An own goal by the FIA? Have the new floor rules made the racing worse?
The start of F1 2023 has been mostly dull - even if you forget that Red Bull have dominated both races.
Looking back to 12 months ago, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia were full of great overtakes and wheel-to-wheel action, with the new regulations receiving plenty of plaudits.
With the regulations no longer immature, it seems that as teams improve their cars, the racing has steadily gotten worse.
Speaking after the race in Jeddah, Sainz - who finished sixth - explained how he felt that running behind another car was more difficult compared to last year.
“I probably paid the price during the first stint with the tyres because I did want to pass him [Stroll], but in the end I paid the price,” Sainz said after the race in Jeddah.
“These cars in dirty air have got a bit worse compared to last year, probably adding downforce and the new regs.
“They are starting to become a bit like the old cars where the dirty air is becoming a limitation, and today it wasn’t that easy to pass – but in general, I don’t think it would have changed much the end result.”
The reason for this?
A potential explanation has been put forward by German publication AMuS.
They explained that teams are putting more “outwash elements” on their cars to increase the downforce their cars produce.
Teams have been forced to do this after the implementation of TD-39 - the regulation that stipulates that all cars must run with a minimum 15mm ride height.
The technical directive was introduced on safety grounds - or more cynically, affected Red Bull.
It could have had an unintended consequence with cars not being able to follow each other as closely as result.
Given that the FIA can only intervene for safety reasons, it’s unlikely there will be any drastic changes until 2024 meaning F1 could be set for a boring season.
