The view from across the board was that the new F1 cars are very different from their predecessors, and certainly “much slower” when it comes to lap times. However, George Russell, fresh from driving the pre-season favourite Mercedes W17 for the first time, predicted that “there is a lot for fans to look forward to”.
The new cars made their track debut on Monday during the first extensive testing day at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, with seven teams opting to use one of their three allocations. Ferrari, McLaren and Aston Martin sat out the opening stint, while Williams are not present at the first behind-closed-doors test.
Delivering verdicts on the new cars, drivers made some interesting assessments after their first track time. A common theme among F1’s stars was excitement for the new regulations, but also the feelings that time will be needed to adapt and extract pace from the unusual driving style the cars require.
“They are quite different for us as drivers, but once you get your head around it, driving them is quite intuitive,” Russell said after piloting his new W17. “It’s enjoyable being behind the wheel, and I think there’s a lot for fans to look forward to with these new regulations.”
His Mercedes team-mate, Kimi Antonelli, gave a similar assessment. “It still will take a bit of time to try all the modes – overtake, override, all that kind of stuff – it’s different,” he added. “But the car is nice, it’s very nice to drive, and obviously, on the power unit side, it’s a bit different compared to what we had last year – it requires a bit more management, but it’s all doable.”Audi’s driver, Gabriel Bortoleto, who, like Antonelli, is heading into his sophomore year as an F1 driver, made it clear that fans shouldn’t expect to see lap time records broken during the first year of the new regulations.
“They are very different,” he claimed. “They feel a little different. I don’t know how to express this because I didn’t really drive any similar car in the past. I would say the Formula Two car. It’s much slower than the old regulations of F1. And I feel these ones are going to be slower as well.”
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Not everyone was feeling comfortable with the challenges posed by the new cars just yet. Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson confessed that he hasn’t “got my head around it fully yet”, while Haas racer Esteban Ocon described the new cars as “very complicated”.
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