Remember those leaked 2022 F1 cars from last month? Well, many thought initially that was Ferrari's 2022 play, but they were, in fact, the prototype vehicles F1 had developed. This weekend, which starts on Thursday (July 15) at Silverstone, F1 will be unveiling the full-size cars, which previously were only seen in rendered photos. These new cars look futuristic, aggressive and they will encourage better wheel-to-wheel racing.
"F1 begins an exciting new chapter in 2022 when the current rulebook is ripped up and a radical new set of regulations come into force - all designed to produce even more spectacular racing," said an announcement on the official F1 website. "And the new era will officially kick off on Thursday at Silverstone with F1 One Begins, a dynamic launch event that will take fans on a journey through the ages before arriving at the most futuristic racing car of all time," said the announcement.
At the event, the technical team behind the new regulations will do a deep dive on why the changes have happened and what each intended change means for performance.
"Fans will not only get to see a life-size 2022 F1 car for the first time. They'll also be talked through the machine's revolutionary design by a panel of experts, who will explain the thinking behind the new concept, which will enable drivers to race each other harder than ever before," said F1.
The full-sized cars were leaked a couple of weeks ago
The new cars remove the bargeboards which have become a highly complex area of development. Instead, ground-effect aerodynamics make a return to sport with the addition of Venturi tunnels which were outlawed from the sport in the 80s. The tyres are slimmer with broader wheel covers and the front wings have also become quite aggressive from the images that have been released.
In fact, these new cars were supposed to come into play in the 2021 season, but since the pandemic struck, the rules for the 2021 season were amended allowing for slightly modified versions of the 2020 cars with a 10 per cent reduction in downforce with new flooring regulations being instilled.
But as is the case in F1, the development despite the limitations has been immense and the teams have managed to make the cars as fast as they were in the 2020 season. However, in 2022 with the dramatic change in rules, the cars are expected to be slower going back to 2016 and 2017 levels of speed.
undefined⏰ Save the date, set your alarms!
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 12, 2021
A new era of Formula 1 will be officially unveiled ????
⏰ Streaming live Thursday, July 15 from 1330 UTC on Facebook and YouTube#F1 #F12022 pic.twitter.com/G4nfz9wFge
