Looking ahead to the 2022 season, Wolff feels Ferrari, McLaren, Aston Martin, and Alpine are all capable of mastering the new regulations.
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Toto Wolff has confessed that he is concerned that teams not competing for the 2021 Formula One title could make significant improvements in the 2022 season. In a spectacular duel in Abu Dhabi, the battle between Mercedes and Red Bull came down to the wire. On the final lap at the Yas Marina Circuit, Mercedes won their ninth constructors’ championship, while Max Verstappen won his first drivers’ title.
For 2022, F1 will adopt significant new regulations, including a switch from 13 to 18-inch tyres with wheel covers returning, streamlined front wing and bodywork, and a ground effect floor. All of these adjustments will take place under a stiffer budget cap, with clubs now having a maximum budget of $140 million, which is $5 million less than in 2021.
In addition, wind tunnel time has been limited based on a team’s performance in the 2020 constructors’ championship. Mercedes will spend the least time in the wind tunnel, while Williams will spend the most time there. Looking ahead to the 2022 season, Wolff feels Ferrari, McLaren, Aston Martin, and Alpine are all capable of mastering the new regulations and advancing to the front of the Formula One field.
“We are all operating under the same financial cap and the concepts are very new and then what was introduced is the aerodynamic regulations, where teams based on their standing in the championship had a little bit more allowance and so it’s pretty much possible that teams who hadn’t competed for the world championship this year, whether it’s Ferrari, McLaren or Aston Martin or Alpine are capable of coming up with the intelligent concepts based on much more runs than everybody else and just doing it very right,” Wolff said.
“I think we need to expect much closer fighting for championships and races than we had before and that’s exciting,” the Mercedes boss added.
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Red Bull’s Christian Horner believes the team was able to move enough of its focus to 2022 while ensuring Verstappen won the 2021 drivers’ title.
“Well, when Ferrari turn up with the fastest car and smash us out of the park at the first race then you’ll have to say that it probably did but I think that we’ve all known that big regulation changes coming for 2022 and we’ve applied our resource accordingly,” Horner said.
“I’m sure each team has done what they feel is right and it’s put pressure on the organisation, of course, but that’s where I think the team have been outstanding because to keep a development rate on a new set of regulations and keep a focus on this year’s car has taken a monumental effort and the commitment shown by all of the team, throughout the team, has been phenomenal.”
“But we will only see when we come back in a couple of months’ time, with completely new cars, they look different, they’re going to feel different, they’re going to drive differently, you know, who’s got it right, who’s got it wrong and then it all starts again,” the Red Bull boss added.
