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Williams technical director Pat Symonds says Red Bull has been a key architect in how Formula 1 cars will look in 2017.

F1 cars will feature wider front and rear wings, revised bodywork and bigger tyres as part of an overhaul of the technical regulations.

Carlos Sainz Jr has said the cars will make the championship look like "another category", having caught a glimpse of how the 2017 Toro Rosso is shaping up.

Symonds believes Red Bull's input has been pivotal in shaping what will eventually take to the grid.

"I do think the cars look nice," Symonds told Autosport.

"When we first started talking about the 2017 cars, I was worried because there was this real drive for a retro look.

"A retro look wouldn't have done anything.

"But I really pat Red Bull on the back for doing a great job in styling the car because what they did was take away what the Strategy Group had asked for and they really styled it.

"They started with this premise that we want the car to look like it's going fast even when it's stationary and I thought yeah, that's a really nice way of expressing it.

"They've come up with something that looks great.

"When you see the physical model in the windtunnel - and windtunnel cars never look particularly attractive - I think they are good-looking cars."

While Adrian Newey has penned concept cars for the Gran Turismo video game series, Symonds says the new F1 machinery will "not look futuristic" either.

Instead, they will be styled in a way that delivers a look of "being dragged through air".

"The car is wider, it does have wider wheels and tyres, the rear wing is wider and lower," he said.

"The front wing is swept back a bit, the front wing is wider, as the car is, but its has a bit of a sweep on it.

"The front of the sidepods have a bit of a sweep on them, the rear wing endplates lean back a bit.

"They have this look of being dragged by the air. I like it."