Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, Silverstone, 2019

Vettel wants 2021 rules to deliver more excitement and less pace management

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In the round-up: Sebastian Vettel says F1’s rules direction in 2021 will influence whether he stays in the sport.

What they say

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Vettel was asked whether the planned rules changes for 2021 will affect whether he decides to continue in F1 after the 2020 F1 season, and how today’s cars compare to those he raced earlier in his career.

I need to still look at it in a way that I say the cars are exciting, the format is exciting, the formula is exciting. Time is ticking, obviously. I think it’s good that we’ve been asked. I think we gave our opinion and we will give our opinion again and hopefully we find the sport taking the right turns to grow, to allow us to race, to allow us to challenge ourselves and explore our skills.

At high speed, [the current cars] are top of the class. Low speed, I wouldn’t say bottom of the class, but they’re just too heavy, that’s something I don’t like. I think a Formula 1 car that I got to know at first was very exciting throughout the speed ranges. And the race turned out to be a sprint race which was great because you could push yourself and the car and the tyres every lap.

That has changed a bit. We are managing: Some races more, some races less. And I think generally, or very simply, you enjoy the races that you don’t have to manage, you can go flat out. Some management I think will always be there, and rightly so because you need to also use your head not just your feet and hands, but still I think the one rewarded most should be the fastest guy.

Quotes: Dieter Rencken

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Comment of the day

We learned a lot of encouraging things about the new rules for the 2021 F1 season yesterday. But will F1 teams lose the ability to innovate in two years’ time?

Most of this sounds great. Along with the ground-effect aero plans that were revealed recently, it seems it will level up the field, in racing terms anyway. It seems it will be more attractive to manufacturers entering the sport since they won’t have to sort out as much and play catch up.

One thing I worry about though is the car designs. I fear we won’t get the radical designs we saw back in the late 00s. Is it possible for the regs to dictate simpler designs but with more freedom? or is that an oxymoron?
Paul (@frankjaeger)

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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12 comments on “Vettel wants 2021 rules to deliver more excitement and less pace management”

  1. Jamie B
    18th July 2019, 0:40

    Cotd, innovation in racing is by and large a thing of the past. And that’s good, in my view. F1 is too advanced for its own good now. Everything is done with computer design and simulations, which is not exciting for an old-school fan like me – and indeed for casual viewers.

    It’s not what people want to hear, but stricter specifications are the future if you want close competition, it’s been heading this way slowly for a long time, and it will continue.

    1. Jamie B
      18th July 2019, 0:44

      Also @frankjaeger the radical designs we saw back in the late 00s (presumably you mean before the 2009 rule change) looked amazing (in my view) but they had so many of the same problems current cars have. They weren’t good for racing.

      The more variety in design tends to lead to bigger performance gaps. Whichever design is the best will always win.

      1. Jamie B
        18th July 2019, 0:47

        Just to clarify, I mean that innovation as we knew it is a thing of the past because it’s now too advanced and computerised. That still doesn’t stop huge performance gaps though.

  2. Tim
    18th July 2019, 8:03

    I need to still look at it in a way that I say the cars are exciting, the format is exciting, the formula is exciting.

    Vettel starts talking like Nando right before his retirement. Also, aren’t current cars already too challenging for him and actually exploring his skills?

    1. [TR]
      18th July 2019, 8:08

      Vettel has been giving a push from behind in F1 for a while, now.
      And I have to agree, it always makes things more exciting. ;)

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      MEGATRON M12 (@megatron)
      18th July 2019, 12:10

      Yep, the current cars are Cleary beyond vettel’s skill level. Simply look at all the mistakes he continues to make. He should be focused on his performance.

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      Hans Herrmann (@twentyseven)
      18th July 2019, 17:20

      These type of knee jerk commenters are starting to really irk me now. The same people jumping on the “Vettel’s finished” brigade probably got on the bandwagon during Verstapen’s poor spell last year. It’s fine if you’re commenting on the likes of Brexit or voting on the American president but in F1 where decisions made by teams are balanced and non-emotional this type of reactive alarmism really grates!

      Sincerely irked,

      Hans

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        F1oSaurus (@)
        18th July 2019, 18:01

        @twentyseven Well, Verstappen eventually got the message and he changed. So, I’d say it’s a good thing to tell people they are doing something wrong.

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    Jere (@jerejj)
    18th July 2019, 12:47

    That’s the difference between a person with a competitive racing background vs., a person without that. The same would happen to me if I were to do a little go-kart race against an F1 driver for the same reason, though.

  4. Mike
    18th July 2019, 14:27

    I think Seb should keep a low profile at this point. He will be fortunate to be competing in F1 in 2021.
    He should have been fired by now.

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      Jeffrey (@jeffreyj)
      18th July 2019, 14:53

      Yes, it seems the question will not be wether he want’s to continue, but if F1 will let him.

      1. RB13
        18th July 2019, 15:52

        He is safe, Ferrari have shown a unique ability to make THE worst decisions and retaining him is a solid part of their philosophy of self desruction.

Comments are closed.