No further delay for the technical regulation overhaul - Brawn
There is no intention of delaying the introduction of the revolutionary new technical regulation further, insists Formula 1 motorsport boss Ross Brawn.
Following the coronavirus outbreak, FIA and Formula 1 have decided to put the 2021 technical regulation on hold until 2022. The decision was triggered by the uncertainty around the situation that has put a significant financial strain on teams.
Besides the postponement of the new regulations, the retention of the current chassis has also been agreed for 2020 in order to guarantee the financial well-being of the sport in a time when no races are taking place, hence no income is being generated.
While some teams indicated that the sport in weighing up the possibility of delaying the introduction of the new technical rules, Brawn denied that such discussions are ongoing. Asked during the F1 Show, the Briton confirmed that the date of the introduction of the new technical rules “will definitely be 2022. “They’ve been deferred a year but they are definitely coming in ’22.”
Red Bull has been the most vocal team pushing through the proposal to delay the new technical rules even further. Brawn said that the new rules will not only add to the spectacle by promoting on-track battles, but it can also contribute to the financial balance inside F1.
“Some teams are pushing to delay them for a further year but I think there’s a justifiable need to carry these cars over into next year because we’re in the middle of a terrible crisis. The initiatives that we’re bringing in with these new regulations are to make the sport more economically viable in terms of the complexity and where the money is spent."
“With the cars we have now, they are so complex that the more you spend the quicker you go. We need to level off that slope and create a situation where money is not the only criteria for how competitive you will be. Therefore we need these new cars to even that slope out,” he added.
While Brawn stressed on multiple occasions that F1 intends to bring teams closer in order to promote the competitive nature of the field, he also said that the sport needs to maintain its DNA, allowing the best outfits to rise to the top.
“We still want the great teams to win - we have to maintain the integrity of F1, it’s a sport and it still has to have the best people winning. But I think we can have a competitive form of racing in the future with these new regulations, with these new cars,” he concluded.
