FIA director expects Red Bull's lead to shrink quickly

Nikolas Tombazis, director of single-seaters at the FIA, thinks that the lead Red Bull has will soon shrink, he tells Corriere della Sera, with the Greek also discussing the current technical regulations and those for the future.

Last year, Formula 1 introduced a new type of car: ground-effect cars. The new technical regulations were supposed to promote overtaking and minimise power differences between teams. Red Bull's supremacy raises the question of whether this has succeeded. Tombazis thinks so: "Behind Red Bull, it is all very close together. It will be a matter of time until we achieve our goals." He expects the field to close the gap to Red Bull soon, perhaps within a few months to a year. "Everyone is now working towards their technical direction, even Ferrari and Mercedes," states the director.

Abolish DRS?

The FIA man hopes that this will improve the championship battles. "We hope to see hard-fought world championships again, like in 2021. But you can't artificially create something like that." There have been increasing calls recently to abolish DRS to encourage overtaking. More and more often, drivers are stuck in a DRS train, unable to pass the car in front of them. Ironically, the DRS was once created to create more action on track. Abolishing it is not an option for now, Tombazis believes. "In an ideal world, we would abolish it. But that is not possible in the short term. Overtaking would become very difficult. It would be a big risk for the sport," says the former Ferrari man.