Ferrari Red Bull Weight Challenge. La Rossa is the youngest – Corriere.it

The new generation of Formula 1 has set a new record for the minimum weight granted by the Federation, as it increased from 752 kg for cars in 2021 to 798 kg, an increase of 46 kg. The figure does not include fuel, but rather the weight of the passenger (80 kg). The limit was initially set at 775 kg, 23 kg above the minimum permissible weight last season, and the increase is due to the growth in the dimensions of the parts around the wheels (tyres, rims and braking system). The weight was then first increased to 795 kg, as a result of safety interventions, up to the current 798 kg.

This latest increase came as a result of the slight discrepancy between the expected and actual weights of the tyres, rims and wheel covers, which the FIA ​​acknowledged, but also from the addition of connecting rods to strengthen the rear sections of the bottoms, granted by the federation .. after the problems that emerged in the first test of the season in Barcelona. The tie rod case angered the Alps. “We’ve designed a firmer floor, and therefore a slightly heavier car, precisely to avoid excessive bending,” said Pat Fry, technical director of the French team. The prospect of installing connecting rods to strengthen the bottom penalizes those who, like us, have focused on stiffness greater than lightness and flexibility.” One would think that staying under the weight limit is not a problem for the teams at all, but it is not.

Just Alfa Romeo GuaranteedThe car weighed, initially at least, slightly below the weight allowed by the federation, with several other teams still well below 798kg, Ferrari among them. The Swiss team has worked amazingly on weight loss using some very interesting technical solutions. Among them, the central air knife is of purely structural purpose, internally called “rolling blade”; Not an absolute novelty for the 2022 car, however, and in an important way it did help contain the weight of the C42 from Bottas and Cho. The bottom is also designed to be light, at least at the specified flow rate on the track in Montmelo’s Spanish tests; However, significant problems encountered, associated with aerodynamic recoil, forced the Swiss team to strengthen it, which led to the inevitable weight gain on the scales.

Among the three major teams, Ferrari is the best on the line; On the contrary, Red Bull, which pressed hard at the last technical meeting for a twofold increase in the minimum weight, to only 3kg compromise. Not surprisingly, the team at Milton Keynes has also requested a reintroduction hanging servers, in their opinion to solve the problems of aerodynamic recoil, but in fact it was a move to obtain a more significant increase in the minimum weight. While Mercedes definitely has a lot of room for improvement In terms of aerodynamic rebound management (Ferrari also, albeit to a lesser degree, having neutralized them better than their competitors), Red Bull will be able to make significant gains by reducing weight in the RB18.

However, in times of maximum budget, teams can no longer consider updates that reduce the weight of their vehicle completely separate from what real aerodynamic developments would be. If the team decides to develop an updated backend, which also needs to be thinned, it’s a good idea for the new specification to include both optimization to avoid producing a second backend specification that would over budget. For this, the processes are lengthened.

“I suppose we will lose some weight from Imola,” Helmut Marko A . said Servus TV. So is Ferrari who will interfere between Imola and Spain (also) at the F1-75 weight division. Currently, various teams have tried to lose weight in the simplest way, which is to remove part of the paint from the bodywork of their cars. Like the 1934 Mercedes that took off the white and exposed silver to brushed aluminum. Thus the legend of the silver arrows was born.

Back in F1 2022, Red Bull brought a completely unpainted front wing to Bahrain, as well as Ferrari, Alfa Romeo and Aston Martin which also feature a fully exposed rear wing. The English team had already spoken about it at the end of 2021. “We had a meeting with the team’s senior management to decide on next year’s paint and how much of the structure to paint – he was expecting the former Aston team manager, Szafnauer -. Weight will be an important factor. We have to Remove as much of it as possible. That’s why we’re talking about it now.” Those words already sounded like an alarm in Aston MartinSo much so, that the AMR22 is the heaviest car in the group, along with Red Bull. “Weight is a big issue for us,” explained Andrew Green, head coach of the English team. “We looked at the whole car and removed the paint where we could. I think in total we saved about 350g.” That’s just under a tenth.