Adrian Newey highlights the need for ‘quick F1 cars’ for TV spectacle

Originally posted on FirstSportz | By Aaryaman Roy Moulik | Last updated 4/15/24

F1 has faced a massive conundrum regarding the regulations that their cars have to adhere to. A lot of pundits and fans alike have criticized the current cars, saying that they are too big and bulky, and not fast-looking on TV generally.

These issues have plagued F1 since the mid-2010s. But, recently, Chief Technology Officer at Red Bull, Adrian Newey, shared his views on the issues and how they can be fixed. The Austrian genius added how F1 cars need to be quick in order to gain the attention of fans and media.

Adrian Newey has been developing cars in F1 for a long time!

You can then start to debate how quick the car should be, in terms of lap time in high-speed performance, but the thing you have to remember is television invariably has the appearance of slowing cars down. Watching a moderate performance car is not very exciting. Cars need to be properly quick to even begin to come across as looking quick on TV.
Adrian Newey during an interview with Motorsport.com

The 65-year-old shared that F1 should always be considered as a visual spectacle, making cars quicker and less heavier will add to that factor. The sport should definitely pay heed to Newey’s comments as at its core F1 is all about the speed of the cars and the visual spectacle behind it.

Adrian Newey shares his views on ‘restrictive’ F1 regulations

The F1 regulations have been under massive scrutiny ever since things like the cost cap were introduced. The new regulations that were introduced in 2022 especially seem to have massively underperformed as cars have gotten bigger, bulkier, and less racy.

This has led to Red Bull stalwart, Adrian Newey to speak about the issues and restrictions teams are facing due to the current regulations. The Brit added how the current regulations are the most restrictive it’s ever gotten and doesn’t allow teams to improve, or test new concepts.

The reality is that the regulations we currently have are arguably the most restrictive ones we’ve ever had. Each new set of regulations tend to be more restrictive than the previous ones, and the cost cap has also been introduced to restrict the spending of the largest teams versus the smallest teams.
Adrian Newey during the same interview

The 65-year-old also spoke about how the cost cap has barely done any good, made the sport more competitive as the pecking order between the teams is practically the same after it. F1 will definitely want to look into managing these issues ahead of the new regulations being introduced in 2026.

This article first appeared on FirstSportz and was syndicated with permission.

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