21 augustus 2020 – The FIA’s ban on the use of different engine modes in Formula 1 will be postponed until the Italian Grand Prix in Monza, a week after the upcoming Belgian Grand Prix.
The FIA notified the ten Formula 1 teams in the week before the Spanish Grand Prix that it would prohibit the use of different engine modes from the Belgian Grand Prix, so that teams can no longer use their infamous party modes during qualifying and thus qualifying and have to finish the race with the same engine position.
The FIA initiative comes because the complexity of all engine modes makes it extremely difficult and time-consuming for the FIA to check that all teams are following the rules. According to observers, an additional effect is that the teams are now being brought closer together, as the dominant Mercedes in particular can squeeze more power from the engine during qualifying.
That rule is being converted into a technical guideline, but will now be postponed with a game. This postponement is to give manufacturers more time to test their engine and find the ideal engine position.
This week, a draft of the technical guideline was sent to the teams, but several teams still had questions and wanted to postpone the rule by a week. “It is not a simple guideline to implement,” said a team boss anonymously GPUpdate.net. “We have to be right.”
F1 race director Michael Masi said last weekend in Barcelona that he was convinced that the FIA could properly apply the new rule. “I think we have a lot of confidence in that, otherwise we would not have walked that track”, the Australian explained. “I know the engineering team has done a tremendous amount of work and also consulted the four engine builders to get their input.”
In collaboration with Adam Cooper
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