What the revolutionary new breed of Formula 1 cars feel like to drive

By:

Matt Kew

Feb 25, 2022, 9:25 PM

With a radical new set of regulations making the 2022 Formula 1 cars the heaviest for almost nine decades, the grid's 20 drivers face a big challenge this season. Here's what some of them had to say about the monumental shake-up

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Formula 1 has turned its back on the fastest-ever cars to grace a circuit by radically rethinking the way downforce is generated. The new-for-2022 regulations have also added some 43kg to the minimum weight limit, and several teams are reckoned to be comfortably north of that, too. It’s the heaviest grand prix grid for almost nine decades.

And yet, despite the bulk gained over the winter and the early evidence that lap times have increased, drivers are relishing getting to know their new rides. They’re having to adapt their driving styles, react to the return of porpoising after its 40-year layoff and get used to revised tyres and the knock-on effect of the altered reference points from the cockpit.

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Matt Kew

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Matt Kew is Autosport’s F1 Editor, a role he has held since March 2022 following stints covering Formula E, Extreme E and the British Touring Car Championship.

Matt joined Autosport in 2018 to work predominantly on the magazine, but his relentless quoting of Alan Partridge meant office colleagues soon thought he would be better-suited to increased field work.

Needless to say, Matt had the last laugh when he won the Motorsport UK Young Journalist of the Year Award in 2019.

His interest in motorsport was sparked by regular trips to watch ASCAR crash around Rockingham’s banked oval.

Matt read politics and philosophy at the University of Sheffield - receiving first-class honours for his dissertation assessing the lack of female participation in top-tier motor racing.

He covered a wide variety of national race and rally meetings for Autosport as a freelancer before joining full-time. His best efforts to argue the merits of historic racing are undone by a questionable taste in music and James Bond actors.