FIA announces host of new changes

The Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) held its first Formula One Commission meeting of 2023 ahead of the 2023 Formula One World Championship season, and a host of new changes were announced.

Among the new changes are a new wet-weather tyre compound, circuit changes, and technical and financial matters. The Commission meeting was chaired by Formula One President and CEO Stefano Domenicali and FIA Single-Seater Director Nikolas Tombazi.

The changes discussed during the first Commission meeting of 2023 are follows:

Wet tyres and wet weather

The FIA has announced that Pirelli will launch a wet-weather tyre, which will not require the use of tyre blankets. The tyre will be available from the race in Imola.

The Commission also discussed the wet weather aero package, the work on which will continue. It will allow teams to be able to work on the package outside their Aerodynamic Testing Restriction (ATR) limits and outside the cost cap.

The new aero kit testing will take place in Q2 or Q3 of 2023. 

Radio messages

The Commission stated that it had approved the proposal to relax the regulation of radio messages to and from the drivers during the races.

Circuit updates

The Commission also stated that multiple circuits would undergo changes for the upcoming season. 

• Saudi Arabia – significant changes have been to improve visibility on corner entry wherever possible

• Azerbaijan – the track will be completely resurfaced

• Miami – the track will be completely resurfaced

• Zandvoort – space between the pit-stop positions has been increased by 1.5 metres

• Qatar – Introduction of a new pit building and paddock infrastructure

The Commission also made a couple of DRS zone changes in order to “either facilitate overtaking, or make it harder”. These DRS changes will be seen in Bahrain, Jeddah, Melbourne, Baku and Miami and will see the adjustment of detection and activation zones. The Melbourne track will see the fourth activation zone reinstated. 

Sporting, Technical and Financial Regulations

The Commission also approved minor amendments to the 2023 Sporting, Technical and Financial Regulations, which include the introduction of a winter shutdown period for Competitors and PU Manufacturers.

Also, wording changes have been made to ensure that shorter races have reduced points even if they don’t end with a suspended race. Wording has been added to make sure that factories for the FIA auditing team have easy access to keep a check on the teams and PU Manufacturers and that they adhere to the to the Financial Regulations and the Operational limitations of the Technical and Sporting Regulations.

The Cost Cap has also been increased from US$1.2 million to US$1.8 million per race beyond the 21st race. The Commission stated that this was implemented “on the basis that the trend of the additional races being added to the calendar has been towards fly-aways, which are more expensive”.

The Commission also revised the parc fermé request acceptance policy with regards to Sprint events to allow teams to change components that are more likely to get damaged, along with greater use of the self-declared parc fermé forms. The Commission stated that this would apply for the entire parc fermé period, starting from when the car leaves the pits for Qualifying on Friday to the start of the main race. This change will be introduced through a Technical Directive.