As well as Ferrari making the headlines this week, we were also meant to have been made aware of what the 2021 regulations would be. However, after yesterday’s meeting held in Paris at FIA Headquarters, Formula 1 teams and series chiefs have chosen to delay unveiling the new regulations until October.

F1 issued a statement yesterday explaining to the decision to the media:

"While the FIA Formula 1 World Championship's key stakeholders feel the core objectives outlined for the future set of regulations have been defined, in the interests of the sport it was agreed that the best outcome will be achieved by using the extra time for further refinement and additional consultation.

"Furthermore, following today's first meeting featuring the aforementioned stakeholders, a series of additional meetings will be held over the coming months."

Also, it was revealed that this decision was approved unanimously.

This is hardly a shock when the publicity these talks have generated so far in the lead up to the meeting had been far from positive:

Ferrari Team Principal Mattia Binotto described the rules presented so far as "really green and not mature enough to be voted on".

Red Bull Racing Team Principal Christian Horner said the talks so far were “A bit like Brexit…Things are put on the table and then taken off the table. We need to get something done because time is running out.”

Horner has also said previously that hopefully the driver will have more of a say:

“hopefully the concept of what they are looking at should put more inference on the driver to be a bigger variable than he or she currently can be. That’s what Formula 1 desperately needs.”

https://www.motorlat.com/notas/f1/11507/ferrari-s-appeal-will-they-or-won-t-they

Therefore, it is encouraging that as well as team principals being present in Paris yesterday, so were some of the racers with Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton in attendance to share the views of the drivers.

Lewis Hamilton has been very vocal in the routine Driver Press Conferences at race weekends saying how he wishes that drivers could have a bigger say in the rules and on this evidence the FIA has been listening. Hamilton’s view is not a lone voice on the grid as in Montreal Max Verstappen also made clear his desire to be involved:

"We try to indicate what we want, I think that this has also given us wider cars and more speed…but we don't agree with how the downforce is generated. So we are trying to give feedback on that."

Clearly, following the news of the October delay, the rules are not yet what everyone wants but surely that is not a bad thing and maybe 2021 will bring the close racing every fan desires to see after all.