The first skirmish in the battle to secure the future of Formula One threw up an unlikely and unexpected result when the sport announced it would be introducing rule changes for next year to improve overtaking. It was an engagement that had looked doomed from the off, faced with the natural self-interest of the teams, but the success bodes well for F1, the fans and the drivers, who can claim no small part in bringing about the first step in what should be a new era for the sport.
F1’s new owners, Liberty Media, and the FIA have pulled off something of a coup by managing to secure the requisite votes at the F1 Commission to impose new regulations for next season. The key change is a new front wing, to decrease turbulent air in the wake of a car that prevents competitors following one another closely and hinders passing. The problem has been openly criticised by drivers but they can now feel genuinely optimistic about the future of F1.
The former driver Alex Wurz is the chairman of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association and he is delighted with the decision. “It could be the starting point for a game-changer,” he says.
Wurz is an out-and-out racer. He competed in F1 for four full seasons with some memorable performances, including going wheel to wheel with Michael Schumacher at Monaco, a superb podium at Canada in 2007 and a brilliant run to fourth in the wet at the Nürburgring the same year. He has won Le Mans twice and the Sebring 12 Hours once after a fine battle with Sébastien Bourdais over the final laps.
Since he took up his role at the GPDA in 2014 the Austrian has also become hugely respected for working closely with the drivers. He reveals he has been having closed-door discussions with them almost every race weekend. Unsurprisingly what they want chimes with what the fans want to see.
“We are very happy that Liberty, with the FIA, have seen that we can’t continue going down the road of creating artificial overtaking with DRS,” he says. “A natural overtaking manoeuvre that is purely and visibly down to the driver’s skill is what creates the biggest emotions for fans and drivers. If we can follow each other closely we are more likely to have old-school, authentic overtaking and that’s what the drivers would love to see and why this rule change is such good news.”
The vote was not expected to go in their favour. The commission required four teams to support it, which was thought unlikely, but it is understood Williams, Mercedes, Force India and Sauber did so.
The teams that did not support it have fairly clear objections. Firstly, there is a cost, both financial and in resources, associated with designing new aerodynamics and it is late in the season to have to apply it to the designs of next year’s car. There is also a fear that it is an untested theory that could backfire, and that it would be better to stick with the status quo until the next major regulation change set for 2021. That F1 and FIA have nonetheless stuck with a forward-looking, bold decision is indicative of a new outlook for the sport.
Wurz believes the move signals something more significant than merely altering the front wing. “It is a decisive change in philosophy and rules that is starting to happen,” he says. “It is a small step but the direction is clear and as a race fan I like it. Come 2021 I would assume the research of Liberty and the FIA would have gone even further. I am 100% sure it will create really cool racing.”
He remains cautious that the new rules are not yet a done deal – Ferrari still have a right to veto it and may yet do so. “I was a bit surprised it went through,” he says. “This is a change which can reshuffle the performance order, therefore I thought the teams that are in power would stop it in their own interest; but if it goes through it is a success for everyone pulling in the same direction and looking at the big picture.”
There is also optimism that the right areas are finally being addressed, keeping the cars as fast as possible but able to pass as well, which is what the men behind the wheel want. The GPDA does not put forward aerodynamic ideas without 100% approval from all the drivers and Wurz is very positive about how Liberty have engaged with the process.
For the owners, who have made changes aplenty since taking over last year, this is the first move to have a real effect on the racing itself. That they have managed an unlikely victory is something that will give Wurz, his members and fans cause to celebrate. F1’s future remains undecided and some very tough talking lies ahead, but Wurz senses this heralds a genuine wind of change in F1.
“There is optimism,” he says. “There was an established paddock culture that came with a single stakeholder dictating the sport and it adopting his culture of being run. Now there is a new culture and it has still to merge. It will take years but once it starts and everyone aligns to the new thinking I think we will see it accelerate.”