Verstappen warns of reduced visibility on street circuits
F1 News
- GPblog.com
During the first three days of the F1 winter test in Barcelona, both positive points and negative points of the 2022 cars came to light. One of those negative points is the reduced visibility for the drivers.
The biggest problem the F1 teams encountered was the porpoising of the cars on the straight. A week later, the teams believe that this issue can be fixed and that the problem will disappear during the season. Another issue that the drivers noticed is that the visibility from the cockpit has become a lot worse. This is mainly due to the new eighteen-inch wheels.
Reduced visibility from F1 cockpit
Motorsport-total.com spoke to McLaren driver Daniel Ricciardo about the problem. The Australian says that the "on board camera" gives a wrong picture, and it does not show what the drivers really see. Ricciardo says that drivers already have very little visibility from the F1 cockpit, but that this year it is even worse. It just doesn't seem to be a big problem, as the driver says it's just a matter of getting used to. Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton also noticed the problem, but makes fun of it: "Then we'll just put a cushion in the cockpit to sit a little higher."
Sergio Perez joins Ricciardo in third and thinks it's another new phenomenon that drivers need to get used to. Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen, on the other hand, warns against the street circuits. The Dutchman agrees with his rivals that the reduced visibility is not such a big problem on Barcelona, but it will be a lot harder on street circuits. Fernando Alonso agrees with the Dutchman, saying that the so-called 'tire deflectors' above the front wheels don't help either.