F1 CTO feels the 2022 regulation changes have been fruitful

F1's Chief Technical Officer Pat Symonds believes the new regulatory changes have helped cars to be able to follow each other better on track.

The sport is currently witnessing a technical overhaul with rule changes that were supposed to be implemented in 2021 but were pushed back on account of the COVID -19 pandemic.

During an interview with F1 TV, Symonds spoke on the positive data taken from the pre-season tests in Barcelona and Bahrain that prove the regulations are delivering on their promise. He said:

“When you’re testing, you try not to get close to other cars, you try and keep your own counsel really, and good separation. In Barcelona, I spoke to a lot of drivers and asked them about how they felt the cars were when they were following. And all of them were very complimentary, those who had followed, and of course, a lot of them hadn’t.”

Symonds then went on to explain how Alex Albon's fresh perspective, having been away from the sport for a year, made for the best example. He added:

“But Alex [Albon] I think gave me the most interesting answer, because he said he had to recalibrate, he had to rethink, because he couldn’t believe how close he could get to the car in front. And that’s the best vindication of these quite major changes that we’ve done, I think.”

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Pat Symonds confirms slipstream effect 'not as strong' with F1 2022 aerodynamic package

During the same interview, Symonds also confirmed that the 2022 F1 aerodynamic package has significantly reduced the tow cars can get from the slipstream effect.

For the uninitiated, a tow is when a car in front cuts through the air and allows one or more cars to follow behind it and get a faster straight-line speed as a result.

Symonds shed light on the reduction of tow this year, saying:

“It’s not as strong. The thing is you can’t have everything. We have to unfortunately even in F1 obey the laws of physics, which I find very annoying sometimes, but we have to do it! And of course, if you’re trying to put good quality air onto the car that’s following, that air is going to have more energy in it. It’s got more energy and it’s produced the downforce, it’s also going to produce the drag. So you haven’t got quite the slipstream effect that you had. But that’s minor compared to the change in downforce that you need through the corners and everything. I think we’ll still get the overtaking on the straights.”

Aerodynamic regulations are front and center here and could act as a potential reset button for the championship. The biggest change to the aerodynamic rules is the return of ground effect, something that hasn't been seen in the sport since 1982.

Meanwhile, the new F1 season is set to get underway at the Bahrain Grand Prix on March 20.