F1 would have become "worse and worse" without rules shake-up - Ross Brawn

Formula 1

F1 would have become "worse and worse" without rules shake-up - Brawn

Sport was on a downward spiral with its old regulations

Ian Parkes

Wednesday 2 March 2022 09:15

Ross Brawn believes F1 would have become "worse and worse" if a decision had not been taken to shake up the regulations.

While last season will go down as one of the greatest in the sport's history, the fact only two drivers were predominantly ever in the hunt for race wins and ultimately for the title, highlights the direction the sport was in.

In a bid to improve the opportunities for other drivers and teams, F1 is racing to a new set of aerodynamic regulations from this season.

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"Due to the nature of the regulations, inevitably when we start the season, we may see some scatter in the performance of the teams," said F1's managing director motorsports Brawn.

"I think that's unavoidable, but I also think it was unavoidable to go that route. I think where we were, it was just going to get worse and worse.

"We had a little hiatus with Covid because the teams were constrained in a way with what they were able to do.

"They had to use the same chassis and various other parts but there's no doubt the cars would just continue getting worse and worse and worse."

Brawn not expecting "a complete cock-up"

Brawn highlighted the old 13-inch wheels as one area of particular concern where F1 had become stuck in a rut leading to the teams from this year now sporting 18-inch. "There were some quite complex aspects to the cars we were racing that were causing a differentiation between the teams as well," added Brawn.

"If you look at a simple thing like a 13- or an 18-inch wheel, getting a 13-inch wheel, with all the movement of the tyre, to be representative in the wind tunnel was a fascinating but massive exercise.

"As soon as you go to an 18-inch wheel, the movement and the sidewall of the tyre are much reduced, and much less complex for a team to model and represent."

As witnessed on track in pre-season testing at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya last week, once the car designs were clear for all to see, the disparity in aerodynamic thinking was obvious.

Whether a team has taken a wrong turn remains to be seen, although Brawn does not feel too many mistakes will have been made.

"Every decision we've made has been towards not dumbing down the sport but making it achievable for more of the teams and to get closer competition going on for the future while still leaving a meritocracy so the best teams still win," said Brawn.

"So I think there will be a bit of disparity in the beginning, we all know that with new rules, but I'm not expecting huge disparity unless somebody makes a complete cock-up."