https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/im...cars/10085429/
Imola kerbs could pose headache for F1 2022 cars
Formula 1 teams and drivers could face a headache with the kerbs at this weekend's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix thanks to the characteristics of the 2022 cars.
By: Jonathan Noble
Apr 21, 2022, 5:12 AM
The start of the European season takes place at the old-school Imola circuit, which features much more aggressive kerbs than have been present at the modern venues that have hosted races so far this season.
In the past, drivers have found that they have needed to ride the Imola kerbs a lot to deliver the fastest possible laptime, with the chicanes in particular offering good gains if they are straight-lined.
But a new more cautious approach may be needed from this weekend because of the arrival of ground effect cars.
With so much of the car performance coming from the airflow under the car, teams are having to run their machines much closer to the ground than they have in the past.
And that reduction in ground clearance opens the risk for drivers to damage their floors if they run across the kerbs as aggressively as they have in the past.
One senior engineer told Autosport: "If you look at the start of last year's race, when Lewis Hamilton had to run across the kerbs at Turn 1 to avoid colliding with Max Verstappen, that would have badly crunched his floor if it happened with a 2022 car."