New F1 2021 Rules Bring Cost Caps To Level The Playing Field, Plus Sexier Car Designs

Formula 1 has officially announced the changes in regulations and the car design that will take place in 2021.

The new rules mark the start of a new era in Formula 1’s history, bringing significant design changes to make the cars more beautiful and more capable of following one another without losing downforce.

The new aerodynamics package will allow for a cleaner airflow behind a car; the current F1 cars lose around 40 to 50 percent of their downforce when following in another car’s wake but the 2021 cars will drop that to around 5 to 10 percent, making not only close battles easier but overtaking as well. Other technical revisions include a bigger 18-inch wheels and lower-profile tires.

Formula 1 officials believe these changes will result in a speed reduction of up to 3 seconds per lap that would bring the 2021 cars closer to speeds of the 2016 season, though they say that speed was not their main priority, but to make the cars more raceable.

Related: 2021 F1 Cars To Feature A More Futuristic Front Wing Design

A key change is the introduction of spending restrictions for the first time ever, with the cost cap to be set at $175 million per team on a yearly basis. Today, leading teams regularly spend over $300 million per season pushing close to $500 million, but the budgets of smaller teams are below $100 million. That restriction applies to anything performance-related but excludes areas like marketing costs, driver salaries and of the top three members of the team.

The goal of the spending limits is to even the playing field, putting a stop to the growing gap between F1’s top teams and the teams with fewer resources. Car upgrades over the race weekend will also be limited, as well as the number of aero updates a team can apply to its car throughout the racing season.

The spending limitations will be overseen by a independent regulator, with both financial and sporting penalties to be applied in the case of a team failing to comply.

“The approval of the rules by the World Motor Sport Council is a watershed moment and will help deliver more exciting wheel-to-wheel racing for all our fans,” said Chase Carey, Chairman and CEO of Formula 1. The new rules have emerged from a detailed two-year process of examining technical, sporting, and financial issues in order to develop a package of regulations.”

For the first time in F1 history, financial rules will be enshrined in the new regulations

This is how the cost cap will work#F12021 pic.twitter.com/GY0WPdkH85

— Formula 1 (@F1) October 31, 2019

An entirely new aerodynamic set-up is coming to F1 in 2021

It’s the first time in history that F1 cars have specifically been designed with a chasing car in mind#F12021 pic.twitter.com/jNYvbr2e44

— Formula 1 (@F1) October 31, 2019