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2017 will see bigger field spread - Newey

Adrian Newey says the gap between the front of the grid and the back will grow as a result of new technical regulations introduced in 2017.

Mercedes has been the dominant force since the introduction of the V6 power units in 2014, but the aerodynamic regulations have not received a major overhaul since 2009. As a result, the current grid includes a closely-matched midfield, with drivers from five different teams covered by 0.3s in the fight to reach Q3 at Silverstone.

With a change in aerodynamic regulations being introduced in 2017 as part of a push to increase lap times by up to five seconds, Red Bull's chief technical officer believes next year will see bigger gaps between teams again.

Asked if the new regulations will hurt overtaking, Newey replied: "The honest truth is I don’t know.

"It’s not something we spend any time worrying about, we just worry about making the car as quick as possible once you’ve got a set of regulations.

"I think it’s inevitable that the lap time spread across the grid will be bigger than it has been this year because some people will come up with better aerodynamic solutions to this set of regulations than others, but whether that simply means one team dominates or whether some teams will be good at certain circuits and not so good at others, it is too early to tell."

When asked if the improvement in lap time of four to five seconds is achievable, Newey said teams will not yet be focused on the potential gains compared to this year.

"Again, I’ll be completely honest, we’ve had our head down so much trying to get on and find solutions that I haven’t really kept a detailed check of where we are compared to that 4-5 second expectation."

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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.