F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Wolff sees slower F1 cars in 2021 following aero changes

Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff says changes to next year's aero regulations inevitably entail slower lap times for Grand Prix racing's 2021 cars.

In a bid to limit costs, teams must carry into 2021 their current chassis. However, with this year's increase in downforce putting Pirelli's tyres on the limit of their resistance, the FIA has mandated a series of aero tweaks.

While there will be changes to the diffuser and brake ducts, the most significant modification will involve a reduction of the rear outer floor area of a car, the trimming of which will impact downforce levels.

In-season development will likely allow teams to recover a portion of the lost downforce, but slower lap times will be in order at the outset in 2021 according to Wolff.

"The aero was cut back considerably on the floor around the tyres, and it’s going to take a while to catch up," says the Mercedes boss.

"We’re still right in the middle of our development for next year, but I doubt we will be there quickly.

"In that respect, and with the tyres going a notch harder, I don’t think we will [be] near the lap times that we have seen this year. At least not in the first half of the year."

In the wake of a number of failures it experienced this year, Pirelli has tweaked the specifications of its 2021 tyres to increase the structural strength of its compounds.

The changes have resulted in an overall harder tyre that will also generally weigh on lap times.

Williams head of vehicle performance Dave Robson believes that only part of the one-second loss recorded by teams when testing the new tyre earlier thus year will be recovered.

"I'm sure once we understand them, and we look at the data properly and the aero interaction, that we can better deal with them, and I'm sure we can recover some time there," Robson said, quoted by Motorsport.com

"I don't think they will be a full second slower, but I don't think we'll get all of it back. I think it's genuinely a slower tyre, which is probably not unreasonable if it's stronger and has more endurance."

Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Michael Delaney

Recent Posts

Hamilton delighted with ‘consistently strong day’ in Vegas

Lewis Hamilton was particularly happy with his opening day of running at the Las Vegas…

20 mins ago

Verstappen stuck with 'draggy' rear wing for Vegas

Red Bull fears that its prospects for this weekend's Las Vegas Grand Prix - which…

1 hour ago

Ferrari and Mercedes admit to plank changes based on FIA’s TD

Ferrari and Mercedes have both modified their car’s floor element in Las Vegas to comply…

2 hours ago

Las Vegas GP: Hamilton continues on top in second practice

Lewis Hamilton put Mercedes on top of the timesheets for the second time in Las…

3 hours ago

2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix Free Practice 2 - Results

Full results from Free Practice 2 for the Las Vegas Grand Prix at Las Vegas,…

3 hours ago

Leclerc confident Ferrari ‘has a shot’ at F1 Constructors’ title

Charles Leclerc believes that Ferrari has a genuine “shot” at beating rival McLaren to Formula…

4 hours ago