New regulations 'really difficult' to achieve for 2017

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Pat Symonds has warned it will be "really difficult" for the new aerodynamic regulations to be implemented by 2017.

A meeting of the F1 Commission on Tuesday approved new aerodynamic regulations for next season which are designed to make cars faster and more difficult to drive. With the FIA explaining the main bodywork changes it was also announced that the deadline for the finalisation of the regulations has been pushed back until the end of April.

When asked how realistic it is the 2017 regulations will be brought in when they will only be finalised on April 30, Williams' chief technical officer Symonds replied: “I think it’s really, really difficult.

"Bearing in mind that there’s already been a few fundamental changes since early December, we’ve seen three quite distinct sets of regulations. So we think where we are now but if we don’t really know until May then that’s very difficult for the smaller teams.”

While saying he was "surprised" a decision wasn't reached on Tuesday, Symonds also warned there is a lot of detail still to be finalised.

“We really haven’t got anything particularly definitive on [aero regulations] yet. As everyone knows we have been working on it for quite a while now. I think we have a situation that the technical guys are quite happy with, it's a situation that’s been batted backwards and forwards amongst the teams and with Pirelli. I think there is a position we are quite happy with but that is not yet in a set of rules so we really need to see where that gets to.”

And Symonds admits Williams will be at a disadvantage to the bigger teams if the new regulations receive final approval less than a year from their implementation.

“It has a much bigger [impact] on smaller and less well-financed teams, that’s a fact. If you’ve got a very big team, a lot of people, very good manufacturing facilities etc then you can react to late changes quicker. So it’s much more difficult for Williams than it is for say Ferrari, Mercedes, whoever.”

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