Brundle: F1 needs “massive step” to improve show

Martin Brundle has said that Formula One needs to make a much bigger step than is planned in 2019 to improve the racing show.

Wolfgang Wilhelm/Mercedes-AMG

Speaking about the 2019 season’s new aerodynamic regulations, the F1 veteran said he is unsure whether the changes will produce any real improvement in the number of on-track overtakes.

“A more simple front wing makes sense to me, [but] I think it needs a much bigger step. A massive step, actually. I can’t really see why we’ve done an interim 2019 because the cost is massive in terms of a brand new car for everybody.

“The big teams tell me they were going to do a new car anyway, but the small teams don’t. They have a lot of continuity of certain things like the chassis.

“It all looks like a lot of money spent, so if they’re not side-by-side and nose-to-tail more often, then it’s money wasted.”

Charles Coates, Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool

 Brundle added that as well as its aerodynamic regulations, F1 needs to address the size of its grid to deliver a better show in the future:

“Back in the day, a Carlin, a DAMS, or an ART would have migrated into Formula One like Eddie Jordan did, for example, or Paul Stewart Racing with the Stewart team. Now we’ve got 20 [cars], and that’s more likely to become 18 than 22 from what I’ve seen at the moment. I see that as quite a peril.

“Ross Brawn used an expression, ‘We pulled up the drawbridge’. He’s absolutely right. We’re on a little Formula One island spending a lot of money to run 20 cars, and the drawbridge is up and I don’t see anybody waiting on the other side to come on. That’s a huge issue they need to address for the 2021 regulations.”

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