BMW Sauber boss Mario Theissen concedes that restrictions on aerodynamic testing this year have not enabled the teams to cut costs as much as they had hoped.
A ban on testing was enforced this year, alongside restrictions on wind tunnel usage, to help reduce costs.
Theissen is happy with the progress made but accepts that more could be done in terms of limits on aerodynamic testing.
“In the area of cost-saving, I think the progress has pretty much met expectations,” said Theissen. “However, the aero restrictions we currently have are not as tight as we thought they would be, so I think we could do more.”
Reflecting on this year’s radical shake-up of the regulations, which have left BMW Sauber battling alongside McLaren and Ferrari in the midfield, Theissen added: “It has been very exciting for both the spectators and us, sometimes too exciting.
“You see almost every team going out on two sets of fresh option tyres, even in first knockout phase of qualifying, in order to make it into the second phase. That is a scenario no-one expected and we haven’t seen in the past 10 years.”
The main goal of the extensive rule changes is to make overtaking easier, thus providing the crowds in the grandstands and the TV audience even more exciting motor racing. According to Theissen, this goal has only partially been realised. “When it comes to overtaking maybe we had expected a bit more from the new regulations,” admits the German.
