Photo: McLaren Racing / Facebook
We’re 10 races into the 2022 Formula 1 season and it’s safe to say that the new ground effects regulations have proven to be a success, as they allow cars to follow each other more closely, which in turn leads to more overtaking during a race.
That being said, there have been issues with these new regs, most of which very well documented – like porpoising or the overall decrease in agility (the cars are quicker in fast corners but slower in slow corners).
McLaren however point to a problem that has yet to be fixed by the new ground effect aerodynamics, and it’s called a “DRS train”.
What on Earth is that? Well, you’ve probably already seen it and didn’t know what you were looking at. A DRS train appears to affect mostly midfield teams (cars with similar performance), and it occurs when the car at the front of the pack has enough speed to hold off its pursuer, leading to a stalemate of sorts as multiple drivers group together behind, powerless to overtake each other (seen as how they all get DRS).
“Depending on how this train is looking like, and which car is at the front, and if that is a car that actually can hold everyone else back, that can lead to some boring scenarios in the middle of the pack,” said McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl, as quoted by Motorsport.
“I think that’s something we might still have to look into, to see what we could do there, because I think we have seen that several times already this year.”
Thankfully, the new aero rules more than make up for that by increasing the overall level of raceability.
“That was very reminiscent of the karting days,” said Lewis Hamilton after last weekend’s British Grand Prix. “And I feel that that's Formula 1 at its best. The fact that we were able to follow and dice like that, lap on lap is a testament to the direction I think that we're now in.”
McLaren however point to a problem that has yet to be fixed by the new ground effect aerodynamics, and it’s called a “DRS train”.
What on Earth is that? Well, you’ve probably already seen it and didn’t know what you were looking at. A DRS train appears to affect mostly midfield teams (cars with similar performance), and it occurs when the car at the front of the pack has enough speed to hold off its pursuer, leading to a stalemate of sorts as multiple drivers group together behind, powerless to overtake each other (seen as how they all get DRS).
“Depending on how this train is looking like, and which car is at the front, and if that is a car that actually can hold everyone else back, that can lead to some boring scenarios in the middle of the pack,” said McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl, as quoted by Motorsport.
“I think that’s something we might still have to look into, to see what we could do there, because I think we have seen that several times already this year.”
Thankfully, the new aero rules more than make up for that by increasing the overall level of raceability.
“That was very reminiscent of the karting days,” said Lewis Hamilton after last weekend’s British Grand Prix. “And I feel that that's Formula 1 at its best. The fact that we were able to follow and dice like that, lap on lap is a testament to the direction I think that we're now in.”
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