On Wednesday, the FIA announced the decisions taken at the last World Council, with some innovations which, although partly already announced, have finally been included in the regulations. One of these is the reorganization of the weekends with the sprint races and related articles, with the short race now taking place on Saturday morning before the Grand Prix qualifying.
One of the most important changes, which the teams had already discussed but which had not yet been made official at a regulatory level, concerns the reopening of Parc Fermé on this particular type of weekend. Until last season, the Parc Fermé period came into effect at the start of qualifying, which effectively forced the teams to remain with the same setup for the entire Grand Prix.
The only alternative to change the set-up, followed for example by Aston Martin and Haas last year in Austin, was to accept the start from the pit lane, thus losing the position gained in qualifying.
Mercedes F1 W15 detail
Photo by: Uncredited
Parc Fermé reopens post-sprint: more freedom for the teams
Understanding that such an extended Parc Fermé period was detrimental to the stables, it was decided to modify its operation on the weekends in which this format will be present.
In fact, there will be two different Parc Fermé: the first will cover the period from qualifying on Friday afternoon until the end of the post-sprint race checks, while the second will start from the start of qualifying on Saturday afternoon until the conclusion of the Grand Prix on Sunday .
Between the end of the sprint race on Saturday morning and the start of official testing to establish the starting grid for the 300 km race, the teams will have the opportunity to intervene freely on the setup, thus being able to modify the set-up using the data and the experience accumulated in previous sessions. This could prove to be a real race against time for the engineers, who will only have a few hours to evaluate the indications obtained from the sprint and make the necessary changes for the rest of the weekend.
McLaren second chassis arriving in the paddock
Photo by: Franco Nugnes
The rules for the third car change
Another key aspect of the latest draft regulations approved by the FIA World Council concerns the use of a third car in particular cases. In fact, each team cannot have more than two single-seaters available at any time during the race weekend, but there are specific situations where the mechanics will be able to assemble a new chassis to facilitate changing cars in the event of an accident.
To avoid misunderstandings, the Federation has also updated the definition that regulates what is meant by a car, which is made up of the chassis, elements of the Power Unit and other components already assembled, even if only partially. As per practice, no team will be able to have a third car ready for use in any situation, but in the event of a serious accident, which effectively requires the replacement of the chassis, an exception will be made, provided that the team has applied for and received approval from the FIA technical delegate.
The interesting aspect of this point is that the mechanics will also be able to work in Parc Fermé conditions: it is clear that this change was also approved to facilitate the task of the mechanics, who last season on several occasions had to race against the clock in case of accident trying to respect the curfew periods.
Mercedes W15: note the addition of an air intake at the top of the chassis to cool the passenger compartment
Photo by: Erik Junius
Revised the cooling for the pilots
Among the innovations for the 2024 world championship there are also small changes aimed at helping the cooling of the drivers inside the cockpit, especially for the hottest races. As already seen in the tests, each team will be able to mount an additional intake in the upper part of the chassis, with the sole task of refreshing those in the cockpit. Special materials cannot be used and, as clearly specified in the regulation, dry ice cannot be added inside the socket, as it is considered potentially dangerous.
However, teams will have the option to add or remove this element even in Parc Fermé conditions, should ambient temperatures change considerably from day to day over the weekend.
New suppliers approved for 2026
Finally, the FIA announced that, at the end of the selection process of the tenders regularly opened in recent months, the suppliers of some elements of the next generation Power Units, which will make their debut in 2026, have been approved.
The selected suppliers will be responsible for providing the oil level, flow meter, pressure and temperature sensors, which will be standardized for all grid stables.
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