Decisions reached on F1 tyre blanket and engine equalisation rules

Following a meeting of the F1 Commission in Belgium, decisions have been made on whether or not to proceed with a tyre blanket ban.

One of the issues up for discussion at this weekend’s meeting of the F1 Commission was that of whether or not tyre blankets will be banned in 2024 and beyond.

Tyre blankets were put to the vote, while initial discussions were held focusing on the idea of engine equalisation measures being taken.

Will tyre blankets be banned in 2024?

The issue of banning tyre blankets has been up for discussion for some time, due to the sport’s environmental concerns and ongoing cost-saving objectives.

Following a thorough testing programme with Pirelli in 2023, the tyre manufacturer reported its findings to the F1 Commission.

The results of the testing show that the change could be implemented to the requested target specifications for next season but, the decision has been taken to postpone the introduction of a tyre blanket ban for dry tyres until, at least, 2025 and to continue the discussion on for further testing in 2025.

Is F1 set to introduce engine equalisation measures?

Another topic that came up for discussion is in relation to power units. While under an engine freeze that runs until the end of 2025, the possibility of adjustment of power unit performance has been looked at, in order to avoid a significant performance difference between manufacturers being locked in.

The FIA have confirmed there is one notable performance gap between the manufacturers, which is understood to be Renault’s engine lagging behind the rest.

F1 Commission has taken on board the commitment of the manufacturers in order to remedy the disparity, and a mandate will be passed to the Power Unit Advisory Committee to bring proposals to the Commission to begin the process.

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Updates to the Technical Regulations

F1 Commission has approved the formalisation of an updated procedure to standing starts. The Race Director may make the decision for the Safety Car to stay in the pitlane, or extinguish its orange lights and pull to the side, in order to let all cars eligible for the standing start to overtake it.

Standing restarts close to the end of the race was also discussed. While the current aim to restart the race from a standing grid, the idea to set a fixed point in a race beyond which a resumption would be a rolling start was posited. The idea did not receive sufficient support from the Commission to be taken further.

The final decision on this topic remains at the discretion of the Race Director based on the specific conditions of each restart.

Work to begin on CapEx equalisation

With Capital Expenditure of the teams a major topic in recent months, particularly with lesser-resourced teams aiming to close the gap to those with greater infrastructure, work will be undertaken by the Financial Advisory Committee will continue to work on the topic.

2024 F1 pre-season testing to take place in Bahrain

The Commission gave approval for 2024 pre-season testing to take place outside of Europe, and testing has been confirmed to run from 21st to 23rd of February at the Bahrain International Circuit ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix.

All issues must go before the World Motor Sport Council for final ratification into the Regulations.

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