How big is the impact of the new regulations? That question was on the minds of fans and teams after the 2020 season. It was feared that the cars will be a lot slower as there is also a lot more downforce lost due to the floor being subjected to major changes. Auto, Motor und Sport reveals that the difference is not even as big as expected.
After the first four Grands Prix, it is clear that the F1 cars have taken a step back in lap time. This is the first time since 2017 that the regulations have made for slower cars. By comparing the fastest times with 2020, AMuS has made an estimate of the loss. They arrive at a loss of three tenths by kilometres.
The biggest difference in lap times was in Bahrain, where the drivers were 1.7 seconds slower. Per kilometer however this comes out to three tenths per kilometer. Also in Portugal this difference is the same. In Spain the difference is more than two tenths and in Imola the difference is only one and a half tenths per kilometer.
In the race the drivers are mostly faster. In Imola the fastest time was three seconds short, due to the weather conditions. In Barcelona Max Verstappen’ s fastest time was even faster than the fastest race lap of 2020. AMuS expects to see this more often, now that the importance of each point is so high for the top teams.
