FIA's Nikolas Tombazis believes that once things settle down after the first year of the new rules, the gap might be 1.5 seconds.
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This season, F1 will usher in a new age of rules, with ground-effect vehicles aimed at bringing the race closer together and levelling the playing field amongst teams. While it is too early to say whether the spectacle will be improved, F1’s executives are more optimistic that the total package of restrictions – which includes a budget cap and an aero development handicap system – would bring the sport closer together. And, with a three-second gap between the front and rear of the field in 2021, the FIA’s head of single-seater affairs Nikolas Tombazis believes that once things settle down after the first year of the new rules, the gap might be as small as 1.5 seconds.
“I think that currently the best to worst [team gap] is probably about three seconds, depending on the circuit,” he explained. “I hope that, after maybe a year, we will have this less than half of that. That is what I would hope, but we’ll have to see.”
While it is expected that the difference between the best teams and the bottom teams would be wide at the start of the 2022 season, the assumption is that the gap will decrease quickly once teams have a better understanding of the new restrictions and realize where gains can be made.
“It is difficult to expect it to be more exciting than [2021], because that is a very high point of reference,” added Tombazis. “But I think once there’s a bit of convergence, I think there will be more cars in the mix and I think that would be positive. When I was looking at some old championships, and I read recently that we once had 11 winners in a year and you could win a championship with a few wins. I’m not saying we’re going to get to that point, but of course I think to have more variability would be good. Also to have people who can genuinely follow closer for longer periods, and not overheat the tyres, and still be able to fight for prolonged periods, I think that would be quite exciting.”
Tombazis’ prediction of a tighter grid is backed up by Alfa Romeo team leader Fred Vasseur, who believes the midfield will be particularly tight. “For sure, Mercedes, Red Bull, and even Ferrari, they will still have a big advantage in terms of technology, resources and so on, no question mark for me,” he explained.
“But then, if you have a look one step behind, between I would say P4, P5, to P9, that from one race to another one, you could be in Q3 or P18 in qualy. It means that if you took the right direction, made the good choice, and you improve a little bit here and there, you can do a good step forward.”
