Brawn satisfied: 'Now to evaluate whether we are on the right track'

Formula 1 chief Ross Brawn looks back on the first three testing days in Barcelona with satisfaction. Only during the first race in Bahrain will he really say whether the rule changes for this year have had an effect, but for now it looks good.

F1 working group will continue to develop

The F1 veteran and former team owner of Brawn GP is satisfied with the past test days in Barcelona. What struck him was that there was no team that stood out far from the pack in either a positive or negative way. That's good, because the new rules for 2022 were devised to get the teams closer together. But, Brawn let it be known in conversation with F1.com hat he was impressed with Ferrari. The Ferrari F1-75 comes across as "extreme" according to the Brit, but for now he doesn't see any violations of the newer, stricter rules that the teams are bound by.

In addition, Brawn also does not yet see any novelties or details that will destroy the basic concept of the cars. Above all, the Briton hopes that the new rules will actually do what they are intended to do; bring the cars closer together and make following another car easier. That's why Brawn says: "The working group we set up to design these cars will continue with their work. They now have access to the data and to the teams' designs. They will evaluate whether we are going in the wrong direction."

Brawn hears positive drivers

In the paddock, Brawn notices among the drivers that there is a lot of appreciation for the new concept. Indeed, the cars already seem to perform better behind a rival's car. The problem with the cars of the past few years was that the aerodynamic work around the car created severely disturbed air behind the car, causing a rival to lose downforce the moment he got close to his car in front. The new cars are a lot more austere in terms of aerodynamics, but should provide much less disturbed air and thus make following easier.