The 2022 Formula 1 season will present a multitude of innovations for teams and drivers and not only in terms of technical regulations. In fact, even at a sporting level, the FIA has decided to introduce several innovations compared to past years, under various aspects. One of these concerns the management of the various exchange units available to the teams over the entire year. In fact, until the past championship, the various teams had to keep the same gearbox on a car (in the qualifying and race sessions) for at least six consecutive events. If this had not happened and the gearbox had been replaced earlier, also to refit one already used previously, that car would have incurred five penalty positions on the starting grid.
Now this constraint has been removed. In fact, the gearboxes have become part of the ‘limited number components’. It is, to understand, the same category to which the power units are part. From this season, therefore, a team will no longer necessarily have to keep the same gearbox on a single-seater for six consecutive GPs, but will be able to draw freely from a ‘pool’ of elements. The only limit that remains for the teams is – exactly as in the case of the engines – the maximum number of changes that can be used during the season, which comes in at four. At the introduction of the fifth unit, the starting grid penalty will be triggered again, which has been confirmed to be five positions. This change should allow the engineers to ‘play’ more with their elements, using strategies similar to those seen in the final of last season with the rotation of the power units.
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