EXCLUSIVE: George Russell and Kevin Magnussen agree over major F1 problem for drivers
Speaking to Mirror Sport, Haas F1 driver Kevin Magnussen shared his concerns about the heavy cars currently used as he echoed complaints made by Brit George Russell
Kevin Magnussen shares George Russell’s concerns about the weight of the current crop of Formula 1 cars.
A new set of design rules changed the way the cars work and reintroduced ground-effect aerodynamics. And F1 machines are heavier now than they have ever been in the history of the sport
Heavier tyres, newly-mandated electronics systems and greater safety equipment, such as the life-saving halo, have pushed up the weight of the cars. For the 2023 season, the minimum weight allowed, including the driver, is 798kg.
And that is without fuel being taken into account. Once a race load sloshing around the tank, possibly up to an extra 110kg, is added, the cars are even more dense – an are approaching a tonne. That, according to Magnussen, makes them a lot less fun to drive.
They have become much heavier,” the Haas driver told Mirror Sport. “The 2017 to 2020 cars were really fun – still heavy but not as heavy as they are now. These cars have gotten a little bit… the effect is really starting to show in the low speed corners where the car is a bit too heavy and feels more like a prototype car than a Formula 1 car.
“But it’s still super fast in the high-speed corners and they change direction very, very easily. I just think if they go too much away from fast cars… to me, Formula 1 is supposed to have the fastest cars in the world on a lap, time wise. So I hope they continue down that road.”
