MARCH 31, 2016

F1 teams already looking towards 2017

F1 teams will now begin to turn their focus towards designing a car for the all-new technical regulations of 2017.

F1 teams will now begin to turn their focus towards designing a car for the all-new technical regulations of 2017.

While April 30 is the actual deadline for the new rules, it is now essentially clear that F1 will speed up substantially next year with a blueprint for wider cars and tyres.

"Before too long he (Adrian Newey) will be starting to look at 2017," confirmed Red Bull's Christian Horner, "now that those regulations look pretty fixed."

Haas team owner Gene Haas added: "We're moving on to the 2017 car because it is a pretty radical change."

And Williams deputy Claire Williams told Christian Sylt in the Independent: "It will be a challenge because we'll be designing those (2017) race cars alongside this year's.

"But that's a good thing and I think it demonstrates that the drive is there to try and do something to help drive people back to their TV sets to watch the sport."

(GMM)