
In just over a year, the new regulations will debut. The cars in 2026 will be very different from the current ones, even though the first feedback from the drivers hasn’t been the best. This, as we know, is a recurring theme with every new technical cycle. We saw it in 2022 as well, when bouncing caused so much debate that the Federation had to introduce some technical directives to try to curb the issue.
Given the presence of ground effect, every little detail can make a difference on the track. This seems to be the main problem with the current F1 cars, as confirmed by Fernando Alonso.
The Spaniard from Aston Martin, after a dream start to 2023, had to deal with an Aston Martin that wasn’t able to make the step forward it needed. At the beginning of last year, Lawrence Stroll’s team surprised everyone by consistently fighting for podiums. Since then, the updates haven’t delivered the desired effects, and 2024 hasn’t been what many expected, which is why Lawrence Stroll did everything possible to hire Adrian Newey.
“I’ll explain the problem with these cars”
“The problem with these cars is extracting 100% performance. Sometimes you’re faster driving at 90%, without pushing to the limit and avoiding exposing the floor to uncomfortable heights,” Fernando Alonso stated.
“In Baku, without Lando Norris’ problem, I would have been excluded. A few minutes later, though, I was fifth in Q2 without changing anything in my driving style,” continued the two-time Formula 1 world champion. “Despite that, I managed to improve by over a second, while others had the opposite problem.”
“We don’t always understand why. We have thousands of sensors, and at low speeds, we can notice even the smallest differences,” the Spanish driver added. “That’s why in races, when we’re at 90%, we don’t see incidents or problems. These cars are faster in those conditions, even though, as a driver, you always want to go at 110%. With the current cars, a small adjustment can make all the difference. “Two millimeters in height or two meters in braking can change everything,” Fernando Alonso concluded.
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