Andretti hopes for positive changes F1: 'Rightly going the other way now'
The new 2022 regulations are intended to make it easier for drivers to follow each other around the track, which should make for more overtaking. Mario Andretti is pleased that Formula 1 is finally moving in this direction.
F1 cars will once again start using ground effect, which will make it easier to follow other drivers around the track. Now, the hot air generated by the cars often causes drivers to have to keep a distance from each other, otherwise they lose a lot of downforce. Especially in the corners this is a big problem.
Andretti doesn't dare predict anything
"The idea is to generate more downforce under the car, to reduce the influence of the areas at the top of the car, which disturb the air. They're rightly going the other way now, but I don't dare predict if that will be enough for the drivers to stay close to the car in front again in the turns", Andretti said in conversation with Auto, Motor und Sport.
A few years ago, the sport switched to wider cars and wings, which actually made the drivers more dependent on DRS and made it difficult to follow each other. The last time the ground effect was used was in the 1970s and 1980s. It is predicted that the new regulations will bring about positive changes, but to what extent this will be the case will only become clear during the first race in Bahrain. According to Andretti, even a small improvement will be progress.
Yes, the ground effects in place differ significantly from the earlier era, where cars generated massive downforce and did not need much in the way of wings. They were skirted and the danger was breaking the seal and going airborne. The new rules are not nearly as extreme. It will be interesting to see if teams find small aerodynamic devices to "dirty" the air behind them and cause a loss of downforce. The rules are to keep airflow smooth and predictable. But I am certain that the big teams are already looking for loopholes to dirty things up for those that follow.
Ground effect was eliminated from F1 because it was very dangerous. If a single-seater with ground effect loses grip and lifts off the ground, for example due to a collision, it will tend to "fly" off the track, reaching the barriers without being slowed down by the brakes and tyre friction.
Yes, it relies on the principal of having a layer of very fast moving air under the car to create a low pressure which literally sucks the car to the ground.
If the car is higher off the ground, this layer of fast moving air disappears and the car can literally ‘take off’ like in older LMP cars or F1 speedboats.
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