The FIA announced last year a change in floor regulations for the 2021 season. The decision suited Red Bull Racing well, because the Formula 1 team is equally closer to competitor Mercedes this season. Otmar Szafnauer- team principal of Aston Martin- thinks this was the reason for the change.
Seven times world champion Lewis Hamilton conquered no less than seven world titles in recent years, which makes the dominance of Mercedes abundantly clear. According to Szafnauer the FIA wanted to reduce that dominance by making changes to the floor.
“There was never a vote on the decision”, he said to Formel1.de. “There was only one trial vote with all the chief technology officers on the technical subcommittee.” If the vote did take place, Szafnauer says the decision would be most likely to have turned out differently. “You have to keep in mind that only two teams rely on the low rake concept. Only a third team would have voted against it as well. Then there wouldn’t have been the necessary super-majority.”
Szafnauer therefore thinks there is more to it than that. “I am not an expert on tyres, but immediately after the changes were decided, Pirelli announced that they would also come up with a new tyre construction.” Szafnauer, however, cannot be certain of the unfairness of the decision.
The team of Aston Martin this season consists of Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll. With these drivers, the team hopes to score high points in 2021, but it didn’t quite work out in Bahrain. Where Stroll scored a point, Vettel finished in P15.
