F1's "clever" engineers can find loopholes in 2022 rules - Tost

AlphaTauri team principal Franz Tost expects F1 engineers to find loopholes in the new-for-2022 regulations despite the restrictive nature of the changes.

Aerodynamic concepts have been radically changed for next season with the aim of creating closer competition and more exciting racing.

Whilst there is enough development available to teams to ensure F1 doesn't become a spec series akin to F2 or IndyCar, the amount of aerodynamic freedom is vastly reduced to previous years.

Speaking to GPFans Global, Tost said it was "difficult to say" how similar AlphaTauri's car would be to the demo car used at launch by F1 because "the aerodynamic department is working very hard on this subject. Of course, they are finding something every week".

"How similar the car then at the end will look, I don't know," he added. "I'm sure it will be quite similar because the regulations do not allow very different solutions or other solutions.

"It's more in the detail. It's not from the, let me say, look of the car, it's more on the detail on the floor, the diffuser, on all the other parts on the aerodynamic side which will have an influence.

"This is tentative work the aerodynamicists are doing now, in the tunnel and in CFD, and then we will see where they end up."

Asked if the lack of freedom was a disappointment, Tost replied: "Yes, but you don't know.

"There are very clever engineers studying the regulations and it's completely new for everyone. I would not be surprised if engineers can't find a loophole. Let's just hope it's our engineers."

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