Formula 1 2017 rules deadline difficult for teams - Pat Symonds

On Tuesday, the F1 Commission agreed to postpone the deadline for finalising the precise rules by two months to April 30 to allow enough time to get them right.

That will leave teams just nine months to get a car ready to hit the track in pre-season testing.

"I think it's really, really difficult bearing in mind there have already been a few fundamental changes since early December," said Symonds.

"In two-and-a-half months, we've seen three quite distinct sets of regulations.

"We think we know where we are now, but if we don't know where we are until May, that's tough for the smaller teams.

"We really haven't got anything particularly definitive yet.

"As everyone knows, we have been working on it for quite a while and we have a situation where the technical guys are happy with it.

"It has been batted about between the teams and Pirelli and I think there is a position we are happy with it but that is not yet in a set of rules."

The current deadline will leave teams just nine months to get a car ready to hit the track in pre-season testing.

If the rules do get introduced in May, Symonds believes it will be the smaller, independent teams who will be hit hardest.

"It has a much bigger impact on smaller and less well-financed teams," said Symonds.

"If you have a big team with a lot of people and good manufacturing facilities, you can react to late changes quicker.

"It's much more difficult for Williams than it is for Ferrari and Mercedes."

Symonds had previously told Autosport he expected a final set of regulations by the March 1 deadline.

"I was surprised they couldn't reach decision on Tuesday," he said.

"There used to be a clear procedure involving the Technical Working Group and since it was disbanded, we only have an advisory group.

"In general that works fine but occasionally it leaves a situation where you wonder why things haven't progressed."