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Haas F1 driver Kevin Magnussen believes the new simplified aero regulations for this season are making cars easier to follow after following a car during yesterday's test session in Barcelona. The changes come in an attempt to improve racing this season.
The tweaks include simplified bargeboards and brake ducts, as well as simplified and wider front and rear wings after the concern that the dependency on aerodynamics in recent years is hindering overtaking opportunities. Despite many teams reporting no real difference after windtunnel and factory simulations, Magnussen believes otherwise.
"I followed a car today and it really, really feels a lot better than last year," Magnussen told ESPN in Barcelona. " I heard so many people, even guys from here when the car was just in the windtunnel, a lot of people were saying it wouldn't make any difference."
Magnussen's claims are backed up by fellow driver Daniel Ricciardo, who also claimed he felt an improvement after finding himself behind a car during one of last week's sessions.
"Following a car today I felt a big difference, I could actually follow. So it will be interesting to see. I was a lot faster than the guy I was following, the lap that I caught him, I got past him," Magnussen added. "I must have been around two seconds faster. In which case you also would have passed him last year, but it just felt very, very, different."
Grand Prix of Belgium
G. Zhou
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Replies (3)
Login to replyKean
Posts: 692
Hope his feeling proves true. But then, with the bigger drs openings it may become too easy to pass
Ram Samartha
Posts: 1,172
It might. I'm sure it feels like a huge weight being lifted when that wing opens up.
Ram Samartha
Posts: 1,172
A good sign. Watching the tests last week I noticed several drivers riding the gearbox of the car ahead in ways they couldn't do last year without getting severe washout.