'Red Bull Racing gets its way: lower limit for F1 cars to be raised'

RB18 too heavy

After the winter test in Barcelona, worrying reports came out about the weight of several cars. In 2022 the cars must weigh at least 795 kilograms and of course the teams want to be as close to that as possible. Every kilo extra makes you slower. However, many teams were too far off the lower limit.

According to reports from Auto, Motor und Sport Alfa Romeo was only at the lower limit and McLaren came close. Other teams were far from the lower limit and reportedly Red Bull was very far from the minimum weight. There was even talk of a difference in the double digits.

Decision in Bahrain

Red Bull and several other teams made a case for a higher lower limit. According to those teams, the budget cap made it impossible to be so close to the lower limit and also did not take into account the weight increase of some parts. Especially on the latter point, the FIA now wants to go along.

According to the Italian medium, the official knot has yet to be tied in Bahrain, but the lower limit would be increased by three kilos. Indeed, nine out of ten teams wanted to raise this limit, thus meeting the minimum requirement of eight teams to get this rule change through.

Just under 800 kilograms

The three kilograms is explained as follows. One kilo is added because the four new tires are heavier than the first prototype tires that were tested. The second kilo is because of the wheel covers, which were not included in the lower limit. The third kilo is given to the teams because of the problems that came up in Barcelona with the floor of the cars. This can be reinforced with these kilos.

So three kilos are added, bringing the lower limit to 798 kilograms. F1 found that the teams have had two years to figure out these rules. To increase the limit by ten to fifteen kilograms just before the season (which some teams did talk about) was therefore not an option for the sport. For Formula 1 it was also important to stay under 800 kilograms. In terms of PR, it would not have been nice if this limit had been broken.