AS F1 PREPARES TO EMBARK UPON a brave new era in which the cars are specifically regulated to provide closer wheel-to- wheel racing, Pat Symonds, the man in charge of formulating those regulations – a process stretching over five years – gives us some insight into them.
The object of these regulations has been to address the overtaking difficulty that has plagued F1 for a couple of decades. Symonds was recruited by Ross Brawn to attack the problem on behalf of FOM (Formula One Management) and commercial rights holder Liberty. He had his own staff, working with FIA technical chief Nicholas Tombazis while F1 teams made various resources available.
As Symonds explains, “This is first time that a set of F1 regulations has been the result of full research. Limited research was