New 2017 Formula 1 rules have been introduced in an effort to make cars faster with wider tyres, wider wings and bodywork which are set to produce aggro looking cars with huge aero gains, but former FIA president Max Mosley does not believe that this is the right direction for the sport.
During an interview with ITV, Mosley said of the new F1 rules, “My personal view is that it may have gone in the wrong direction,” he said. “I would have gone for less aero and perhaps more mechanical grip.”
He is not alone in his thinking as there are many pundits and drivers who believe that the new rules could have a negative impact on racing.
Mercedes driver and triple Formula 1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton said last year of the new rules, “Wide cars, the wheels look great. The rear wheels should always be way bigger than the front wheels I feel, but we need more mechanical grip and less weight so that we can get close.”
“We are all capable of racing much closer if we were able to get closer so there needs to be changes to enable us to do that and we don’t seem to be making those changes.”
“If you give us five seconds more downforce it will be exactly the same just five seconds faster, but they won’t listen to what I say on that or what us drivers say on that, they’ll make something else happen,” added Hamilton.
Mosley added, “Deliberately setting out to make the cars quicker is questionable because all the rules for the last 40 or 50 years brought in by the FIA have been to make the cars slower – either slower or safer, because speed equals danger obviously.”