First test for the changes: how did it go?
After several consultations between FIA, F1, engine manufacturers and teams and after also listening to the drivers, on April 20th the long list of regulation changes that would come into effect starting from the Miami Grand Prix was published.
According to the intentions stated in the document, there were three main objectives to achieve:
– “a more on-the-limit driving in qualifying”
– “less dependence on energy management in qualifying and race”
– “reduce closing speeds in overtakes”.
Were these points achieved in Miami? From the drivers’ words, a small step forward is evident, but some aspects remain quite worrying…
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Kimi Antonelli: “More natural qualifying, but huge closing speeds in overtakes”
“Qualifying seems better, more natural. As for the races, the closing speed is huge and you have to trust the one defending because with this active aerodynamics the car is quite lazy when you want to change direction and you have to think ahead. And you also have to trust the defending driver. But in any case, it was a small step in the right direction and we will see what happens next.”
Lando Norris: “Small step, but pushing to the max in qualifying remains penalizing”
“The topic was well addressed, it is a small step in the right direction, but it is not yet at the level F1 should be. In qualifying, as we said, if you go to the limit everywhere and try to push like in past years, you are still penalized for this. You cannot go full throttle everywhere. You should never be penalized for these kinds of things and yet it is so. Honestly, I think it is an aspect that cannot be solved. Unless we get rid of the battery. Hopefully in a few years it can be like that.”
Oscar Piastri: “The speed difference in overtakes remains crazy”
“I think reducing the energy harvesting limit in qualifying helped a bit. It didn’t solve the problem, but it was a help. The races are practically identical, honestly the overtakes are crazy. At one point George Russell was 1 second behind me and managed to overtake me at the end of that straight, and that is a bit random. The closing speeds are huge and trying to anticipate them when you have to defend is very difficult. And I myself found myself doing the same maneuver, this time attacking, five laps later, simply because of this speed delta. From this point of view, not much has changed. The collaboration between FIA and F1 was good, but only some things can be changed with the hardware we have. In the future, other changes will be needed, the big question is how quickly we can do it.”
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Max Verstappen: “In qualifying, the faster you go in the corner, the more you are penalized on the straight”
“My Red Bull is a bit better now. But what I thought about the regulation remains current. In qualifying you still have to slow down in some places to go fast. It’s not yet how I would like it to be. The faster you go in the corner, the slower you will go on the next straight: it’s penalizing and it shouldn’t be like that. That said, my car now works a bit better, it’s less stressful to drive.”
Carlos Sainz: “There is still a lot to do both in qualifying and in the race”
“The good race? Thanks to the circuit, not the regulation changes. There were some overtakes and the race was fun, but I think there is still a lot to do both in qualifying and in the race. I am happy with the proactive approach of FIA and FOM in listening to us and continuing to improve.”
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