Formula 1 drivers have a certain allocation for engine components that they can use before being penalized. There is no penalty if you stay within the allocated allocation. If you exceed the allocation, whether it is for strategic reasons, or because your parts were damaged, you will be penalized for the F1 race. The penalty’s exact amount will, of course, depend on what part you damaged.
Motorsport.com reports that the FIA and teams have reached an agreement on a higher allocation for 2023. It’s a bit strange that a major rule has been changed in the middle the season, after three races. Charles Leclerc was also penalized for exceeding his control electronics allocation. The CE is not affected by the change.
Each driver can now use up to four internal combustion (ICE) engines, including turbo, MGUH and MGUK, for the entire 2023 season. They were only allowed to use three of each component before they received a penalty. There will be less grid penalties in this season. It’s also a change likely made due to the increase in sprint races in 2023 – six.
FIA will examine possible F1 exclusions from the cost cap
Charles Leclerc vs Max Verstappen during the 2022 F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
The World Motor Sport Council and the F1 Commission recently approved several changes, including this one. The time allotted to the grid procedure was increased from 40 to 50 minutes in order to accommodate other non-racing events, like ceremonies.
There was a lot of controversy in Saudi Arabia about Fernando Alonso getting penalized for serving a fine incorrectly. It was because his car was touched by a jack during a pitstop. This penalty was later reversed because the stewards couldn’t agree on whether a car being touched by a jack constituted “working on the vehicle”. It has been officially adopted that a car jack will be deemed ‘working.’
The cost cap was the biggest change in the future. Some teams at the bottom have asked for concessions in order to help them catch up. FIA has also agreed to examine possible exclusions from cost caps, with regards to upgrading the old F1 factory. This is being done to improve sustainability with an emphasis on environmental concerns.
According to a statement by the FIA certain’ sustainability initiatives costs’ will not be included in the cost cap. Exclusions include costs associated with “installing sustainable infrastructure”, auditing and monitoring competitors’ carbon footprints, donations to charities involved in environmental sustainability projects, and carbon offset programs. It will be interesting to see what teams do or how they use this to their advantage.
