The end of the last era was marked by small differences across the starting field. It was expected that the new rules would change this situation. According to the teams in the middle of the field, it actually happened.
Limits on aerodynamic development, budget ceiling and stable rules. Before the arrival of the new rules, we had a level playing field. The center of the field was the center of the field (or rather the other half), but the differences were small.
New rules came in this year and the differences seem to have increased. But we will see the real numbers only after the first races.
“It seems that the gap to the top teams, the four that led last year, has widened,” said Carlos Sainz in a video from Williams. “It’s going to take a lot of hard work over the coming months and races in the first part of the season to try and erase this loss.”
“I would like to give you a different answer. But at the moment the top four is firmly established,” said Esteban Ocon of Haas, as quoted by Motorsport.com. “Whereas in some races last year you saw the top ten in the three-four-tenths range, now I think maybe the top eight is in that range – but the rest are whole seconds behind.”
“I’m not saying it’s going to stay that way until Melbourne because we’ve seen a lot of teams bring improvements. We’ve also seen Audi make a big jump with the new bodywork and other things. But yes, the midfield is a lot further at the moment than last year.”
According to the Racing Bulls boss, it’s not just about speed for one lap. “We’ve seen some of the big players do racing simulations where you know roughly how much fuel they have at the start and at the finish, and you can tell they’re very fast,” Permane pointed out. “But I don’t think it’s a surprise. Anytime there’s a big rule change, the top teams bounce back and the smaller ones fall.”
Although the rules have changed, some things have remained – we still have budget caps, wind tunnel development restrictions that even favor the less successful. So what’s the difference
“You still have top aerodynamicists who want to work for the best,” explained Permane. “Why would the best football player want to play for the best football team? It’s the same. People want to win. We’re all very competitive. From the drivers to the whole back end of the organization. It’s natural. I don’t mean to put any team down, but it’s logical that more successful engineers gravitate to more successful teams – and that affects the overall situation.”
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