Williams’ head of vehicle performance Rob Smedley is tipping the pecking order of the 2017 grid to change throughout the season, believing if this happens, then the new regulations will be deemed as a success.
With a new rule set for teams to wet their engineering appetites, the development race for the 2017 season is likely to be fierce and relentless right up until the season finale in Abu Dhabi.
Smedley told Autosport: “We’ve developed our car, we’ve done reasonable amount of development in the windtunnel.
“Over and above that, the key thing for 2017 is that we’ve got a good base in which to develop. I don’t expect the fastest car in Australia to be the fastest car in Abu Dhabi.
“What that allows is some change in the pecking order through the season. If that happens, the rules have ultimately been successful.”
In 2009 after the last set of aerodynamic rules changed, the form book changed dramatically with the Brawn team and Red Bull coming to the front of the grid, while 2008 challengers Ferrari and McLaren slipped back.
While Smedley does hope for a shake-up, he believes that in 2017 the form book is unlikely to change too much.
“I hope it’s going to shake things up a bit but I don’t think we’ll have a complete change in pecking order,” Smedley added.
“In F1, no one ever won a world championship without a substantial budget. Money does count, at least in this era of F1.
“But that is not to say the intra-groups – the front, midfield and back – are not going to get shaken up a bit and you’re not going to have more people in that top group.
“It’s really important you get more people up in that top group and we’re starting weekend with it not being entirely clear who is going to win the race – that is what turns the fans off.
“If you go into it thinking four or five drivers can win here, that’s really exciting and I hope that’s what the new regulations do for us.”
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