‘I’ll get a cushion to sit higher’: F1 drivers adapt to new cars’ reduced visibility

Sergio Perez and Daniel Ricciardo said that the reduced visibility caused by larger wheels on the 2022 F1 car is something drivers will have to work around.

F1 has introduced taller, 720mm diameter wheels this year, and required teams to add bodywork which reaches over the top of them. Other drivers, including Ricciardo’s team mate Lando Norris, indicated this would present visibility problems.

Ricciardo said that the view was “definitely a little more tricky” because “there’s just more in the way.

“It’s another thing with F1 – obviously, it’s a very unrelatable sport because no one can jump in the car and really experience what it’s like but even a lot of onboard cameras from the top. So you see so much more, so you might think you’re riding with the driver, but you’re not really getting like the driver’s point of view actually they did test a few cameras last year. But my point is you don’t see that much, period.

“This year, you see less again,” Ricciardo explained. “But you also get used to it and you just find reference points and things like this. So it is something that gets easier over time. But [visibility] probably hasn’t been that great since the old days when they were sitting right at the front of the car and a lot higher.”

The McLaren driver believes the reduced visibility is “something we’ll get used to.”

“There is always kind of blind spots in the car, so you have to use a lot of your intuition as well when you’re racing side by side. But I think also that kind of creates sometimes like the art of of a good battle.”

“So you use your other instincts or rely on other things to kind of pull off a move or defend well,” he continued. “I think there will be a bit more for us to adjust to, especially in the early days of 2022 but maybe by a couple of races in we’ll be like ‘ah, we don’t really feel it anymore.'”

Perez said drivers will “definitely have to get used to less visibility” this year. “We will try to figure it out how we can get more. But obviously there’s [only] so much we can get in the sitting position.”

The Red Bull driver said they will have to “make sure [we learn] our distances better and with racing I think we’re all going to get used to it.”

In the midst of so many regulation changes for 2022, Perez said it was “going to be another challenge for this year” as the F1 field learns to optimise their new cars.

Lewis Hamilton, who drove his new Mercedes in a filming day at Silverstone last week, said the visibility is “similar” to last year and believes he can improve his view.

“I’m probably sitting a little bit too low because I’m seeing a lot of sky at the moment,” he said. “But I’ll get a cushion or something to sit higher.”

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