“I had no downforce at all,” Kevin Magnussen flags concerns for the 2022 cars after ‘not normal’ car behavior
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Kevin Magnussen
F1 introduced the new regulations to make the cars more trackable, thus encouraging closer racing and more overtakes. Theoretically, they are designed in such a way that the car behind doesn’t get too much dirty air, and to some extent, the drivers have experienced this, showing good early signs for the sport and the regulations.
However, dirty air behind the leading car is not the only side effect of chasing. The reduction in down-force is another concern that keeps drivers from getting more close.
Kevin Magnussen of Haas believes that this reduction was brought down to zero when he was racing in the Australian GP at the Albert Park. Comparing this severe reduction to the cars of the previous era and years, Kevin, as quoted by motorsport.com, said, “There was just nothing left. I had no downforce at all. It’s fine if you are a car’s length behind someone, but as soon as you are very close, it’s even worse than with the previous generation of cars. For racing, it’s better now though. It’s easier to attack.”
Kevin Magnussen’s thoughts on tire lock
Kevin Magnussen experienced multiple tire locks as he approached turn 9 in Australia. The driver flagged this and the lack of downforce as a concern as he believes he hasn’t seen something like this before.
While talking of downforce and tire locking, he said, “Not in this way. When I tried to brake at the ninth corner, I locked both tyres at high speed. It was not normal.”
The race in Australia was planned with 4 DRS zones and was run as well for the practice sessions. Later, citing security reasons, one of them was removed, which was flagged as a bigger safety concern by plenty of drivers including George Russell and Daniel Ricciardo, who helped with the new track layout of the Albert Park.
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Manan Goel
(400 Articles Published)