Mercedes believes 2022 F1 cars should “certainly improve” closer racing

Mercedes’ head of trackside engineering Andrew Shovlin has boosted F1’s claims of improved racing in 2022 following the introduction of radical new aerodynamic regulations.

Shovlin believes the new regulations should “certainly improve” racing, as they drastically limit the amount of aerodynamic wake created by F1 cars. Speaking in a video posted on the team’s social channels, the Briton said:

“A huge amount of effort has gone into these regulations, trying to mean that the car in front doesn’t disrupt the airflow for the following car. That will allow the driver to stay closer and the closer you can get, the more likely you are to be able to overtake.”

He further went on to add, saying:

“We’ll start to get a flavour for it in Barcelona, in Bahrain. But really, it will only be when the lights go out for that first race that we’ll know whether this project has been successful in that very specific regard.”

Even if the new cars are easier to closely follow at high speeds, Shovlin believes they might not necessarily produce closer racing at all circuits. Tracks such as Monaco and Hungary might struggle to produce good racing due to track specific constraints, despite the new regulations.

He said:

“Will it make a track like Monaco, an overtaking circuit? In reality, that’s quite unlikely. The straights are too short, the track’s too narrow, there really isn’t any easy place around Monaco to overtake.”

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F1’s new weekend format an "additional challenge" to teams

Starting in 2022, F1 is moving to a more tightly scheduled weekend format to give teams and drivers more time off between races. The new format introduces closer schedules between sessions, thereby limiting the time teams will have to fine-tune their cars.

Andrew Shovlin believes this will pose a significant challenge to teams heading into the new season. Speaking in the same video, he said:

“The big challenge will just be adapting to that new layout on Friday. The teams will be allowed to stay in the offices for five hours, but that’s still giving us quite a lot less time than we would have normally gotten in that period. You’re trying to get the car’s specification finalised, trying to collate all the learning from the running that day, refine the set-up and come up with the base set-up you’re going to carry into Saturday and qualifying.”

The format change was a last resort attempt by FOM to reduce the burden faced by teams as the number of races continues to increase year on year. The 2022 season is expected to be the longest in the sport’s history with a record-breaking 23 races scheduled.