Formula 1’s Ross Brawn believes field spread will be a likely outcome of the 2022 regulations, but is confident it will quickly close up and produce some “great racing”.
F1 will undergo a rules revolution next season, with completely new cars taking to the track aimed at creating closer racing by allowing them to follow one another more closely. But major rule changes often result in dominance from one or a few teams and larger gaps between front-running and midfield teams.
Brawn expects 2022 to be no different, but remains hopeful it will eventually create a closer and fairer competition.
“Yes, I think that is exactly what could happen,” he replied in an ‘In Conversation With’ interview. “We are enjoying a vintage year, but the cars are still incredibly difficult when they are following each other, so we could potentially take a step back in terms of closeness of the field.
“But then I think we will see in the next couple of years some great racing.”
Continuing the discussion on next year’s cars, Brawn was asked about testing time and whether it would remain as limited as it was this year, which saw just three days of pre-season testing.
“I think for 2022 we will have a longer pre-season test, or a series of tests,” he added. “Because with the new car we have to give the teams time to really understand and settle in.
“I think we are anticipating having at least two tests pre-season. So any drivers who do change [teams] will have a little more time, and certainly the teams will have more time to understand their cars.”
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