Formula one team Mercedes' boss Toto Wolff stated that he believes the 2021 cars to be slower than the current 2020 season versions due to the change in aerodynamics and tyres.
According to Toto Wolff, the teams will have use the same type of tyres used during the practise session in 2020. Toto stated one of the major changes to be around the floor area as they are aiming at reducing the downforce levels for 2021.
Toto also said that Pirelli's new tyre compounds are harder and slower based on the testing which took place during the practise session of 2020.
According to Toto Wolff , the record-breaking pace which was secured by the team and their 2020 cars will not be repeated in 2021, at least not in the first half of the season.
"I don’t think so," said Wolff when asked if his team could recover the lost downforce and be faster in 2021.
"The aero was cut back considerably on the floor around the tyres and it will take a while to catch up.
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"We are still right in the middle of our development for next year, but I doubt we will be there quickly. In that respect, and with the tyres going a notch harder, I don’t think we will [be] near the lap times we have seen this year. At least not in the first half of the year."
The Pirelli tyres, according to Williams' head of vehicle performance Dave Robson could be a second slower as the 2020 testing suggested. But even with the cars tuned to work with them, Robson does not believe all of that lost time can be clawed back.
"Not all of it, I don't think. I'm sure once we understand them and we look at the data properly and the aero interaction, we can better deal with them and I'm sure we can recover some time there," he explained.
“I don't think they will be a full second slower, but I don't think we'll get all of it back. I think it’s genuinely a slower tyre, which is probably not unreasonable if it's stronger and has more endurance.”
Pirelli has indeed considered making their tyres more durable in response to some of the tyre failures seen during the 2020 season, especially after the British Grand Prix where Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas and Carlos Sainz suffered failures in the closing stages at Silverstone.
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