Over the course of Formula One’s 71 year history, there have been an infinite amount of era defining car changes that have helped crown some of the greatest drivers on their way to world domination. Among these coronations, great rivalries were born and produced some of the most incapsulating sporting moments of the past century.
Ayrton Senna battled wheel to wheel with rival Alain Prost for close to a decade, collecting 7 world titles between them. James Hunt beat out Niki Lauda in the race for the 1976 World Championship, and still remains one of (if not the) greatest F1 season ever recorded. Most recently in 2016, Nico Rosberg accomplished the impossible and defeated Lewis Hamilton in a heated season long battle that saw the German capture his one and only world title by only 5 points.
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| Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost, Nigel Mansel, Nelson Piquet (right to left) - flickr.com |
However, in recent years, the glorious magic that had millions of eyes glued to TV screens has gone missing. Instead of wheel to wheel clashes, daring inside dives, and numerous heated interviews, viewers have grown accustomed to a bi-weekly procession of 200mph millionaires and a prompt post-race interview in which the drivers are more politically correct than the politicians themselves. But there is hope.
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| FIA Post-Race Press Conference Monaco GP - formulaone.com |
For the last few seasons, even the drivers have grown tired of this weekly procession, with a stream of complaints from some of the grids best talents surrounding the lack of overtaking opportunities and the inability to catch and follow other cars. In retaliation, the FIA have come back with a completely redesigned car for 2022 which comes with one simple promise - to take F1 back to the days of motorsport glory.
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| F1 2022 Remodel - skysports.com |
The redesigned model is smaller in both width and length, increasing the overtaking opportunities on tracks such as Monaco and Singapore which had previously been a near impossibility. Adjusted rear and front wings eliminate the effects of dirty air when following another car which should lead to close quarter battles throughout the course, not just on the straights or in the pit lane. Outside of racing, the new design actually looks a lot cooler too. The body sits lower to the floor and the 18 inch tyres give it a contemporary but aggressive look, which means Lewis Hamilton will at least look good in Max Verstappen’s rear view mirrors. The increased 5kg in weight is mainly due to additional safety features that will further reduce the chances of major injuries to F1 drivers and keep them on the track as much as possible (aside from Nikita Mazepin obviously).
So apart from all the Formula One jargon, what does this all actually mean? Well, with any hope, the combination of aggressive drivers and an equally aggressive car will return F1 to heart-in-mouth action that older generations were spoiled with for over 5 decades. So hold the front and back pages because if the FIA’s latest shot in the dark works, F1 could be finding it’s way back to the top of every sport lovers weekend watchlist.
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