Formula 1 is set to undergo major changes in 2017 as the sport seeks to increase the speed of the cars in reaction to slower lap times of late, as a result of the new tyres and power units.
Pat Symonds has revealed that the new technical regulations have now been agreed upon and expects them to be written up and ready for approval by the World Motor Sport Council in March.
“There is a set of regulations, a draft of Article 3,” he said on Thursday. “Largely the work of Williams putting the wording together, although the discussion has been very wide.
“That draft is going to the teams within the next week, but it’s essentially everything that’s been agreed just put down into one document.
“It fully defines the aerodynamic regulations. In itself it doesn’t define the tyre size, but we have agreed on the tyre size, and the regulations are built around those tyre sizes.
“I believe that we have now a fully defined set of rules that relate to all the bodywork. I believe we have agreement with Pirelli as to what the tyre sizes will be,” he added.
“But we’re in a position to go ahead. As far as I know the Strategy Group, everyone’s happy, the F1 Commission, they are happy I believe. The rules need to be ratified before March, and there’s time for that. We’re pretty much there – we’ve done what we were asked to do.”
Symonds reckons the cars will have a ‘retro’ feel to them, with a focus not only on speed, but looks have also been taken into account to ensure Formula 1 cars remain popular amongst the viewing public.
“The majority of the cues are taken from the Red Bull proposal. It’s ended up with a bigger diffuser, a substantial front wing, and some I think quite attractive styling.
“It’s a little bit retro, but the brief from the Strategy Group was to make the cars quicker and make the styling better. I think we’ve done those two.”
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