Red Bull and Mercedes will be braced for added competition as Formula 1’s motorsport boss Ross Brawn described his ‘optimism’ for the new 2022 season.
Various F1 teams have been revealing their new cars, and showcasing their interpretations of the new technical rules that have been brought into the sport.
The aim of the new regulations is to allow cars on track to follow more closely, which should deliver closer racing. Fans should get an idea of how the cars will perform during pre-season running at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya next week.
Yesterday, Mercedes were the latest team to unveil their new creation as seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton also spoke out on the dramatic events of the final race in Abu Dhabi that cost him an eighth title.
The Silver Arrows also showed off their new car on track and the new regulations remain one of the biggest talking points ahead of the 2022 season.
“[The new rules] will take a little while to settle in but I think we're going to be in a far better place going forward with the type of car we’re going to have than we had," said Brawn, during an interview with the media.
"There’s lots of optimism for the season and I think we'll see some interesting results this year from some of these young drivers who are coming through. They get the right car behind them, and we can all have a lot of fun.”
Though Brawn himself doesn’t see a drastic shake up in the general order he does believe there will be a greater number of competitive teams.
That is something that will have Red Bull and Mercedes on alert with a vast majority of last season’s races contested between the two teams at the top - most notably between Hamilton and eventual driver’s title winner Max Verstappen.
“I think any win, any victory, has to be on merit,” Brawn added.
“I mean, I honestly don’t think the regulations will change the general order of things dramatically.
“I think it will bring it a lot closer and I think we’ll see some of what were the midfield teams challenging. I think we’ll have a bigger group of competitive teams.
“As we know, we either expected a Mercedes or a Red Bull to win the race unless something different happened. But we’re blessed with a number of great drivers in F1 today.
“Lando Norris, the Ferrari drivers, we’ve got George Russell in the Mercedes. I think there’s any number of combinations of drivers that will give us a fantastic season. And if there’s three or four of them mixing it up, that’s even better.
“I’m optimistic about the coming season. I think the good teams will always do a good job. They’ve got the expertise and the experience. Although I’d love to see it, I don’t think we’re going to see teams further back all of a sudden dominating this year.
“In a way we don’t want that sort of disparity or that shock, unless it’s an unusual race, because that suggests it’s all become a bit random, and it can never be random. It needs to be a meritocracy.”
