F2: New cars are safer, more environmentally friendly and more affordable

The Formula 2 season starts this weekend in Bahrain with new generation cars. The head of the FIA’s technical department, Corrado Casiraghi, said they have become safer, more environmentally friendly and more affordable…

Corrado Casiraghi: “First of all, we focused on safety – and we have updated a lot. We also wanted to make the cars more accessible to a much broader field of participants and also more environmentally friendly. Well, besides, they look more like Formula 1 cars.

Using Formula 1 experience, we have optimized the aerodynamics to make overtaking easier. The FIA ​​Aerodynamics Team is happy with the result. We did not carry out the process in detail and left it to the discretion of the chassis manufacturer Dallara, who made suggestions, also from a cost point of view, which is very important in Formula 2.

According to reviews, the car has become more stable in fast corners, but the teams will still have to learn a lot to achieve better handling. We will have more information this weekend.

From a safety point of view there are many changes. The previous car was used for six years, which is a very long time. The emphasis is mainly on protection against side impacts. The roll cage is much stronger and passes the static test, where we apply loads of up to 380 kN, which corresponds to 40 tons.

We used a new, more durable Halo system, which draws on the experience of Guanyu Zhou’s 2022 Silverstone accident and many other incidents.

Frontal protection has been improved by 30%. In a frontal collision, the design can dissipate 50% more energy. The driver’s seat is surrounded by foam, making it more stable in side impacts. The fuel tank design was changed after Grosjean’s accident in Bahrain’20. There are new mounting cables for the wheels to prevent them from coming loose.”