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SINGAPORE – SEPTEMBER 16. Executive Director Toto Wolff and engineer Andrew Shovlin. Talk in the Pitlane before the Formula One Grand Prix of Singapore. Marina Bay Street Circuit on September 16, 2018 in Singapore. (Photo by Charles Coates/Getty Images)
Getty
SINGAPORE – SEPTEMBER 16. Executive Director Toto Wolff and engineer Andrew Shovlin. Talk in the Pitlane before the Formula One Grand Prix of Singapore. Marina Bay Street Circuit on September 16, 2018 in Singapore. (Photo by Charles Coates/Getty Images)
The F1 livery season is in full flow right now with four teams revealing their 2022 cars. But arguably the most anticipated launch among all teams and fans alike is that of the world champions, Mercedes. The German team will launch their 2022 challenger W13 on February 18th. Mercedes technical director Andrew Shovlin mentioned that there could be a lot more overtakes next season.
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The sport has brought new regulations for the 2022 season to promote closer racing. The cars for this season will have less downforce from the aerodynamics and will generate downforce from the ground effect. Shovlin explained how they’ve managed to build a car that will be good for overtaking.
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Mercedes F1 director reveals how they have implemented the regulations
As reported by Formula Passion, Shovlin revealed the new regulations will allow for closer racing in the upcoming season. They have nullified the dirty air effect, which hampered the previous iteration of the cars.
“A lot of efforts have been made to implement these regulations to ensure that the car in front does not interrupt the flow of air to the car in the wake.
This will allow the driver to be closer to the car in front of him and, as he gets closer to it, it will be more likely that there are ideal conditions to be able to overtake,” said Shovlin.
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Formula One F1 – Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates – December 12, 2021, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen after the start of the race REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah
The Mercedes technical director mentioned that there would be some circuits where the overtaking would be better than before.
“But what we will probably see in many other circuits is that it can be followed more closely. You can put pressure on the front car and it will be easier to get into an undercut range.
More importantly, you can now perform maneuvers on straights that, in the past, would not have been practical. Now we will do the tests in Spain and Bahrain, but only during the championship will we understand if this project will actually be valid in this field,” said Shovlin.
Everyone is eagerly waiting for the new cars to hit the track and go wheel-to-wheel. But we have to keep our expectations in check and not expect miracles to happen in the upcoming season from the teams, as they will take a considerable time to get to the level they want to.
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