Two weeks after the season finale in Abu Dhabi, Formula 1 is apparently increasingly concerned with measures to make the racing series even more attractive. The catalog of penalties for engine changes has now also come under the FIA’s sights.
Like the portal”RacingNews365” writes that the automobile association is currently working on a rule revolution in this regard. Several changes have recently been discussed in the relevant commission.
The amendment to the rules would probably result in engine changes being punished with penalties during the race and no longer on the starting grid. A time penalty for the first pit stop is under discussion.
Replacing several components could then result in several penalties at the same time, so as not to give an incentive to completely replace the power unit. At the same time, changing a component should be at the expense of the engine contingent that is available to the teams each season.
As compensation, this continent could grow from the coming season.
Formula 1 wants to become more spectator-friendly
According to the current set of rules, the teams are allowed to use three engines per season. If a team needs more aggregates or exchanges individual parts, this leads to a grid penalty.
The rule was originally introduced to cap costs for teams and level the playing field.
In recent years, however, there have been more races in which a large part of the field changed engines for strategic reasons and accepted penalties.
In particular on high-speed circuits with good overtaking opportunities, such as in Spa or Monza, the offenses were an integral part of the action because they were easy to compensate there.
The fact that the qualifying result in these races usually has nothing to do with the actual starting grid due to the many penalties allegedly caused trouble at the FIA. The federation fears fans could become confused and the sport will alienate potential casual viewers.