Brawn: “The first signs of the new regulations are encouraging”

The start of a new season of Formula 1 often corresponds to regulatory changes. In 2019, F1 notably decided to award one point for the author of the best lap in the race, provided that he is registered in the first 10 of the event.

This measure has borne fruit according to Ross Brawn, Managing Director of this sport for Liberty Media. “This reignited the final laps of the Australian Grand Prix, with Max Verstappen (Red Bull) who was trying to beat Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes), says the Briton. 

On the 54th lap, the Dutchman completed a lap in 1'26''540, better than Bottas' time on the 42nd lap of 199 thousandths. Then, the Finn ended the duel with a 1'25''580 in the penultimate loop. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) also played its card, but it did not go below 1'26''", analyzes the former team boss.

“In an event where the order of the podium seemed fixed after a few laps, the fight for this little bonus point made the end of the race interesting. This is exactly what we (Liberty Media) and the International Automobile Federation (FIA) had in mind when we formulated this idea. »

The second novelty was the introduction of widened front wings and taller rear wings. When Pierre Gasly (Red Bull) could no longer see the light bar on the starting grid, Romain Grosjean (Haas) feared the width of the front nose would cause damage in the peloton. The results, however, are totally positive for Ross Brawn.

“The goal was to improve the behavior of the car when she follows another car. Judging by the number of overtakes, 14 this year (6 without DRS) compared to the three exceedances in 2018, the first signs of the new regulations are encouraging, especially if we remove the successful maneuvers in themselves. We saw intense struggles, he judges.

Obviously, these overruns are not solely the consequence of aerodynamics, because the level of performance in the middle of the table has tightened dramatically. However, many drivers explained that the cars were more "neutral" when following each other.

Ross Brawn, however, does not want to declare victory too soon, due to the special nature of the Albert Park circuit. “The track is not the most representative, so I prefer to wait at least until the next three rounds before drawing conclusions." See you in Azerbaijan on April 28 to take an initial assessment.