Early in the Gen3 piece it was widely expected that in-car anti-roll bar levers – a staple of the current cars – would be dropped for the next-gen hardware.
That was part of the push to simplify the cars and cut costs, the roll bar adjuster banned effectively coupled with the proposed move to paddle shift and auto blip.
However it’s since been decided to retain the in-car levers, with the category’s focus now on retaining the theater of on-board camera footage.
As is the case now, it’s expected that drivers will be able to change both the front and rear anti-roll bars via hydraulic levers.
Drivers use the bars to tune their cars to tire wear and fuel loads during a race.
Shane van Gisbergen is one of the best known for his ‘bar work’, the Kiwi often seen shifting levers and tweaking brake bias from corner to corner on a single lap.
With paddles and Auto Gear Shift also formally off the table, drivers will continue to have gears, bars and brake bias at their disposal in the cockpit.
There have long been concerns that without things like the gear stick and anti-roll bars to manage off the steering wheel, on-board footage could become boring to watch.
Drivers were also worried that minimizing in-car activity would make the cars too easy to drive, although that concern was more about the paddle shift and AGS than the on-board bar adjusters.
The Gen3 cars will be developed across 2022 before making their competitive debut at the opening round of the 2023 season.
