Jenson Button: 'Awesome' F1 2017 cars will scare drivers again
McLaren driver Jenson Button believes next year's new-look Formula 1 cars will scare drivers again
The 2009 world champion feels Pirelli motorsport boss Paul Hembery's suggestion that the 2017 cars would drive like they are "on rails" thanks to a major hike in downforce are wide of the mark.
Button compared the feeling of driving the current generation of the cars unfavourably with the best he has experienced during his 17 seasons in F1, but believes the fear factor of the most challenging machinery will return.
"I remember going through Turn 5 onto the back straight at Jerez and you would have one eye closed thinking 'is this thing going to hold?' said Button.
"You couldn't hit the brakes because the tyre would deform and you wouldn't be able to turn in as the steering would be so heavy.
"So it was a light dab on the brakes, turn in and then you would just be waiting for the twitch.
"If you got the snap oversteer, either you were off or you lost a massive amount of time.
"Now, you arrive and you slide through the corner and you drift.
"It's just a very different feeling. It doesn't scare you as much. It will next year, it will be awesome."
Button did say that the current cars are enjoyable to drive in qualifying trim, but having compared last month's German GP to a race from his first season he believes the spectacle has been damaged.
But he is confident next year's rules, which include wider tyres and revised aerodynamics, will boost the spectacle, albeit at the cost of extra weight with cars becoming 20kg heavier.
"On the quail lap, you can still have a lot of fun and in the race you still have fun because it's about finishing as high as you can and having good battles, so it's still really enjoyable," he added.
"I watched Hockenheim after the race and then I watched Spa from 2000 as well because that was on TV and listening to the engines was just phenomenal - that's a big part of it.
"Next year, Formula 1 is doing the right thing with the tyres, with the aerodynamics.
"It's a great step forward and where the sport needs to go, so it's good to see.
"There's always going to be a negative, and the negative is that we are going to be heavier."
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