Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris are less than impressed with Formula 1’s current generation of cars.
Last year, the sport introduced radical new design regulations, including the return of ground effect aerodynamics for the first time in 40 years.
The main aim was to encourage closer racing by significantly reducing the impact of turbulent air on the following car’s performance.
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Initially, the changes worked with a strong increase in the number of overtakes in 2022 vs 2021.
But this year, the first three races have all seen fewer passes compared to last season, with drivers complaining more about the ability to follow.
“Nope, it’s the same as the past,” Hamilton was quoted by MotorsportWeek on if turbulent air was less of an issue.
“I think last year for us was pretty bad with the bouncing because you’ve got the turbulence and the bouncing, whereas this year we don’t have the bouncing, so we have fewer issues following cars.
“I think it’s still a little bit better than the previous generation of cars, but hasn’t delivered everything that it said it would, so some improvements to make, hopefully, for the future.”
McLaren driver Norris was even more critical of the current generation of F1 cars.
“I hate driving the cars compared to 2021,” he told RacingNews365.com.
“They’re a different challenge. I wouldn’t say they’re as enjoyable as previous years’ cars, just in terms of how comfortable they are and how much you can play around with hitting the kerbs and lines and stuff like that. You’re a bit more limited now.
“Even with set-up, you’re a bit more limited. Generally, for us, it’s just [a case of] go as low as you can and as stiff as you can, and then you go a bit softer if it’s too stiff.
“That’s basically how it goes every single weekend whereas, in previous years, there was always a lot more to adjust and to try, and you always ended up with different weekends with different solutions.
“Now, not so much. There’s less playing around with actual car set-up, in a way. There [are] just bigger challenges of trying to achieve that one good set-up.”
Worryingly for Norris, he doesn’t see any of that improving as teams improve their understanding of the current regulations and the cars evolve.
“If anything, it’s only ever going to get worse,” he predicted. “Because the more downforce you put on the car, the worse it’s going to get.
“I expect the more cars change and improve, the more downforce you have, the worse following [on track] is going to be.
“I think that’s kind of how it works, anyway, unless there are further implements and changes that the FIA bring in to stop certain changes, which caused a lot of the dirty air.”