F1 "pretty volatile" as teams 'get serious' with innovation

Mercedes W13 at Bahreïn — Photo: © LAT Images

F1 2022

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F1 "pretty volatile" as teams 'get serious' with innovation

New design concepts have been unveiled in Bahrain

Ian Parkes

Friday 11 March 2022 09:00

Ross Brawn has declared the current period in F1 as "pretty volatile" as the teams try and refine their aerodynamic concepts days ahead of the season starting in earnest.

The differences in design between the cars that were rolled out in Barcelona last month in contrast to those that took to the track in Bahrain on Thursday was stark in some cases.

The most notable of those was Mercedes' W13 with its innovative sidespods, leading to George Russell claiming the car had "been on a diet" since its last appearance at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya.

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For F1 managing director motorsports Brawn, he has enjoyed seeing how the teams of designers and engineers have tackled the heavily revised new aerodynamic rules.

"It's getting serious now after Barcelona where everyone was just exploring what they had," said Brawn on Sky Sports F1.

"What's impressive are the changes between Barcelona and here, and that's the thing with new regulations.

"You've got the scope of the regulations but also you get to see what everyone else has done.

"So after the first test, I'm sure everyone went away and started to think about what they had and what they might want to do.

"It's a pretty volatile period with lots of innovation but it's pretty much as I expected, so very exciting."

Mercedes contravening grey area?

The Mercedes concept, however, has raised eyebrows, promoting Red Bull team boss Christian Horner to allegedly claim it was "illegal" before later claiming he had not made such a remark.

There is a question mark as to whether it contravenes the spirit of the regulations, which Brawn claims is "a grey area". In the end, it boils down to the interpretation of the rules themselves.

There is scope for changes to be made to the regulations, though, as highlighted by Brawn.

"One of the significant things we changed was the governance of Formula 1," added Brawn. "In the past, we needed everybody to agree to a change in season.

"Now you can make a change with 80 per cent of the teams agreeing, as long as the FIA and Formula 1 also agree.

"Once the interpretation Mercedes has made has been understood, then we can get a balanced view and take a view on its impact, what effect it's going to have.

"At the end of the day you have to go on what the wording of the regulation is because you take it to a court, that's what they judge it on.

"But that wording can be changed. With an 80 per cent supermajority, we can do that.

"We need to see how this one pans out."