F1 must explore attractiveness of agile, screaming older cars - Toto Wolff

Formula 1

F1 must explore attractiveness of agile, screaming older cars - Wolff

Alonso lapped in the 2005 Renault R25 at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last year

Ewan Gale

Sunday 10 January 2021 14:28

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff believes Formula 1 should look at how to make cars more exciting to watch after Fernando Alonso wowed onlookers in his 2005 Renault at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last year.

Alonso, who returns to F1 this year with Alpine after a two-year absence, completed a demonstration run at the 2020 season finale in the Renault R25.

Despite the car being slower than the current breed, the paddock and TV audience were captivated and Wolff has called for the sport to look at what made the 15-year old R25 so appealing.

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"The car looks very agile," he explained. "I mean, first of all, the car screams like these old V10 engines used to scream.

"It seems agile. The car is much smaller, the car is 150kg lighter and seems to be moving faster. I don't know if it is the size or simply the agility of the car, so it is something which we need to explore but I haven't got an answer."

With cars remaining largely unchanged for 2021 from last season, a decision made to save money in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, downforce levels have been cut dramatically for the coming season.

Primarily this has been achieved by removing a section of the floor in front of the rear wheels and, although Wolff expects teams to eventually recover the lost performance, he warned it could take half a season to do this.

"The aero was cut back considerably on the floor and it is going to take a while to catch up," he added.

"I doubt that we will be there quickly. In that respect, I don't think, with the tyres much harder, we will be near the lap times from this year. At least not in the first half of the year."