Nico Rosberg gave a big thumbs up to Formula 1 for introducing a new set of technical rules that boosted the spectacle on the track and produced "a great season".
Wholesale changes to Grand Prix racing's rule book led to fans discovering a grid of fresh designs from F1's ten outfits when the 2022 campaign kicked off in Bahrain.
Although F1's ground-effect cars were a handful for many drivers from the outset due to the well-chronicled porpoising issues suffered by several teams, the racing was undeniably closer and more spectacular.
And despite Red Bull and Max Verstappen unrelentingly charging ahead in the second part of the year, fights and close battles up and down the field made for an "awesome" season from Rosberg's vantage point.
"For me, the year of F1 was so awesome. It was such a great season," Rosberg said in a video on his YouTube channel.
"Even though one guy dominated so much, it didn’t really make it boring. It was just so interesting all the time, so exciting, so many things changing – it was great.
"I think the rule changes really worked very well, to make overtaking easier – we can confirm that.
"They’ve done a great job with that, led by Ross Brawn, so thank you Ross and team for the effort on that."
Rosberg noted that an increase in overtakes from 599 to 785 from one season to the other was a proper validation of F1's new rules.
"The amount of overtakes compared to [2021]… so many more, and that’s really just proof of how the new rules are working."
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner also singled out the stat, and how his team had got its numbers right when it designed its all-new 2022 contender.
"I think that there’s been 25% more passes this year than previous years, I think the regulations are delivering in enabling the drivers to follow more closely," said Horner.
"I think that as a team we got these regulations right, which considering we were the last team to transition onto them, after what happened last year [2021], I think our team has done an amazing job in coming out with such a competitive car and bouncing back after a double DNF in Bahrain.
"We never lost sight of what our target was."
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