Laurent Mekies and Frederic Vasseur at Monza, Photo: Race Pictures

Team bosses positively surprised: 'It delivered proper racing'

17:08, 14 Sep

Updated: 17:52, 14 Sep

byKada Sarkozi

Team principals Laurent Mekies, Frederic Vasseur and Ayao Komatsu are happy with the racing delivered by the current power units in Formula 1.

If you ask Stefano [Domenicali], he’ll probably remind you that we were all criticising these cars before they came out. And in the end, we got incredible racing. I was in the ‘bad guys’ group.

- Laurent Mekies, Red Bull Racing's team principal

Laurent Mekies at the Italian Grand Prix, Photo: Race Pictures

At Monza, team principals Laurent Mekies, Frederic Vasseur and Ayao Komatsu all agreed that the current generation of Formula 1 regulations has produced exciting racing since their introduction in 2022.

"If you ask Stefano, he’ll probably remind you that we were all criticising these cars before they came out. And in the end, we got incredible racing," Laurent Mekies began to GPblog.

"I was in the ‘bad guys’ group—we were all thinking that the cars would all be the same, that there would be too much standardisation, and that performance levels would be too close.

"It turned out not to be exactly true. We got four years of incredible competition. Up to now, you still have one team dominating, and another team has been dominating in the past.

With these cars being the fastest ever in Formula 1's long history, Mekies therefore believes the current regulations led to a 'good show.'

"We’ve seen a lot of overtaking this year. They brought something great to Formula 1 – technologically very advanced.

"The ground effect cars caught nearly all the teams out in 2022, with the bouncing and everything. Combined with this engine, I think it raised the bar to a very high level."

piastri-norris-verstappen-on-the-monza-podium

Four teams won multiple Grands Prix under the current regulations, Photo: Race Pictures

Vasseur points out 'proper racing'

Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur echoed his compatriot's verdict.

"In Budapest, we had four different teams, six cars, I think within less than one-tenth. That’s proper racing.

"For sure, McLaren is dominating – I’m not stupid – but they’re a step ahead. Also probably a bit in tyre management and so on.

"But I think we’ve reached a point where we have a proper fight today. And don’t forget also that we developed this generation of cars under the cost cap—it’s the first generation under cost cap.

"That means we have to take the positives from the last four years. We’ve had different winners, different teams able to win races, and from my point of view, it’s been a good show and good sport."

Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu also praised the adaptability of the teams.

"I think it just demonstrates how amazing this sport is. In 2014, some people couldn’t even do a single lap.

"Then came 2022, with ground effect cars—again, most teams had huge issues. But how quickly we dealt with that, how quickly we converged."

The Japanese boss also expects teams to find solutions quickly with the new regulations ahead next year.