than others. Other than to say... those who have lots of F1 experience, have driven a variety of cars over a long time... "might" have a leg up. So someone like Lewis, Alonso or even Vettel might adapt quickly if their car is not ideally suited to them. Someone who has not driven in F1 long or spent their entire career with one team such as Yuki or Lando might not (very much hope I am wrong about my Lando example

Thoughts?

Richard

[Sodemo]

I’ve seen a handful of 2022 mock ups. Have they narrowed the wheel track again or is it still as it was in 2021? The cars look narrower but that might be a visual trick.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Sodemo

I’ve seen a handful of 2022 mock ups. Have they narrowed the wheel track again or is it still as it was in 2021? The cars look narrower but that might be a visual trick.

The overall car width is the same (2,000mm excluding tyres).

For 2021, the width of the car between centrelines is 1600mm - I am unsure what this is for 2022.

Wheels themselves:

2021 - Complete wheel width must lie between 370mm and 385mm when fitted to the front of the car and between 455mm and 470 mm when fitted to the rear.

2022 - Tyre width must lie between 345mm and 375mm when fitted to the front of the car and between 440mm and 470mm when fitted to the rear.

[bjohnsonsmith]

I'm sure there will be an impact. But maybe not much. We will just have to wait and see.

[Adam43]

[Richard C]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

I'm sure there will be an impact. But maybe not much. We will just have to wait and see.

Lol. OK let's just lock the thread. No need to discuss.

Richard

[wolfhound]

I would be very surprised if there are not some changes to the competitive order. When there are significant rule changes somebody will usually find an advantage over the rest of the field and make a quick car. There will also be concepts that will be consigned to the bin the question from a teams point of view will be a matter of changing some parts or take a hit and start the 2023 car early as the concept cannot be change to get near the front of the field.


If you look at this year there were changes to the field after the Pirelli induced attempt to slow the cars down with limited changes allowed. Mercedes and Aston Martin / Racing Point took a hit in performance where as Ferrari, Alpine / Renault and Alpha Tauri / Torro Rosso made gains in their relative performance between '20 and '21.

[Richard C]

Well hopefully things have cooled enough with respect to the topic of how 2021 season ended that we can think some about 2022. We are just right at two months (62 days) away from testing.

Feb 23-25: Three days of testing in Spain
Mar 11-13: Three days of testing in Bahrain
Mar 20: First race

I am guessing most teams will do launches (probably mostly virtual) on or just before the Feb 23rd date. As always (and in particular this year), I can imagine any pre-testing launches will be with CGI images that will heavily hide any key implementation details.

Apparently the Barcelona testing will not be broadcast live, but will have end of day summaries, while the Bahrain will be fully covered.

No doubt teams will be closely looking at what everyone has come up with in late February to see if anyone has stolen a march on them. And then see if they can incorporate any of those ideas going into the March test? Or maybe the first set of major updates depending upon how things shake out with the respective performances in the first race? All teams will have set aside budget for mid-season development. It will be interesting how much teams might be able to catch up during a season if someone has brought forth a unique idea.

I am looking forward to see if the teams bring forth solutions that look very different, or if maybe the rules will still drive a level of uniformity in which from a distance, most will still look the same, but the difference will be in a number of small details. I am also curious to see how the drivers adapt to cars that are likely to have very different characteristics to the 2021 and earlier cars.

Richard

[ScotsBrutesFan]

Originally Posted by Richard Casto

I am looking forward to see if the teams bring forth solutions that look very different, or if maybe the rules will still drive a level of uniformity in which from a distance, most will still look the same, but the difference will be in a number of small details.

Richard

I think this is an important part, unto now, we have seen the mockup car as presented and various media companies dressing the cars in different CGI schemes, making anything we have seen so far seem horribly spec and dare I say Indycar.

The FIA/FOM model I believe was built as vanilla as the regulations called, in other words ...
If a part could be +/- X number of units from position A horizontally... well the model would have been built with the part at position A.

When the model was first shown, it was reported that a several designers when asked, commented that their cars looked nothing like the model. That can only give hope that there will still be some form of technical innovation race.

Having said that I doubt there will be any design radically different the the laypersons eye.

[Richard C]

I think the FIA/FOM model was crafted to be particularly flowing with softer edges. Frankly, to try to be "beautiful". Something an art design student might do, but still within the regulations.

I frankly expect the actual cars to have some resemblance to it, but it will likely clearly be an outlier to the real deal.

Richard

[Tourer]

I'm looking forward to the first Q sessions and races with the new cars - to see if the aims have been met. I doubt that testing will give us much clear direction other than seeing if there are obviously different approaches.

I'm hopeful that we'll see some changes in fortune through the field but in my view the cream always rises to the top so fair chance RB and MB are going to be up at the pointy end - but maybe joined by one or two others (I live in hope).

[chillibowl]

Maybe weird but given how close this season was, I’m hoping for more and more teams joining the party at the front. Budget cap, increasing willingnesses to limit or ban advantages/developments, American style parity…these things can of course lead to a boring place but for right now it seems like it’s working imo.

So I hope no one does show up with a break though and doesn’t pressure the system into going back into a spending war.

Mclaren and Ferrari back in the mix would also be nice.

[Taxi645]

Some thoughts:


- Very jumbled up teams, with surprisingly good designs from some teams and head aches for others.
- Possibly some serious design adjustment need when in practise the safety and driveability quirks of the new cars become real on real tracks with real curbs in high speed corners.
- Changes to the way races are stewarded and run.
- Drivers finding they need to clean up their driving act, because cars will be within each others vicinity much more with the new design and 2021 levels of aggression will lead to many accidents and penalties.

-

[Born Racer]

Both wings on the mock-up look much simpler than you would might expect many teams to run.

[P38 in workshop]

My suspicion is that the best funded teams will have done a lot of their design in advance of the cost cap coming into force and consequently they will start in good shape.So no real changes at the front with Mercedes,Red Bull and Ferrari making the running.Aston Martin is going to be an interesting one because their previous incarnations always did a lot with comparatively modest resources and now they have shipped in a number of people who haven't worked that way,but who have achieved good results with abundant resources.


With ground effect having more of an effect and no great amount of slats and vanes by the front of the sidepods we may see different approaches to overtaking and with any luck more of it.Will the gyroscopic effect of bigger and heavier wheels and tyres have an effect on the handling and manoeuvrability?

[Adam43]

Are the tyres and wheels heavier than previously? Sorry, I can’t remember.

I say sorry as we had this before and it got a bit tetchy, people wanting to be right on the internet and all. So sorry, if it goes that way again.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Adam43

Are the tyres and wheels heavier than previously? Sorry, I can’t remember.

The official site says yes, heavier.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.analysis-comparing-the-key-differences-between-the-2021-and-2022-f1-car.4xYDhtOjDee4cEQ3P4RsK9.html

'First of all, the new wheels are heavier – overall the four wheels and tyres are around 14kg heavier than in 2021.'

[Adam43]

I’m kind of surprised, but hey. Are they going to have those covers on them that we saw in testing?

OT. I used to race on 16s and went to 18s. Hated them, went back. Won my class on the 16s, with some nice Pirelli tyres. Loved them, very progressive, you felt them getting to the limit.

[TrapezeArtist]

My own somewhat random thoughts on 2022 go like this:

• Teams will be trying to get away from that swoopy art-student styling as much as the rules will allow them. (I confess I haven't read the rules myself to get a handle on how much freedom there may be.)
• I can't see any team finding a magic bullet (a la double diffuser) that gives them a big advantage. However I can imagine some team making something horribly slow and not being able to change it during the season.
• Front wings will be as high as the rules will allow, to get air into the ground effect tunnels.
• With no suspension-effect from the tyres, getting the springs, dampers and geometry right will assume much greater importance. Hopefully the chassis engineers will no longer have to sacrifice their designs on the altar of aerodynamics.
• Notwithstanding the previous point, if the FIA finally gets a handle on track limits, the importance of driving over kerbs may be reduced and suspensions will be super-stiff in order to keep the ground-effect working. Hopefully it won't produce the bone-jarring ride that became a problem on the old generation of ground effect cars.
• The 2022 cars will weigh more than the pre-war Mercedes and Auto Union monsters!
• If the rules are successful in creating closer racing, the FIA are going to have to get much harder on driving standards to prevent it turning into bumper cars.
• The cars will suit some drivers and not others. I don't think experience is necessarily the key here. Neither Alonso nor Vettel has displayed a flexibility in the past when faced with cars that didn't suit their style. On the other hand, we haven't seen enough of the inexperienced drivers to predict how they will cope.
• I wonder if any teams will run two cars at the tests (if that is allowed) in order to experiment with the effectiveness of running close to another car. Maybe Red Bull will use Alpha Tauri for that purpose. And Mercedes might use Aston Martin. Haas probably won't be much use to Ferrari .

[S griffin]

No doubt the new aero rules should make the racing closer and hopefully they can get rid of DRS now too.

However the farcical way 2021 ended shows that F1 needs to look at other areas, most notably in the sporting area, if it is to be taken more seriously as a sport again

Here's what I would like to see them do:
1) Get rid of the SC free pass rule. I've never liked the rule as I feel backmarkers shouldn't just be given a lap back like that and also it leaves the SC out longer than it should. Even worse is that it now seems it can be open to interpretation by the Race Director. It needs to go NOW.

2) Get rid of the mandatory two tyre compound per race rule. What other sport do they force teams what tactics to use. Keep the three compounds per meeting rule and nothing wrong with the 'start the race with tyre you qualified in Q2' rule, but once the race starts, the teams and drivers should be free to do what they can with tyre strategy. It would be much more fun not knowing what they would do next. We might see a few surprises, especially if a few drivers try radical strategies

3) Less tarmac runoffs. It's got quite ridiculous, to the point we can't have a race meeting without track limits coming up. Spa has the right idea bringing back gravel. So let's see more deterrent to prevent drivers going off. The drivers coped really well with the high speed Jeddah circuit with walls surrounding them. Now I'm not suggesting every circuit needs to be like that, but let's see circuits with a bit more grass and gravel to prevent track limit arguments coming up

4) Better race penalties. This has be a problem for too long. How many times have we seen relatively minor racing incidents investigated and punished, yet blatant dirty driving go unpunished. In my view racing incidents caused by innocent mistakes need not be punished or at least not punished with grid penalties and the like. If it's repeat offenders then that's different. But the stewards should really focus on dirty driving, like dive bomb overtaking, swerving, chopping or forcing someone else off the track

5) Limit the standing restart. The standing restart is fine, but I didn't like it being used for the two lap sprint at Baku. I feel once 90% of the race is completed then it can't be used and they just use a SC restart

6) Limit races to 19 a season. There are simply too many races. It should be about quality not quantity. Try and keep it in venues where the sport has a good following. Nothing wrong with trying out new venues, but they have to prove themselves and get that following

7) Get rid of grid penalties for exceeding parts. This needs to go. It's not right a driver should be punished grid penalties for this. If you need to punish them, make them sit out certain minutes in a practice session

8) Five laps under green need to count for a race to be declared. What happened at Spa was unforgiveable. There is no way that, for want of a better word, 'race' should have been counted for points when no actual racing happened. So make sure at least 5 laps under green flag conditions happen for it to count for points.

Overall this should improve F1's reputation after what has been a very contentious season and with the new aero rules hopefully improving the racing, it will be much more enjoyable to watch for the fans, both the dedicated and casual. Now if only we could get one or more teams to join....

[P38 in workshop]

I agree with point#2 of the previous post wholeheartedly.I would prefer the teams to be issued with a tyre allocation and then left to get on with it-subject to the requirement to start on the set they qualified on.I wouldn't have a problem with them running a mixture of compounds at any time.If we could see this and the departure of DRS too I believe it would be a step forward.

[Teretonga]

Originally Posted by S griffin

No doubt the new aero rules should make the racing closer and hopefully they can get rid of DRS now too.

However the farcical way 2021 ended shows that F1 needs to look at other areas, most notably in the sporting area, if it is to be taken more seriously as a sport again

Here's what I would like to see them do:
1) Get rid of the SC free pass rule. I've never liked the rule as I feel backmarkers shouldn't just be given a lap back like that and also it leaves the SC out longer than it should. Even worse is that it now seems it can be open to interpretation by the Race Director. It needs to go NOW.

2) Get rid of the mandatory two tyre compound per race rule. What other sport do they force teams what tactics to use. Keep the three compounds per meeting rule and nothing wrong with the 'start the race with tyre you qualified in Q2' rule, but once the race starts, the teams and drivers should be free to do what they can with tyre strategy. It would be much more fun not knowing what they would do next. We might see a few surprises, especially if a few drivers try radical strategies

3) Less tarmac runoffs. It's got quite ridiculous, to the point we can't have a race meeting without track limits coming up. Spa has the right idea bringing back gravel. So let's see more deterrent to prevent drivers going off. The drivers coped really well with the high speed Jeddah circuit with walls surrounding them. Now I'm not suggesting every circuit needs to be like that, but let's see circuits with a bit more grass and gravel to prevent track limit arguments coming up

4) Better race penalties. This has be a problem for too long. How many times have we seen relatively minor racing incidents investigated and punished, yet blatant dirty driving go unpunished. In my view racing incidents caused by innocent mistakes need not be punished or at least not punished with grid penalties and the like. If it's repeat offenders then that's different. But the stewards should really focus on dirty driving, like dive bomb overtaking, swerving, chopping or forcing someone else off the track

5) Limit the standing restart. The standing restart is fine, but I didn't like it being used for the two lap sprint at Baku. I feel once 90% of the race is completed then it can't be used and they just use a SC restart

6) Limit races to 19 a season. There are simply too many races. It should be about quality not quantity. Try and keep it in venues where the sport has a good following. Nothing wrong with trying out new venues, but they have to prove themselves and get that following

7) Get rid of grid penalties for exceeding parts. This needs to go. It's not right a driver should be punished grid penalties for this. If you need to punish them, make them sit out certain minutes in a practice session

8) Five laps under green need to count for a race to be declared. What happened at Spa was unforgiveable. There is no way that, for want of a better word, 'race' should have been counted for points when no actual racing happened. So make sure at least 5 laps under green flag conditions happen for it to count for points.

Overall this should improve F1's reputation after what has been a very contentious season and with the new aero rules hopefully improving the racing, it will be much more enjoyable to watch for the fans, both the dedicated and casual. Now if only we could get one or more teams to join....

Id agree with 1, 2, and 3.
now 4 is not about penalties as much as it is policing and it would in my view be relatively easy to plan, produce and implement but they'll argue and whine and we'll get a donkey designed by a committee, not a horse.

5 I would agree with in principal but no standing restart after 50 or 75% of the distance. After that, even in a red flag situation single file restart in prior to incident running order, a couple of laps under the safety car prior to release.
If the red flag occurs in the last ten laps then the full number of race laps should be run. Suggestion.
If an incident occurs in the last ten laps then the race must be stopped and a single file restart used for the remaining laps in the order the cars were running in on the lap prior to the incident, and lapped cars would not get the free lap.

I wouldn't disagree with 6.
I'm reticent about changing 7, not because I think its good, cos its not.
But I want to think about a better alternative.

On 8 I would say more laps. Like 20% before half points can be awarded of which at least 10% must be racing laps without a safety car.
Then you wouldn't get what happened at Spa because 5% of the distance would have made it clear there could be no effective race under the regulation.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by S griffin

No doubt the new aero rules should make the racing closer and hopefully they can get rid of DRS now too.

However the farcical way 2021 ended shows that F1 needs to look at other areas, most notably in the sporting area, if it is to be taken more seriously as a sport again

Here's what I would like to see them do:
1) Get rid of the SC free pass rule. I've never liked the rule as I feel backmarkers shouldn't just be given a lap back like that and also it leaves the SC out longer than it should. Even worse is that it now seems it can be open to interpretation by the Race Director. It needs to go NOW.

2) Get rid of the mandatory two tyre compound per race rule. What other sport do they force teams what tactics to use. Keep the three compounds per meeting rule and nothing wrong with the 'start the race with tyre you qualified in Q2' rule, but once the race starts, the teams and drivers should be free to do what they can with tyre strategy. It would be much more fun not knowing what they would do next. We might see a few surprises, especially if a few drivers try radical strategies

3) Less tarmac runoffs. It's got quite ridiculous, to the point we can't have a race meeting without track limits coming up. Spa has the right idea bringing back gravel. So let's see more deterrent to prevent drivers going off. The drivers coped really well with the high speed Jeddah circuit with walls surrounding them. Now I'm not suggesting every circuit needs to be like that, but let's see circuits with a bit more grass and gravel to prevent track limit arguments coming up

4) Better race penalties. This has be a problem for too long. How many times have we seen relatively minor racing incidents investigated and punished, yet blatant dirty driving go unpunished. In my view racing incidents caused by innocent mistakes need not be punished or at least not punished with grid penalties and the like. If it's repeat offenders then that's different. But the stewards should really focus on dirty driving, like dive bomb overtaking, swerving, chopping or forcing someone else off the track

5) Limit the standing restart. The standing restart is fine, but I didn't like it being used for the two lap sprint at Baku. I feel once 90% of the race is completed then it can't be used and they just use a SC restart

6) Limit races to 19 a season. There are simply too many races. It should be about quality not quantity. Try and keep it in venues where the sport has a good following. Nothing wrong with trying out new venues, but they have to prove themselves and get that following

7) Get rid of grid penalties for exceeding parts. This needs to go. It's not right a driver should be punished grid penalties for this. If you need to punish them, make them sit out certain minutes in a practice session

8) Five laps under green need to count for a race to be declared. What happened at Spa was unforgiveable. There is no way that, for want of a better word, 'race' should have been counted for points when no actual racing happened. So make sure at least 5 laps under green flag conditions happen for it to count for points.

Overall this should improve F1's reputation after what has been a very contentious season and with the new aero rules hopefully improving the racing, it will be much more enjoyable to watch for the fans, both the dedicated and casual. Now if only we could get one or more teams to join....

There's quite a lot I agree with, particularly 1, 2, 3, 6 and 7.

Regarding 2, Get rid of the mandatory two tyre compound per race rule, IndyCar uses that rule. Infact it originated with Champ Car and was first used at the 2004 season opener at Long Beach. Formula 1 adopted it in 2007. I would get rid of it, as well as the Q2 tyre rule. IndyCar doesn't have that rule and it gives the drivers/teams more flexibility.

[chillibowl]

Originally Posted by S griffin

2) Get rid of the mandatory two tyre compound per race rule. What other sport do they force teams what tactics to use. Keep the three compounds per meeting rule and nothing wrong with the 'start the race with tyre you qualified in Q2' rule, but once the race starts, the teams and drivers should be free to do what they can with tyre strategy. It would be much more fun not knowing what they would do next. We might see a few surprises, especially if a few drivers try radical strategies

also agreed.

have long been a believer that the teams should be able to choose which compounds work best for them as well as disliking the Q2 rule as one of my (frequent) complaints about qualifying is that the fastest time is not always set during Q3...this makes things odd and opens the window, if im being honest, to people like myself being more willing to see experimentation with the quali format/support the sprint format.

anywhooo... one of the concerns with removing the tire mandating was that teams would all rather quickly settle on the same 'optimal' strategy and that would then just lead to processions again.

a fair concern, but after this past season i have to wonder if this is still the case.

as we saw a few times this season, when two cars from two teams are relatively evenly matched, then one team has a rather large opportunity by picking an alternative strategy, to offset their pitstops, and to be on a different tire to the car they are chasing down at the end.

is this enough to convince them to continue on with this approach?

if the new rules succeed in bringing the cars closer together, then i think it will and if it does, so to should the mandate be abandoned.

why attempt to spice up the show through legislation when the same results can be obtained organically? let the teams decide themselves.

[crmalcolm]

So, understandably a lot of focus has been on the visually obvious differences of the FIA 'show car'.
But - I think the real differences will be seen in the less visible parts of the car.

Firstly - a lot of talk has been made of 'ground effect' returning. It is worth noting that the 2022 version is not a whole-floor design, but two tunnels under the sidepods.
Secondly - the rear wing curved sides have drawn attention. This has diverted from the more significant changes, those being a ban on endplates and a second beam wing below the exhaust.