Initial 2021 F1 cars will be more ‘rough’ than teams want – Ferrari. Teams face the prospect of having 16 months to build a very different type of F1 car.

Formula 1 teams will “deliver something a bit more rough” with their 2021 cars as a result of technical regulations being delayed, reckons Scuderia Ferrari sporting director Laurent Mekies.

Protracted negotiations over Formula 1’s desire to invoke sweeping rule changes for 2021 have resulted in the final technical rules being pushed back to the end of this month. They should have been signed off several months ago but teams and stakeholders have disagreed over several key points, which means teams face the prospect of having 16 months to build a very different type of F1 car before testing begins ahead of the 2021 season.

Asked by Autosport about the impact such a delay would have on design work, Laurent Mekies said: “We could make up the time for most of the items, you will just deliver something a bit more rough. In that specific case it’s probably more important that we get the regulations right, even if it comes at a later stage, even. If it means something is delayed to the following years, [it is better] than to have something early that we are not happy with.” – the Scuderia Ferrari sporting director explained, as reported by Autosport earlier today.