Formula One teams nervous as new regulations face first test in Australia | motorsports news

F1’s technical changes pose challenges for both drivers and engineers, while raising concerns about the quality of racing.

Formula One’s new era begins this weekend with the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, where teams will leap into the unknown and deal with radical technical changes in race conditions for the first time.

F1 has simultaneously revised chassis and power unit regulations for the first time in decades, posing a challenge for drivers and engineers while raising concerns about the quality of racing.

With near parity between electric and combustion engines and cars running on 100 percent advanced sustainable fuel, drivers got a taste of the changes during winter testing. But everyone doesn’t know how the restart will play out when you go wheel to wheel on race day.

“I certainly feel more comfortable now than I did a couple of months ago with how to drive these cars and how to try to get the most out of them,” McLaren’s Oscar Piastri told reporters on Wednesday.

“But I think there’s still the saying ‘You don’t know what you don’t know.'”

Australian Piastri said McLaren “thought they had the cars ready two months ago, only to discover they had “a bunch of things” they didn’t understand during winter testing.

With more power generated by electricity than last year’s engines, there is more emphasis on drivers needing to be tactical with power deployment and regeneration.

The old drag reduction system has been replaced by a new overtaking mode, which provides additional power for overtaking.

Four-time world champion Max Verstappen described the changes as “like Formula E on steroids” and “anti-racing”.

Formula One chief executive Stefano Domenicali defended them and assured fans that there will still be plenty of emotions.

The changes can have different effects on different circuits, leaving all teams to learn as they go, week after week.

Piastri said Sunday’s race in Albert Park, a Melbourne suburb, would likely showcase the most “unnatural” parts of driving.

“You know, a lot more lift and trail, a lot more type of driving to maximize the power unit,” he said.

“You have power units that are reducing their power on the straights at different points. And there are a lot of unknowns, a lot of challenges there.”

The new regulations raised hopes of a more open championship and the prospect of a disruptive team emerging to force a change at the top. But pre-season testing in Bahrain hinted at a familiar top four, with Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull and McLaren all performing well.

Audi team principal Jonathan Wheatley said the gap between “the best and the rest” could only widen.

“I think it’s going to be a very different year in terms of competitiveness in sport,” he told Reuters news agency. “We are already seeing the gap between the fastest and slowest teams, but it is greater than in recent years.”

Whatever the pecking order, F1 racetracks will be busier with the addition of the new Cadillac team, although there may be more breathing room at Albert Park given Aston Martin’s pre-season problems.

Despite technical guidance from Adrian ‌Newey, ‌who arrived from Red Bull, the Honda-powered team completed few laps during winter testing and has reliability issues.

The AMR26 cars will be in Australia, something of a relief for F1 management, but they will only be able to run a few laps before retiring.