Formula 1’s Ross Brawn has said that the major rules overhaul will happen no later than 2022, despite some teams asking for it to be pushed back further.
The rules overhaul is set to change every aspect of the sport, with new cars bearing little resemblance to the current crop of machinery in a bid to boost overtaking and entertainment, whilst the race weekend format is likely to be tweaked in one way or another alongside changes to how the prize money is distributed.
These changes have already been delayed by a year as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, having originally been planned for next year.
Some teams have been lobbying the FIA and F1 to delay them further in an effort to save costs at this difficult time, but Brawn believes that would be counter productive, as ultimately they are designed to make the sport more competitive and equitable for the smaller outfits.
“They will definitely be ’22,” he said in an interview with Sky Sports F1. “I think some teams have pushed to delay them a further year. I think there’s a justifiable need to carry these cars over into next year, because we’re in the middle of it.
“The initiatives that we’re bringing with these new regulations are to make the sport more economically viable in terms of the complexity, where the money is spent.
“With the cars we have now, they’re so complex. the more you spend, the quicker you’ll go. And we need to level off that slope and create a situation where money is not the only criterion in terms of how competitive you’ll be.
“We still want the great teams to win. We have to maintain the integrity of F1. It’s a sport, it still has to have the best people winning. We can have a competitive form of racing in the future with the new regulations and with these new cars. And they’ve been deferred a year but they’re definitely coming in in ’22.”
Brawn is also confident that the sport will be in a much healthier position going forward as the new Concorde Agreement – which is currently being negotiated – will share the prize money in a more equal manner than at present.
“I think there’s going to be a much more equitable prize fund in the new agreement,” he added. “So the midfield teams in particular are going to be much better off in terms of their portion of the prize money.
“So it’s being balanced in every direction, we reduce the amount of money that could be spent in F1, and we’re in improving the distribution of the prize fund more evenly amongst the teams.
“A good middle field team should be able to score podiums, maybe a win, and it should make a small profit. And if we can achieve that then we’re got a very sustainable future.”
Meanwhile the budget cap won’t be delayed and will come into effect next year and Brawn says there is agreement to cut it by $30m to $145m.
