17/02/2022
NEWS STORY
Poacher turned gamekeeper, Ross Brawn admits that he is anticipating disputes over how the teams interpret the rules overhaul. "It would be naive to think we are not going to have arguments," he warns.
Though the pandemic remains in the background and could yet threaten the Grand Plan, 2022 is shaping up to be the year that Liberty Media always wanted.
The budget cap is in place, Miami joins the calendar, the sport has won over a vast army of new fans and finally the new rules - aimed at levelling the playing field and opening up opportunities for the 'lesser' team - have been introduced.
The man behind the rules overhaul is Ross Brawn, poacher turned gamekeeper extraordinaire, and like the rest of us he is anticipating their effectiveness.
"Every decision we have made has been towards not dumbing down the sport but making it more achievable to more of the teams and to get a closer competition going on while still leaving it a meritocracy," he explains.
However, he warns that fans shouldn't expect to see the likes of Williams or Aston Martin challenging for wins any time soon.
"I honestly don't think the regs will change the general order of things dramatically," he warns, a common thread over the last year or so, as though fans are being prepared for the worst.
"I do think it will bring it a lot closer," he adds, "and I think we will see some of what were the midfield teams challenging - we'll have a bigger group of competitive teams.
"Last year we either expected a Mercedes or Red Bull to win unless something different happened," he continues. "Although there was a bit of a battle between McLaren and Ferrari, if I'd been them very early in the year, I would have been putting everything I could into into 2022.
"I think that's what happened in 2009. If you recall, you know, 2008, big battle between two of the big teams and they rather fell flat on their faces when they got 2009, but I don't think it will be that severe. I'm not predicting that.
"We may see we don't quite hit a bull's eye in terms of following another car, but we will still be so massively ahead of where we were because the old cars were dreadful.
"They looked a bit silly," he continues, "these high-rake cars perched on their nose and waggling their arses in the air. They've never really looked like a racing car should look. These ones will look a bit better out on track."
"We think the ride quality and characteristics that make it more easily drivable are not necessarily things that need to be maintained," interjects Nikolas Tombazis, the FIA's head of chassis. "We want drivers to make a difference and we want cars to be difficult to drive not easy.
"It's never easy but certain aspects that make the cars more aggressive to drive are quite important," he adds. "Yes, engineers have determined it is advantageous to run lower. We will be monitoring that situation but we don't think it is a cause of serious concern."
With the new rules seeing a return to ground effect, which was banned in the early 80s, there are fears that teams may once again seek to try and make the cars' floors flex, thereby creating a downforce 'seal'.
Indeed, one only has to look back at last season's flexing wings arguments to appreciate that teams are always going to seek to interpret the rules differently whilst questioning the motives of others.
"We will be keeping an eye on any flexibility," says Tombazis, "and we will be imposing tests where necessary to reduce such effects.
"With a new regulation, it is inevitable there will be some areas which were not properly predicted in terms of flexibility," he adds, "that will need to be enhanced as we go along and we will not hesitate to intervene if we find abuse is taking place in certain areas."
"There are bound to be disputes," admits Brawn, "it wouldn't be F1 without them. It would be naive to think we are not going to have arguments.
"However, if you know that eight teams and the FIA and F1 can stop you doing something if they feel it's wrong then you're a bit more circumspect in doing it knowing that that could be an issue," he added. "So I think the governance is something which also gives another layer of protection."