As we edge closer to the unveiling of the teams new 2022 Formula 1 challengers, the first to conform to sweeping new technical regulations designed to improve close racing, McLaren driver Daniel Ricciardo has stated he believes the cars may be less demanding to drive.

New regulations see a shift of focus from over-body downforce generation, which causes dramatic disruption to the air behind the car, to ground effect, generating downforce using the car's floor. This move should help alleviate the “dirty air” issue which has plagued F1 in recent times and thus improve the cars ability to follow closely. Ricciardo believes these changes may take some strain off the drivers.

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“We definitely anticipate the cars to be a bit slower, so potentially a little less physical demand, but the cars will be a bit bigger and heavier, so maybe that then makes it a little a little more difficult to handle – man handle,” he said, speaking with Speedcafe.com.

“I heard, I think [Pierre] Gasly talk a little bit about visibility, which already is not that good, so maybe that will be another challenge.

“But I think from a physical demand, the cars now are so quick, I can’t imagine it getting more physical than it is at the moment.”

Data from post season testing in Abu Dhabi in December would suggest however, that the new regulations will not slow the cars down as much as anticipated, potentially only seeing a deficit of 0.5 seconds per lap. 

Mclaren ran a modified 2021 MCL35M producing a level of downforce similar to the predicted levels for their 2022 challenger in order to generate the data. This would lead some to believe that the 2022 cars may surpass the speed of the 2021 cars by the end of the season.

Ricciardo was asked about keeping the high fitness level needed to perform in F1, to which the 32-year-old Australian admitted he is unable to have as much downtime between seasons.

“The older you get, I guess, at some point, you start to slow down,” he acknowledged.

“I can’t say I feel that yet, but let’s say the upside is just the more we drive Formula 1, the more laps we turn, just your body becomes more built for a Formula 1 machine.

“Through the season, we pretty much stay race fit the whole season,” continued the Monza winner.

“We top up the training but I wouldn’t say we necessarily get stronger in the gym, I think that doesn’t really change through the year. I don’t think we make improvements there.

“But naturally, our body gets stronger from driving, so I think that’s a benefit, and with so many races now, naturally we kind of stay on top of it.

“I probably have less off days in the off-season.

“I definitely still want my break and I need a switch off, so that’s important to me, but maybe where I used to have five weeks off, like five weeks of literally no training, now that’s probably only three weeks.

“So I’ll kind of stay in shape all year round a little more than maybe I used to and that’s probably really enough to get me on the front foot and keep me ahead of the curve.”