McLaren hails impact of F1 regulation switch

McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella has insisted the new era of technical regulations in F1 has provided an improved spectacle.

F1 introduced new technical rules last season that brought back ground-effect aerodynamics in a bid to improve the racing spectacle.

Concerns were previously voiced over the ever-increasing dirty air that was being produced by the cars of the previous generation, which made it difficult for drivers to get close through corners and overtake rivals.

But this has been notably improved through the new regulations, a move that has been praised by Stella.

"I wouldn't talk about limitations of the regulations - I think what we have observed already last year with this new generation of cars is it’s definitely easier to follow in the corner," he told media including RacingNews365.

"So some tracks where it was very difficult to overtake - like Hungary for instance - they are now tracks in which you can follow in the complexes where you have the corners, then once you go out of the last corner, you're actually close to the car ahead and then you can attack thanks to the DRS.

"So I would say this aspect of racing has been helped very much by the new generation of cars."

Reduced slipstream

One setback observed early into the new era of the regulations was that the slipstream effect had been reduced.

With the air resistance deficit decreased compared to the previous regulations, the following cars are unable to capitalise as strongly down the straights.

But Stella suggested that being able to follow more closely through corners counters the lack of slipstream.

"When it comes instead to configurations like [Spa] or Monza where you need to have a lot of towing effect to overtake, I think with this generation of cars you have less suction from the car ahead," he said.

"So at this kind of circuit, it has actually become slightly more difficult [to overtake].

"But I would welcome the fact that we now can follow cars more easily than it was possible with the previous generation of cars."