F1 Madness

Tag: f1 strategy group

  • New Restart Rules and Tighter Regulations on T-Wings in the Pipeline

    New Restart Rules and Tighter Regulations on T-Wings in the Pipeline

    The F1 Commission and the F1 Strategy Group met today (25 April 2017) in Paris to discuss technical and sporting changes to F1. The meeting, was for the first time, attended by the CEO of the Formula One Group, Chase Carey.

    The sporting and technical changes have all been agreed to and will now go to the World Motorsport Council to be approved.

    After running the proposed Halo head protection last season during some of the practice sessions it seems as thought the FIA has now abandoned the idea of the halo and will now focus their energies, together with the teams, in testing the a new “shield” type solution. The FIA hopes to test this new solution during the season for it to be rolled out in time for the 2018 Formula 1 season.

    Future designs for the shark fins and T-wings will be limited going forward.

    “Changes in the regulation boxes around the engine cover have been made so that designs incorporating the ‘t-wing’ and ‘shark fin’ will be strictly limited,” said the FIA in a statement.

    The topic of burning oil has been a contentious issue recently with some teams convinced that Mercedes have been using this technique especially during qualifying to get more power out of their engines. Regulations will now be tightened up and teams will only be allowed one specification of oil for an entire Grand Prix weekend.

    Another proposed change is the restart procedure after a red flag during the race. Currently drivers will line up on the grid or in the pit lane during a red flag period. Once the track has been cleared the field gets underway behind the safety car. The new procedure will be to line up on the grid for a standing start.

    The final sporting change was that tyre supplier Pirelli will be able to test the 2018 wet weather tyre compounds using the previous specifications of cars and wheel dimensions.

    From the Spanish Grand Prix the FIA will enforce the rules regarding the visibility of driver names and numbers.

    Finally, F1 Strategy Group meetings will be opened to non-member teams to enable them access to the discussions. This, the FIA says, demonstrates the effective commitment of both the FIA and the Commercial Rights Holder to improve transparency in the sport.

  • F1 Commission members have until Friday to vote on 2017 engines

    F1 Commission members have until Friday to vote on 2017 engines

    Members of the F1 Commission have until Friday to submit their fax vote concerning the 2017 engine regulations, according to a report on Autosport.

    The F1 Commission and the F1 strategy group met on Tuesday to discuss the new 2017 engine rules, ahead of Saturday’s deadline to have planned rule changes for 2017 finalised.

    According to Autosport, the Strategy Group agreed on a proposal that addressed “the cost, availability of supply, noise and performance convergence of F1 engines”.

    The F1 Commission was however unable to vote as it did not have a quorum. A fax vote is currently being carried out in lieu of this. Members of the F1 Commission will have until lunchtime on Friday to cast their votes. It is expected that the proposal will get approval from the F1 Commission before being put before the World Motor Sport Council for ratification.

  • Changes to F1 Announced by Strategy Group

    Changes to F1 Announced by Strategy Group

    The F1 Strategy Group which met yesterday in Biggin Hill announced a few changes to the regulations for the current and future seasons in F1.

    There will be restrictions on driver aids and driver coaching, especially during race starts. “Increased restrictions on driver aids and coaching received unanimous support and will be rapidly implemented, starting from this year’s Belgian Grand Prix – with a particular emphasis on race starts – and in 2016,” read a statement from the FIA. The FIA say that this will bring unpredictability to the sport and enhance the excitement.

    The process of handing out penalties for power units, and how these penalties are applied will get an overhaul which was also unanimously agreed upon by the strategy group. The decision will need to be ratified by the F1 Commission at the World Motorsport Council next week in Mexico City. Further changes to the exhaust system on the cars are planned for 2016 to enhance the engine noise.

    Staying on power engines it was also announced that new manufacturers entering the sport will receive and extra power unit per driver. This is good news for Honda and McLaren as it gives them some breathing room and it comes after both McLaren drivers were handed 25-place grid penalties at the Austrian Grand Prix.

    “It was agreed to allow an extra power unit per driver in the first year  to any new manufacturer entering the championship and, for the sake of fairness, the measure will apply retroactively to Honda for the 2015 season,” read the statement.

    The FIA and FOM have been given a mandate to “propose a comprehensive set of measures for power unit development and cost of supply”. This will include a review of the token system that is currently in place where teams are only allowed to change certain elements of the power units by using development tokens. An increase in race fuel allowance and the use of engine dynamometers was also suggested.

    Teams will now be given freedom of choice of tyre compounds for race weekends. The details are being finalised with Pirelli for 2016.

    It looks like cars are set to look more aggressive from 2017. According to the FIA statement some of the changes will include “wider cars and wheels, new wings and floor shape and significantly increased aerodynamic downforce has been outlined and is currently being assessed by the teams.”

    Finally a tweak to the race weekend format is in the works and is being evaluated by the FIA and FOM and we could see this happen for 2016. There are suggestions for a sprint race on a Saturday with a reduced number of laps for a race on Sunday. Over the years changes have been made to qualifying and practice sessions but the race format has pretty much stayed the same throughout the history of the sport. This has been billed by the FIA as “exciting and innovative”