Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsMercedes

Rosberg wary over planned 2017 technical changes

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Nico Rosberg has sided with those in the Formula 1 paddock who fear that the sport is heading in the wrong direction with the proposed 2017 technical specification changes.

Rosberg, who has won the first two races of the 2016 season, has said that he fears overtaking will become even more difficult next season with the introduction of wider rear tyres and increased downforce, which he believes could make it even harder for drivers to close up and pass rivals on track.

"I'm concerned about the fact that we are trying to make the racing more exciting and so I am worried that it is the wrong direction," Rosberg admitted.

"We know that to go quicker we need more downforce which is what we are aiming for, and with more downforce it is more difficult to follow other cars.

"We know that, that is a fact," he added. "I'm worried that it is not the right direction."

However, his Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton said earlier in the week that he would welcome change in the sport, following what he saw as a less-than-thrilling Bahrain Grand Prix last weekend.

"Things could be better," Hamilton said. "We should be pushing flat out the whole race. If the car is damaged that is different but we should be pushing the whole race.

"I guarantee Nico wasn’t pushing from lap 10 and Kimi 15 laps to the end Kimi wasn’t pushing either. We should all be a lot closer, there shouldn’t be an 80-second gap between 1st and 7th. We should be within 10 or 15 seconds. You [shouldn't be able to] afford to slip up."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.