F1 to test aggressive wheel cover solution to fix wet races
F1 had previously conducted a test at Silverstone with Mercedes and McLaren.
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Lando Norris driving the McLaren MCL60 in wet weather (image via IMAGO)
Formula 1 has struggled with wet weather conditions in recent years. The sport has faced immense backlash from fans for the lack of racing in wet conditions. The 2021 Belgian GP perhaps highlighted the severity of the situation with the lack of visibility for cars. Now, Formula 1 is testing wheel covers to find a solution to fix this alarming issue.
Recently, F1 conducted a test with wheel fairing at Silverstone with Mercedes and McLaren. However, the results were not as expected, with only small reductions in the spray from the cars. Now, the sport is looking to take a more aggressive approach to solve this problem. FIA single-seater director Nikolas Tombazis mentioned that going forward, complete coverage of the wheels would be tested.
Tombazis mentioned that he doubted the spray guards tested at Silverstone and expected underwhelming results. The 55-year-old reckoned that more vigorous testing will be conducted in the next tests. F1 and the FIA would look to truly understand the situation and then decide on a proper fix. Drivers such as Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso have complained about the lack of visibility.
He said, as reported by Motorsport.com, “In the next tests we will carry out, we will test complete coverage of the wheel, going even beyond what would be needed to understand what the threshold is at which the spray forms. Then we will decide which path to take.”
F1 needs to find a solution to the complicated wet weather problem
Presently, cars spray large amounts of water behind them on wet tracks. This results in poor visibility for cars behind as drivers struggle to see the track in front. As such, it becomes too dangerous for cars to continue on track, which leads to a red flag being called by race control. Tombazis explained the difficult task of finding a solution to this issue.
The FIA Director claimed that 40% of the spray comes from the wheels. As such, reducing this spray could have a huge impact on fixing this major problem in Formula 1. Although, the 55-year-old made it clear that drivers would not have complete visibility on the track. Tombazis said, “If we were able to limit this phenomenon, it is clear that the drivers would not have complete visibility, but there would be a significant improvement.”
Thus, Formula 1 is working rapidly to find a fix for poor visibility in wet weather conditions. Multiple races have been red-flagged in recent years owing to extreme weather due to safety concerns. The upcoming tests will experiment with new solutions for this issue. However, it remains to be seen if the sport can finally find a fix to the concerning problem.
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Armaan Agarwal
(2310 Articles Published)