Newey speaks out: This needs to be different about a Formula One car

With the last regulation change in Formula 1 in 2022, the FIA's intention was to allow cars to follow each other more closely, which would enhance racing. Meanwhile, almost 2.5 years later, the conclusion is that this objective has been achieved. According to Adrian Newey, Red Bull Racing's designer, this did come at the expense of another aspect: the cars have become heavy and big these days.

Newey thinks that is "quite a shame", he told Motorsport.com. Indeed, the Brit points out that developments in Formula 1 often (eventually) become applicable to consumer cars as well. Take turbochargers from the 1980s, for example, or the carbon winglets now found on many sports cars.

'Bigger cars create more emissions'

"Certainly there's a lot of talk at the moment, quite rightly, about ecology and how to reduce the effects on the planet of automotive. What tends to go with that is mainly an obsession with reducing emissions perhaps through battery or hydrogen, not using fossil fuel," Newey states.

Newey thinks the amount of energy a car consumes is much more important than whether or not it uses fossil fuels. Even wind power creates some form of C02 emissions, the Brit argues. So the smaller the cars are, the less the emissions are. "So, the chance for F1 to go the opposite route, and go to much smaller, lighter, more aerodynamically efficient cars, I think that is the one that I would certainly advocate," says Newey, who then hopes the car industry will follow a similar path for cars on public roads in that case.