The key tech talking points at the end of F1 pre-season testing

From porpoising to pods, Formula 1's new technical regulations have created surprises from teams up and down the grid. Here's a dive into the key talking points from the Bahrain pre-season test...

Jake Boxall-Legge Mar 14, 2022, 6:40 PM

As it turned out, the 2022 Formula 1 regulations weren’t that restrictive. Constraints can often encourage creativity, and the brightest minds in the design offices have had to exploit every single letter placed in the reams of regulations to which teams have to design their cars. Fundamentally, the rules pose standard design problems – to which the engineers must develop the best solution.

In response to that problem, 10 different solutions have been dreamed up, developed and built for 2022. There are slots and ripples and cuts, and sidepods and fins and struts – but without wishing to descend into a Dr Seuss-esque poem about the various appendages on the 2022 F1 cars, there’s a plethora of different options that each team has explored ready for the Bahrain season-opener.

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Author Jake Boxall-Legge

Jake Boxall-Legge Autosport’s Technical Editor. Having studied Automotive Engineering with Motorsport at the University of Hertfordshire, West Country-born Jake's original ambition was to design racing cars. During a year between studies in which he accidentally rekindled a love of writing, he took up a Master's in Motorsport Engineering at Oxford Brookes. Halfway through his master's year, he was offered a place on the Autosport Academy, conducting occasional freelance duties before becoming the press officer for Formula 2 and GP3 in 2018. Autosport offered him a return to the fold later that year to serve as its Technical Editor. His voice appears on a number of videos and podcasts, and can often be found writing about terrible Formula 1 cars in excruciating detail. In his spare time, Jake enjoys baking and blames his failure to make it past the Great British Bake-Off interviews on his tenuous grasp on choux pastry. His dream is to open a brunch cafe - and his willingness to make outrageous puns in inappropriate situations has earned him the contempt of his colleagues.