F1 chiefs predict 2021 cars likely to be three seconds per lap slower

While the 2021 F1 car may be a little slower than today's cars, they still will put a lap on an IndyCar every 7 to 8 laps at a place like COTA

F1 chiefs predict that the radically-designed cars for the 2021 season, which they claimed on Thursday would herald a “watershed moment" for the sport, are likely to be more than three seconds per lap slower than the existing machines.

While the cars have a futuristic look and a revised rear-wing concept to diminish the effect of turbulent air on the drivers behind, raw speed has been sacrificed in the hope of encouraging more competitive racing. “We are expecting cars to be approximately 3-3½ seconds slower per lap," said Nikolas Tombazis, the FIA’s head of single-seater technical affairs. “But we don’t think that is the key parameter. We feel the raceability is the main target."

In launching the most drastic rule changes for a decade, Ross Brawn, F1’s managing director of motorsport, argued that the pursuit of the fastest ever cars had been a mistake. “These cars from 2016 to 2017 had a huge increase in downforce, and it’s worth thinking back on that experience, because it was done for reasons I don’t understand," he said. “It was a case of ‘let’s make the cars go faster, let’s make F1 better’. But what we have actually done is make it worse, because the cars can’t race each other."