The F1 Commission has discussed some regulatory changes that will need to be approved by the next FIA World Council.
The meeting which was held today in London was chaired by Stefano Domenicali, president and CEO of F1, and by Nikolas Tombazis, technical manager of the FIA for the single-seater sector.
Rain tires without tyrewarmers
The main change concerns the Pirelli wet tyres: the tests carried out by the sole supplier in collaboration with the teams have shown that the new rain tires are much more performing than the previous specification, so the Cinturato tires will not need to be heated in the tyrewarmers. The new type of wet tires will be available starting from the Emilia Romagna GP at Imola.
Tire tests out of bounds
The FIA, satisfied with the team’s collaboration with Pirelli for the development of wet tyres, has proposed to the F1 Commission the introduction of a technical directive which allows tests to be carried out with wet tires to be scheduled in the second and third quarters of 2023, without that these tests are included in the aerodynamic tests (ATR), nor counted in the budget cap.
As far as team radios are concerned, the F1 Commission has approved the proposal to limit the regulation on communications to and from the drivers at any moment of a race.
Parc fermé in Sprint races as less bounds
With the increase in Sprint races (there will be six on the calendar) the F1 Commission has given the go-ahead to allow modifications to the single-seaters under the Parc Fermé regime when damage is recorded or failures are feared which will have to be self-declared. The possibility of intervening will be valid for the entire period that will go from Friday’s qualifying to the race. The opportunities for intervention will be established by a specific Technical Directive.
Five tracks change
The FIA has also made official which tracks will have to undergo updates and modifications before the dispute of the GP on the calendar:
Saudi Arabia: Significant changes have been made to the layout to improve visibility into corners wherever possible.
Azerbaijan and Miami: the runways will be completely resurfaced
Zandvoort: the space in the pitlane between one car and another in the pit stop area will be widened by 1.5 metres.
Qatar: new pits and adequate paddock infrastructure will be built.
Quattro zone DRS in Australia
“The FIA has analyzed the 2022 DRS zones and has proposed some modifications for 2023 in order to make overtaking easier or more difficult on some circuits: the novelties concern Bahrain, Jeddah, Melbourne, Baku and Miami with different detection and Mobile Wing Activation The fourth DRS activation zone will be reinstated in Melbourne.
Revised the scores of interrupted GPs
Other minor changes to the 2023 Sporting, Technical and Financial Regulations were unanimously approved. Among these, the introduction of a winter stop period was decided for both teams and engine manufacturers, a clearer definition of points in the end in suspension of the race or fail to reach distance after a restart.
Furthermore, it is studying how to more easily regulate access to the FIA auditing team which will be called upon to verify compliance by the manufacturers (of chassis and engine) with the budget cap and the operating limitations dictated by the technical and sporting regulations.
Increase in transport costs
It was also agreed to adjust the budget cap for races that exceed 21 on the calendar: an extra 1.8 million dollars will be counted for each appointment instead of the expected 1.2 million dollars due to the increase in costs in the transport.
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