Ross Brawn believes the current rule changes in Formula 1 from the 2022 season onwards will lead to the gap between teams reducing.
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Formula 1‘s motorsport boss Ross Brawn believes the new 2022 regulations will reduce the gap between teams. However, he cautioned against expecting a dramatic shake-up of the order in the short term.
Sweeping regulation changes in F1 have tended to sometimes give rise to new powerhouses. The 2009 regulation changes saw Brawn GP, the former Honda works team bought last-minute by Brawn, become world and constructor’s champions.
That year’s rule changes also birthed the four-year dominance of Red Bull. Similarly, engine regulation changes for 2014 led to the Mercedes dominance.
But Brawn believes the current changes will simply lead to the gap between teams reducing.
“Any win, any victory, has to be on merit. I mean, I honestly don’t think the regulations will change the general order of things dramatically,” said Brawn in a media interaction.
“I think it will bring it a lot closer and I think we’ll see some of what were the midfield teams challenging.
Brawn also said that at best, he can see three or four drivers fighting for the top spots.
“I think we’ll have a bigger group of competitive teams. As we know, we either expected a Mercedes or a Red Bull to win the race unless something different happened. But we’re blessed with a number of great drivers in F1 today.
“Lando Norris, the Ferrari drivers, we’ve got George Russell in the Mercedes. I think there’s any number of combinations of drivers that will give us a fantastic season. And if there’s three or four of them mixing it up, that’s even better.”
Brawn further added he does not see F1 going the way of having random race winners. That being said, he is optimistic about how 2022 will be.
“I’m optimistic about the coming season. I think the good teams will always do a good job. They’ve got the expertise and the experience.
“Although I’d love to see it, I don’t think we’re going to see teams further back all of a sudden dominating this year.
“In a way we don’t want that sort of disparity or that shock, unless it’s an unusual race, because that suggests it’s all become a bit random, and it can never be random. It needs to be a meritocracy.”
He also believes that teams will take a little while to get used to the new car rules. However, the sport will be in a better place with the newer cars.
“(The new rules) will take a little while to settle in but I think we’re going to be in a far better place going forward with the type of car we’re going to have than we had.
“There’s lots of optimism for the season and I think we’ll see some interesting results this year from some of these young drivers who are coming through. They get the right car behind them, and we can all have a lot of fun.”
