Pirelli Director of Motorsport Paul Hembery believes that Formula One will be a big step up next year when the new regulations come into force.
Next year the sporting regulations are changing with a lot more emphasis on aerodynamics. Also being introduced are wider tyres which will give the cars much more grip through corners.
"If you are cornering with that much grip, and if it's to be believed up to five or six seconds a lap quicker, that clearly is going to be felt by the drivers in a dramatic fashion," he told Autosport.
"It could be driving on rails at that point," he admitted. "It could be so high, the feeling is the car has such grip, that it's more driving on rails rather than driving on the limit."
"We won't know until they get to the limits on track to understand where those limits actually are," he admitted. "But with that improvement in performance it's like going into another category of racing."
"It will be like jumping from GP2 into F1, so it'll be almost like a Formula 1-plus compared to where we are now."
Hembery also reckons that the drivers will take time to adapt, but will relish the challenge.
"Sometimes something like this can bring out differences in drivers. I'm sure the top guys will say it is what they want, that they want to be challenged more."
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