The @AstonMartinF1#AMR22 is the first 2022 #F1 car to be revealed, and as such gives us a first real indication of the trends expected this season. Tech thread..
The car features a Mercedes power unit and Mercedes transmission, but unlike the AMR21 and R20 this car is not based on a Mercedes car concept. Surprisingly Aston Marin claims that 10% of the car has carried over from the AMR21.
Starting at the front the most striking feature of the car is the tip of the nose, set back from the leading edge of the front wing and slightly above it. It is a design hinted at in some of @F1’s 2022 renders. It will be interesting to see if other teams follow this lead.
Note how the second highest wing element blends into the nose. The nose is not a simple thing to change as it requires a crash test - so will be interesting if other teams follow this lead. The small hole is for driver cooling.
The front wing is of interest, noticeably different in shape to the more curved wings fitted to the show cars. Note how angular the upper element is, also note how the outer edges of the wing drop down.
The front wing endplate is fairly standard within the rules, but the single external element or dive plane is an area open for team development, it will be interesting to see if this becomes anymore complex as the season gets under way.
Looking at the inner face of the end plate it is possible to see how much wider the lower elements are at the outer end of the wing are compared to the two upper elements. On the show car these were far more evenly spaced, and not as blended with the nose.
Aston Martin has opted to retain pushrod actuated front suspension, some teams are expected to utilise pull-rod. The reasons for this are detailed here:
The front brake duct is an area where some development is expected, the small duct on the tyre side of the rim plate is interesting. Note the front wheel flow conditioner (needs a better name), standard to all cars.
There is a lot of interest in the radiator duct inlet, smaller and far squarer than expected, also note the internal sweep channelling the airflow outward under the bodywork. Notably Haas has a similar concept on display on its otherwise vague renders.
The shape of the sidepod further rearward is interesting, as it sticks out above the floor a long way - a bit like a Toro Rosso STR6. Have a look here for a theory on the cooler layout under the bodywork in this area:
On top of the sidepod are a number of cooling slats (or gills as @AlexBrundle calls them) this is likely to be an area with a lot of development track to track.
The roll hoop concept is a straight carry over from the AMR21, and is an indication that most Mercedes powered cars will have a similar layout.
That roll hoop concept can be traced right back to the Mercedes W10!
At the rear of the car things are a little less clear, we can see that the AMR22 uses a pull rod rear suspension layout, and that the rear floor is pretty close to that of the show cars (as expected)
There is a distinctive hump on the engine cover, something required to accommodate the plenums of the Mercedes V6, they also appeared on the AMR21 but seem to be slightly longer and thinner on the AMR22 - expect these on the W13 as well.
DRS! The first proper look at a 2022 DRS design, and its pretty much as expected. Question is, how powerful will it be?
The only real look at the rear of the car is in the form of renders, which do not really give much of a clue about the design. So that will be something to look at after the shakedown.
So thats pretty much it for my first impressions, will have a lot more when we see it on track.
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The @McLarenF1#MCL36 was revealed earlier today at the team’s woking factory, like all 2022 F1 cars the Mercedes powered design is a completely new concept as a result of the new technical regulations. (Tech Thread)
Most strikingly the McLaren is very different to the Aston Martin AMR22 (the only other 2022 F1 car to be launched at the time of writing. Unfortunately McLaren would not let us take any pictures of the real car, meaning that at present only renders are available.
Starting at the front of the car the nose is very interesting, sitting back from the lowermost element of the front wing. Its tip is slightly more sculpted than it seems in these renders.
So the Red Bull attempt to have Hamilton's #F1#britishgrandprix penalty increased has failed. Here is a short thread explaining why and the impressive lengths Red Bull went to for the case - including a special test run.
Red Bull conducted a private test run at Silverstone on 22nd June, with Alex Albon at the wheel of a RB15. This test run took place during the opening days of. @FormulaStudent - disturbing the scrutineers at Copse Corner!
There was confusion about why Red Bull would be running such fast laps with Alex Albon on a circuit the championship had just been to. But it is now very clear what they were doing.
I thought that I would take a short look at the tyre issues in the #AzerbaijanGP today as I've had a fair few questions about it already! (Thread)
Aston Martin were trying an alternate strategy with Lance Stroll during the race, starting on the (C3) hard tyre and running deep into the race, hoping for a safety car and to get track position as a result. It seemed to be going well, and then it wasn't.
The left rear tyre failed, with the inner sidewall separating from the rest of the tyre at high speed.
When Bottas pitted the wheel gun stripped the wheel nut, rounding it off, and leaving no faces for the tool to drive on. This was one of those moments where F1 TV's Pit Lane Channel came into its own. 2/8
I believe the key moment (caught on camera by @F1JMT) was only shown in detail on the PLC. You could see the swarf (metal) coming off the nut as the mechanic tried to remove it (can't really see it in these screen grabs!). Director Tom was quite excited by this. 3/8
I decided to take a bit of a longer look at the track limits goings on at T4 during the #F1#BahrainGP yesterday. There is a bit more to this than I think some people have picked up on. /Thread.
On Friday - after Free Practice the rules relating to track limits at T4 were changed. "Advantage" in terms of 27.3 here means overtaking or defending not lap time. This document was circulated to teams and drivers. /2
Once the #BahrainGP got underway, every single driver in the field exploited the exit of Turn 4 pretty much every lap. Here you can see @yukitsunoda07 and @Charles_Leclerc doing just that. /3