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Everything to Know About the New 2022 F1 Car

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Some of the sport's biggest brains came together on Thursday—right before the British Grand Prix at Silverstone—to present the future of Formula 1. The new era of F1 is unpredictable, exciting and the races will be more intense than ever before. The following changes will allow drivers to race each other harder than we've seen previously, which will result in more spectacular Grand Prixes.

Less Dirty Air Means More Overtakes

Imagine you are driving an F1 car on a track. As you drive faster, more wind is passing the car. Right behind the car, a huge area of turbulence is created by all the components of an F1 car. This area of turbulence is called 'dirty air'. 

Now imagine a second car is driving right behind you. The dirty air created by your car is causing your opponent's car to lose a lot of downforce and making it less drive-able and less stable. 

The new nose, front and rear wing concept are designed to help fight this problem. Taking a look at the car, you will notice fewer components, but each of the wings will push the air even higher, which results in less turbulence behind the car. 

The new 3D-shaped floor of the 2022 car is designed to help increase the car's downforce without disturbing the airflow behind it. Less dirty air means more downforce for the car behind, which results in more battles on the track.

18" Wheels to Reduce Overheating Tires

Many teams have been testing Pirelli's larger 18-inch wheels in preparation for next year—as opposed to this year's 13-inch tires.

Pirelli's new compounds and constructions for these 18-inch wheels are designed to prevent tire overheating when sliding, which is a significant factor that contributes to increased competition.

More Sustainable Cars Thanks to E10

Current F1 cars are running on fuel containing 5.75% bio components. This percentage will increase to 10% in 2022 thanks to Ethanol 10, or E10. 

But that's not enough. New regulations also see that the new fuel has to be produced sustainably, meaning it will have a zero carbon footprint.

Safety First!

For the 2022 season, the supporting frame of F1 cars (also called chassis) has to withstand more impact during the event of a crash, which requires the team to build a stronger chassis. A longer nose section will help to dispel the energy during a crash.

The FIA and Formula 1 are pretty confident that they came up with regulations that will achieve their goal of closer racing without exposing the drivers to greater risks.

Fans just have to sit back and wait for the 2022 pre-season testing to see how the teams put the new regulations into reality.

Overall, F1 keeps evolving and innovating to create a more competitive racing environment for the fans and the drivers. Other than the potential 5-second penalties that drivers may get for driving more competitively, we should be in for a treat.

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