Head: Mercedes will be even more dominant in 2017

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F1 design veteran Patrick Head is dismissive of claims that 2017 rules will help close the field.

It is fair to say that Williams co-founder Patrick Head has forgotten more about the sport than most of us will ever know. For while, like anuses, everyone has an opinion, there are certain people within the F1 industry whose words should be carefully listed to when uttered, and Head is one of them.

While others are falling over themselves telling us how good 2017 is going to be courtesy of the new aero regulations and tires, Head believes it will pretty much be a case of 'same old, same old', indeed, he insists under the current set-up it will always be so.

"If anybody was thinking of these rules with the aim of closing the field up then they’ve got rocks in their head," he told The Guardian with a bluntness we have become used to over the years.

"Any time you make significant changes the advantage will always go to the bigger teams," he continued. "Because they have more resources, they have more capability to parallel develop their existing car and work on the design of their new car.

"When you have 750 employees or more against, say, Force India’s 300, of course the bigger teams can do more. Any idea it will close the field up is nonsense."

Patrick Head expects the racing to be worse with the wider tires and higher downforce, as AR1 predicted long ago.

In fairness however, Head suggests that in reality the changes were not intended to shake up the order as such or level the playing field, but rather to create more spectacular looking cars and racing throughout the field.

"I don’t think anyone ever said that was the target," he said, I think the target was to make it more attractive to create a bit more excitement.

"If they wanted a formula that allowed for more overtaking without using artificial aids like DRS then they needed to go for a formula that reduced downforce levels but they have gone in the opposite direction," he said, a view that many, including Pitpass, has been arguing for as long as anyone can remember… less aero grip more mechanical.

To further dampen fans spirits ahead of the first launches, Head warned that Mercedes is likely to continue its domination this year, the new aero rules playing into the hands of the German manufacturer.

"There is no doubt that the drag levels of the car will be higher," he said. "But what makes the engine fractionally more important is that with more downforce, which they will undoubtedly have, your percentage at full throttle – the percentage of the lap at which you are power limited rather than grip limited – will be higher, so if you have that bit more power it will give a slight advantage."