There were a lot of doubters at the start of 2022 when the major regulation changes were introduced, as the FIA made some bold statements about the effects of these changes.
The new design of F1 cars were said to allow cars to follow each other much closer, allowing for more competitive racing, without the need to back off to avoid driving in dirty air.
Driving behind another car leads to an increase in temperature, meaning both engine wear and tyre wear increase massively, alongside a decrease in grip.
The FIA’s claims that they would be able to counter these issues in the new era of Formula 1 were laughed off by some experts, however the data does suggest that the FIA were correct in their predictions.
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785 overtakes were made over the course of the 2022 season which is 30 percent more than the 599 overtakes made the year before, prior to the regulation changes.
Former F1 managing director Ross Brawn, who has a major hand in the changing of the regulations, has now suggested that those who doubted the FIA have been left eating humble pie.
“I think even the sceptics in the F1 teams – and I won’t tell you who they were – have eaten humble pie and acknowledged the data shows the cars could race and are much less impacted by following another car,” Brawn told Motorsport Magazine.
“And I don’t think there’s a team in the pit lane who would deny that.
“There’s a question of degree, but I think it’s pretty significant. I think the anecdotal evidence we see is significant.”
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A budget cap of $145m was brought into F1 the year before these new regulations with the aim of bringing the grid closer together in terms of performance, preventing the bigger teams from blowing the likes of Williams and Haas out of the water financially.
Haas team principal Guenther Steiner has hit back at those that have doubted the cap in its first two season in the sport, explaining that his team have so far been unable to hit the cap, hence the continued gap between them and the big teams.
Steiner has however claimed that every team on the grid will spend the maximum allowance this year, having had the chance to adapt to the new rules and work out the best plan for their future.