Yesterday at 16:10
FIA single-seater director Nikolas Tombazis has highlighted the
monumental challenge awaiting F1 teams next season, as the
championship embarks on a new era of regulations. Both the chassis
and power unit rulebooks have been rewritten, providing a
considerable step into the unknown. Whilst considered a great
equaliser and an opportunity for pecking order mobility, Tombazis
was quick to point out that field spread should be expected,
something that is often the case with a regulations change. The
grid has grown increasingly close in recent seasons, to a
previously unseen degree, with oftentimes less than - or little
more than - a second separating the entire pack on one-lap pace.
That will change, but reliability and varying pace across the pack
will also become bigger factors, as underlined by Tombazis when
speaking to PlanetF1 . "Invariably, a new regulation will have a
wider spread initially. That is part of the game," he said. "It
will also have more variable performance initially, meaning there
will be some ups and downs as people learn the new regulations."
How the pecking order will shake out is already being heavily
speculated, particularly when it comes to power unit performance.
When engines last changed, in 2014, Mercedes stole a march on the
opposition, setting up three years of near-unimpeachable dominance,
and a run of eight consecutive constructors' championships. The
German marque is expected to again be the benchmark next season,
but Tombazis insists the picture is not a clear as often suggested,
at least to the motorsport governing body. "The FIA doesn't have
access to the people's horsepower or downforce in the wind tunnel
or the exact performance they're going for," he added. "We don't
know that. "It's not part of the regulation that we can have access
to this data, for obvious reasons. Therefore, exactly who's doing
well and who's doing badly, I think, is somewhat still very much
speculated. "So all of these speculations that somebody will do
particularly well or particularly badly, I think it's all just that
speculation." Audi and Cadillac It has been contended by some that,
given the relative step into the unknown and the additional testing
as a result, Audi and Cadillac will have the opportunity to
surprise people. The former has already made considerable progress
this campaign as Stake, but despite the Hinwil-based squad being an
existing team that has been purchased, in becoming a power unit
manufacturer as Audi, there is considerable uncertainty as to how
it will initially fare. It is a polar opposite situation at the
latter, with Cadillac a brand new entry, but will be a Ferrari
power unit customer for its first three seasons, coincidentally
taking over Stake's supply. However, Tombazis believes the "steep
learning curve" all teams will be on will be "doubly so" for them,
as they take their first steps in F1. "Clearly, there are some
newcomers," he said. "They have a very uphill road to follow and,
logically, they will have a steep learning curve. "It will be a
steep learning curve for everybody, of course, because of the new
regulations, but for them, it will be doubly so."
