2022 car comparison thread

[tomazy]

Saw this conversation in MCL36 thread, and wanted to add the FW44, but I think that this thread is more suited for that.

From the race article… The vortices on the MCL36 do look stronger and pretty defined vs Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull:







[url]https://i.imgur.com/uVy4xgD.jpg[/img]

[RZS10]

This gallery has a bunch of pictures of various cars in the wet https://xpbimages.com/f1/event/f1-2022-tst01
Maybe having mutiple for each car could give a better picture of how (in)consistent the vortices are ...

[vorticism]

Front sidepod corner differences:

[SmallSoldier]

All the mirrors in Barcelona



Vía AMUS


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[f1316]

https://it.motorsport.com/f1/news/f1-ot ... o/8725227/

So supposedly:

Mercedes would be 3.5-4 kg overweight, Ferrari would be in the "fork" between 5 and 10 kg, with Red Bull close to the highest value. The only F1 2022 that could afford ballast was Alfa Romeo thanks to the use of an ultra-light base which, however, proved too fragile.

Motorsport says that Alfa will therefore come back with a new stronger floor that puts them overweight again and that the teams will agree a 5kg weight increase.

Seems like an advantage for Mercedes if that then allows them to run a little ballast where their competitors should still be overweight.

[Just_a_fan]

https://it.motorsport.com/f1/news/f1-ot ... o/8725227/

So supposedly:

Mercedes would be 3.5-4 kg overweight, Ferrari would be in the "fork" between 5 and 10 kg, with Red Bull close to the highest value. The only F1 2022 that could afford ballast was Alfa Romeo thanks to the use of an ultra-light base which, however, proved too fragile.

Motorsport says that Alfa will therefore come back with a new stronger floor that puts them overweight again and that the teams will agree a 5kg weight increase.

Seems like an advantage for Mercedes if that then allows them to run a little ballast where their competitors should still be overweight.

The teams designed their cars and made design choices that took them above the minimum weight. That's down to the teams and any advantages accrued will be down to design choices that led to less weight. Teams can make their cars lighter but they make choices that prevent them from doing so. Their choice.

[Ryar]

In 2017, Mercedes started the year with an overweight car as they chose to go for a longer wheel base. Through the year, they slowly started making progress in terms of bringing parts that had the same durability, but reduced in weight due to various different compounds being used to build them. Back then, it was affordable but this time around, any amount of R&D to reduce the weight would be a compromise on the cost part, which could hinder teams on performance upgrades. If such a car is on par at the sharp end, it would still be worth to work on reducing the weight as it would translate into performance, but if that car is behind on performance, then it's a double blow.

As some of the cars we saw, as reported through various sources, are a previous iteration, then potentially, the Bahrain upgrade might change that scenario. As part of Bahrain upgrades, may be the teams would have reduced the weight already. May or may not be completely though

[vorticism]

Similar sidepod entries (if you ignore the wing in front of the red car's opening). SF71H & RB18:

[humble sabot]

Williams looks to have kept that outer passage from the Ferrari style.
I also notice the Williams is the only one with the strakes passing above the leading edge of the floor.
Both of those seem very much on the edge of the rules.

[Sevach]

[vorticism]

Interesting how Ferrari and Merc are going different directions with sidepod shape.

[Marty_Y]

[dren]

Interesting how Ferrari and Merc are going different directions with sidepod shape.

The Ferrari has more components lower in the car with a cleaner flow to the rear wing and likely a lower CoG. It appears to be a good choice so far. Mercedes looks like they have to sort out some set-up issues. They're one test behind everyone in that regard with their new package.

[djos]

The new side pod design from Mercedes is bonkers!

[Jolle]

With the floor downforce being so dominant and, with the porpoise affect when you drop the car down or soften the suspension for grip, it could be all about that coming year. Who gets/dares to run the lowest and softest setup. So, the top ¾ of the car doesn't really matter