FIA President Jean Todt says that implementing regulation tweaks for Formula 1 in 2019 were essential in order to prevent further damage prior to 2021, labelling the agreement a "miracle".
Formula 1 chiefs are currently working on the 2021 technical regulations, but independently proposed an amended set of rules for next year, in a bid to aid the racing.
The proposals included a simplified front-wing, with a larger span, and low outwash potential, as well as a wider and deeper rear-wing.
These were put before a vote of the F1 Commission, comprised of the FIA, FOM, teams and sponsor representatives, on April 30 – the final date possible for 2019 – and received the required majority.
Todt expressed encouragement that the proposal was able to be passed and hopes the changes will have the desired effect next year.
“We hear all the time from the drivers that the cars can’t get close to each other,” he said.
“I read the press conference transcripts – [Lewis] Hamilton, [Sebastian] Vettel, [Kimi] Raikkonen, they all complained. And they’re [racing] in the front.
“Can you imagine what it’s like at the back? And you all complain – I read what you write.
“I feel that if we understand that something is wrong we should try to find a solution. We all say we want to have a better sport, a better show, so let’s do something.
“So on one side people say ‘let’s wait for 2021’. And it’s the start of the 2018 season, so we would go through 2018, ’19 and ’20 knowing that there’s a problem which is damaging the sport.
“In this case we asked some relevant engineers to address the problem. They explained that as the car is getting closer, because of the aero at the front, unless it is over 1.5s [per lap faster] you cannot have any overtaking.
“So you speak with the engineers and you say, ‘Do you think we can do something to improve the situation?’ And they said they could improve the situation.
“We are trying to make the sport better. We try, using the proper governance – which as you know is not the easiest thing in Formula 1 – to make a proposal.
“That’s why we made this proposal and by a miracle it was accepted.”
Todt added: “At the moment we have to deal with 2019, 2020, with the actual governance.
“In due time we will speak about what can be improved for the future governance in 2021.
“Clearly we’ve tried to observe the most professional standards, we’ve worked hand-in-hand with the teams, with the drivers, with everybody involved to make things better.”
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