FIA: More difficult F1 cars to drive from 2016?

The governing bodies of the premier discipline are going to consider implementing rules to make driving Formula 1 cars more challenging. The F1 Strategy Group, a tripartite institution composed equally of representatives from the FIA, commercial rights holders, and the teams (Red Bull, Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren, Williams, and Lotus), has indeed decided to initiate a discussion on these measures intended to make F1 more popular.

The underlying idea would be that driving modern single-seaters appears too simple for spectators. Some drivers have also noted that the difficulty has significantly decreased, particularly in pushing the cars to their limits in terms of pure speed, which is now largely replaced by a management aspect, of tires and mechanics, in this early turbo-hybrid era.

Autosport tells us that the FIA is preparing to consider and evaluate a number of regulatory solutions aimed at making the cars more challenging to drive. This research, carried out with the help of the teams, could yield its conclusions in the coming months with the objective of implementation as early as 2016. The main areas considered for such modifications are tire grip, car dimensions, and aerodynamic performance.

Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull driver and winner of three races this season, admitted that while they are complex technologically, the 2014 cars are not as difficult to handle as before: « Physically, it’s not a walk in the park, but it’s easier than it was two seasons ago, at least. If the cars are faster, they will be physically more difficult to drive. But what we don’t want is to make the cars as fast as they were 10 years ago, when you couldn’t even follow another car because of the turbulence. I think today, it’s not a bad compromise but there are probably some adjustments that can be made. »

Alain Prost, four-time world champion in 1985, 1986, 1989, and 1993, who raced in F1 for thirteen seasons between 1980 and 1993, recalls the difficulties encountered during his time: « I don’t know what will happen with Max Verstappen [who will be 17 at the start of the first GP of the 2015 season, ed.], but it is true that he will be able to drive the car without a problem. That was absolutely not possible in our time: the cars were very difficult to drive. Every year, we tested in Portugal, stopping there for testing sometimes for a month. But the first time we went to Portugal, it was not possible to complete a full day of testing, there was no way! It was physically very difficult, which is not the case today. »

Without advocating a complete return to the past, he believes that the premier discipline should be able to field faster cars: « That doesn’t mean you absolutely have to revert to the previous situation, but I think the speed of the cars in the race and the grip are not very good. It’s quite slow, you need to have a Formula 1 worthy of the name. »