A few weeks ago when the Strategy Group unveiled their changes for next year, one very exciting aspect was increasing the rear tire width from 360 mm to 420 mm like they had it back in 1992.
We have to say, we can’t wait for that to happen because not only will the cars be faster, but the drivers will have to be more focused on the track.
Red Bull‘s Daniel Ricciardo feels exactly the same way as he stated recently that “Mentally your concentration has to be more in tune so I think you’ll see a bigger separation between the top drivers and, let’s say, the others. It’ll be more rewarding, I think, for the guys who think they can really do it”
He then went on to add that “Mechanical grip’s the big one. It’s the best way to go because you could still follow close enough through the high-speed stuff. If it makes the lap times quicker, everything’s going to come at you so much quicker.”
The wider tires should cut 5 or even 6 seconds off the current lap times, which means that just as Daniel says, everything will be happening much faster and the more talented the driver is, the better he’ll be able to handle it.
Which does kind of raise the question of who wouldn’t be ideally suited to drive a much faster Formula 1 car from this season’s drivers line-up? Speculating on it wouldn’t be extremely healthy but it will be fascinating to see who struggles and who adapts in 2017.
Ricciardo also said that even though today’s pace is “slow-ish”, the racing is still good and that’s something we can all agree with. Well, except for how Mercedes is just destroying everyone.
The racing will truly be great when we go back to having at least 2-3 equally good teams. That’s 4-6 different drivers that could win a Grand Prix at any time.
Story references: autosport