As fans - and the sport's supremo - struggled to come to terms with the changes to the sport in 2014, particularly the engine formula, much was subsequently made of the changes to the aero rules for 2017.

While many wanted a return to the days of wider cars, bigger wings and fat tyres - along with previous incarnations of the engine formula - there were concerns that this might be a step too far.

Red Bull, where Adrian Newey, a forward thinker yet traditionalist, still rules the roost had its original proposals turned down, many feeling they were a bit too radical, and as a result the sport settled on the compromise offered by McLaren.

Nonetheless, Williams technical boss Pat Symonds says much of Red Bull's original input has been retained and fans will like what they see.

"I do think the cars look nice," he told Autosport. "When we first started talking about the 2017 cars, I was worried because there was this real drive for a retro look and a retro look wouldn't have done anything.

"But I really pat Red Bull on the back for doing a great job in styling the car because what they did was take away what the Strategy Group had asked for and they really styled it.

"They started with this premise that we want the car to look like it's going fast even when it's stationary," he revealed, "and I thought' yeah, that's a really nice way of expressing it'.

"They've come up with something that looks great. When you see the physical model in the windtunnel, and windtunnel cars never look particularly attractive, I think they are good-looking cars."

As race attendance numbers continue to fall, along with TV viewing figures, let's hope he's right and that the cars not only look good but produce a basic shake-up of the order.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Spindoctor, 14/09/2016 14:04

"Matt (below) is far from "Mad".

Without pre-empting the on-track results of the regulation changes, I think its unlikely that they'll do much for the racing. Given the forthcoming removal of FTA access in the UK, this won't bother me too much one way or the other. Mr Murdoch and his brood won't be getting any of my cash just for the doubtful "privilege" of watching F1."

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2. Posted by Mad Matt, 12/09/2016 10:59

"Can't say I miss the noise, in fact I like the fact that I can now hear things like the tyres protesting under heavy load. I also noticed that the cars sound better on a foreign TV station I picked up the other day. It's like they've muted the sound on the Sky and C4 coverage.

For me the real issue with next year is that it is likely to lead to even less wheel to wheel racing due to increased reliance on aero. It doesn't make much difference to me if the queue of cars is doing 100, 200 or 250mph.... a queue is a queue.

While I'm happy to have faster cars I do wonder how Kevin Mag would have faired when he crashed at Spa if he'd been driving a car which was 4-7 seconds a lap faster.

Final point from me: Looking a little further ahead, I'm not paying a Sky subscription to watch F1, that's just ridiculous. I'll either pick up the broadcast from another country or I'll stop, which would be a shame after 40 years......."

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3. Posted by Mbarnez, 11/09/2016 13:22

"Dear F1, we don't need new aero regs, or any other contrived nonsense. Give us quick cars that make a tonne of noise. I haven't been to a GP since the engine regs changed.

I never thought I'd miss the grooved tyre era at the time...

Bring back the V10 monsters and the punters will tune back in."

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4. Posted by mike, 11/09/2016 4:03

"Its all about the F@$KING lack of Noise!!!!!!!!!!!Fix it and we will come back....."

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Red Bull responsible for the look of 2017

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