28/02/2022
NEWS STORY
Having already warned of the safety implications of porpoising, George Russell believes another effect of the rules overhaul is a reduced ability to slipstream rivals.
While a number of drivers report that it is now easier to follow a rival closely, thereby allowing the potential to overtake, the Mercedes driver admits that he encountered an issue when attempting to slipstream another car.
"I think the following has been improved," says the Briton, "but the slipstream effect has been reduced quite substantially.
"You obviously need that delta on the straights to overtake because you can only overtake at the end of a straight and into a corner," he adds. "We can follow closer but from what we have seen, the slipstream effect is definitely less effective.
"I got right up behind Lando, I was a car-length or two behind him and didn't catch him on the straight," reveals the Mercedes driver, "so that was slightly concerning so let's see."
"We can follow closer but then the slipstream is worse," agrees Norris, "so a positive and a negative from it.
"We don't know which is the bigger effect at the minute so we will have to see until the first race."