Mar.14 (GMM) The 2020-spec F1 cars have “so much more grip” than their 2019 predecessors, according to Haas driver Kevin Magnussen.
As it stands, following the likely postponement of every grand prix until at least June due to the coronavirus crisis, the cars may not actually be seen in anger at all this year.
Some are suggesting that F1 may ultimately decide to postpone the all-new 2021 regulations until 2022, so that the teams do not waste the resources they have ploughed into the new cars.
Magnussen says testing the 2020-spec cars in Barcelona was “very cool”.
“I don’t know if it’s good or bad, but the track records will be smashed everywhere,” the Dane told BT newspaper.
“I was flat in turn 9 on the second lap, but I only managed that once in 2019 when the wind and everything else was just right,” he revealed.
“And this year it was with a half-full tank and not the softest tyres. The new cars just have so much more grip.”
However, he said the new cars are so fast that an unusual driving style is required to get the most out of them.
“You don’t really control the car anymore, you just turn in, and then under or over-drive the car,” Magnussen explained.
“You can’t do much. It’s not like the good old days when you went off the gas, slowed down, went down the gears, handled the corner and then started to get on the gas again,” he said. “Back then, you ‘drove’ the car to a greater extent.
“Now you come up to the corner, turn the steering wheel and that’s it. So it’s clearly something different than before. It feels more like a plane than a racing car.”