There F1 of 2024 continues with last season. This time there are no changes to the technical regulations as happened between the 2022 and 2023 championships when a restriction on the height and rigidity of the surfaces was introduced. But that doesn't mean some minor tweaks haven't been made. Upon closer inspection, there are eight areas of intervention by the legislator. Let's see them.
F1 2024: new timelines for the right to review
In past years, appealing a decision or situation that occurred in a previous match triggered a rather lengthy procedure. Which often generated controversy and exploitation. There FIA has decided to better define the discipline by updating the "right of review" present in the International Sporting Code.
Teams now have the right to appeal as long as they can provide a “significant and relevant new element discovered which was not available to the parties requesting review at the time of the decision in question”.
Previously, i competitor they could appeal within 14 days of the verdict. This quota drops drastically given that there are now only 96 hours available to activate the review clause. There is a 24 hour extension of this deadline in special circumstances.
Teams will now also have to pay a deposit which will be set annually by the governing body. This contribution will only be returned if the appellant is successful or if the FIA judges that “fairness requires it” in the event of an unsuccessful petition.
To further streamline the process, teams will also need to specify significant, relevant and new matters before any hearing takes place rather than seeking to argue the points for the first time at a trial.
F1 2024: Potential fines increased
Until 2023 the maximum fine commissioners could impose under the International Sporting Code it was 250,000 euros. From this year it will have been quadrupled to reach one million euros.
Other categories have also seen an increase in the costs of sentences since the FIA stated that the figure has not been revisited in more than a decade, but exposes the drivers and teams of F1 to some costly punishments.
F1 2023: stricter power unit usage rules
Last year teams were allowed to use four of each of the internal combustion engines (ICE), motor-generator-heat unit (MGU-H), motor-generator-kinetic unit (MGU-K) and turbocharger (TC) before incurring in a grid penalty.
This was due to the length of the season. The teams, among other things, were allowed to develop their own power unit for reliability reasons. However, these concessions were valid exclusively for 2023 and this year it returns to three ICE elements, MGU-H, MGU-K and Turbochargers.
The other two components – the control electronics (CE) and the energy accumulator (Energy Store) – remain unchanged at two per pilot.
F1: filming day longer
In the past, the kilometers used for recording cine-photographic material were limited to 100 km or 20 laps of a 5 km long circuit. From 2024 teams will be able to count on double that distance. This will give more opportunities to test a car before the season and at the same time have more promotional footage.
F1: changes to tests with old cars
Teams are allowed to use cars that are at least two years old as part of a testing programme. This is often useful on days made available to young people drivers of the various academies. Given the big change in regulations, the 2021 car was also allowed to be used in 2022 as it provided information that would not be valuable to the models next-gen.
However, with the 2022 cars now joining the Testing of Previous Car program (TPC), it was clarified that all components must have worked at least once in an official test session or race weekend to then be allowed on a previous car. This is to prevent teams from testing parts during a TPC run that could then be installed on the current model.
F1: increase in CapEx limits
In order to ensure that larger teams do not have a constrained advantage due to the budget cap, teams can now spend more over a four-year period on capital matters (CapEX), in order to update their facilities. This measure partially meets the requests of teams like the Williams which, through James Vowles, has fought a lot on this matter.
The limit of $45 million for four consecutive years has been increased to $65 million for the four teams that have finished in the bottom four of the league on average since 2020: Haas, Alfa Romeo, AlphaTauri and Williams.
The three teams that ranked mid-table on average in that period (McLaren, Aston Martin and Alpine) all have a limit CapEx increased by 58 million; while the first three (Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari) can spend $51 million over the four-year period.
F1: stricter requirements for roll hoop
As already happened a year ago, a series of changes have been made to the requirements of roll hoop in response to the serious accident of Zhou Guanyu At the beginning of British Grand Prix 2022.
In addition to the changes made last year to the shape of the element in question and the minimum height for the point of application of the approval test, from this year the roll hoop they must be able to withstand a much more severe load test to make them even more robust.
F1: Planned removal of wheel displays
Since the introduction of the 2022 regulations, cars have had wheel covers which impact aerodynamics. These also opened up opportunities for information displays and, originally, the intention was for the wheel covers to mount a rotating display within them. For now it has been decided to abolish it. However, it is an area that could be revisited in the future.
Among the other matters that will be regulated soon there is also that relating to the format of the sprint weekend. The aim is to further rationalize the weekend by separating the sprint activities from those for the Grand Prix. The Sports Advisory Committee will work on specific details, in particular regarding the times and rules of the parc fermé, for a final proposal to be presented to the F1 Commission for the first meeting in 2024.
Author: Dario Sanelli
Photo credits: F1 Alfa Romeo, Scuderia Ferrari