‘Vast chasm between top-three and the rest’
German GP-style racing the target in normal conditions for 2021.
Formula 1 has to take steps to close the gap between the top-three teams and the rest of the field after everyone from P5 down was lapped at the Hungarian GP.
Lewis Hamilton raced to the victory in Sunday’s Hungarian GP, beating Max Verstappen while the Ferraris, third and fourth, were a whopping 60s down the road.
However, it is the gap to fifth-placed Carlos Sainz that has F1 sporting boss Ross Brawn most concerned.
The McLaren driver, despite putting in a fantastic race, was lapped by Hamilton and Verstappen while 15th-place Daniil Kvyat was lapped twice and Robert Kubica, three times in the Williams.
Brawn says the sport has to do something to level the playing field.
“The gap between Ferrari and Mercedes was huge, but what about the rest of the field?” he told the official F1 website.
“Carlos Sainz finished an impressive fifth and, along with rookie Lando Norris, McLaren is now firmly staking a claim on being the fourth best team.
“But its drivers were both lapped by the winner.
“Four drivers from four different teams were lapped twice and another driver was actually lapped three times.
“With Hamilton and Verstappen fighting for the duration of the race, the pace at the front was astounding from the first to the final lap, as that was the only way to win.
“However, it demonstrated the vast chasm in performance between the top-three teams and the rest.
“I’ve said it so often, but this gap must be reduced.
“It remains one of our main objectives for the future as, alongside the FIA, we continued to work on the 2021 regulations.
“It’s an ambitious goal, and it won’t happen overnight as we do not have a magic wand, but it has to be our central ambition, achieved via the three main areas of the rules: technical, sporting and financial.
“It’s a key theme for the future of this sport and I think we are all in agreement on this, starting with the fans, whom we must listen to, because, at the end of the day, they are our most important asset.”
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