Alfa Romeo Team Principal Frédéric Vasseur says he doubts that the impending change of Formula 1 regulations will have a short-term impact on the current competitive order.
Last season F1 unveiled a new package of regulations but their planned introduction has been delayed by 12 months until 2022 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The new rules include a dramatic shift in the design of the cars in order to facilitate closer racing as well as other major technical changes.
Financial regulations will also come into affect for the first time to try and bring closer competition, but those rules remain in place for 2021, meaning teams will operate under a $145m budget cap from next season.
But Vasseur, whose Alfa Romeo team holds eighth in the standings, reckons big changes will not be immediately forthcoming.
Speaking on the official F1 podcast ‘Beyond The Grid’, Vasseur said: “I don’t think the new regulations will allow small teams to match the big ones on the short term view because we are just speaking about regulations.
“We are speaking about technology, we are speaking about infrastructure, about manpower, about ambition.
“It’s always a mid-term project when you want to work with someone, it’s a three project at least to transfer the technology on the track.
“We need to keep it in mind to agree on the fact that they are a step forward in terms of technology and we won’t compensate this gap in six months because we have a new concorde agreement on the table.”
Vasseur also stressed the importance of maintaining the upcoming regulations for a sustained period.
“But the most important for me is the stability of the regulations,” added the Frenchman.
“I mean that if we are closing the gap in terms of budget – I hope so. And if we stability in terms of the regulations then we probably will be closer and closer, and in three or four years we will close the gap.
“But we don’t have to expect that would be the case in 2022, that would be a joke.”
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