The new format – a 100 km race on Saturday that determines the starting grid on Sunday – is so different that the FIA’s sporting regulations had to be fundamentally adapted to take all changes into account.
While the key points were agreed some time ago, some details, in particular the Parc Ferme regulation, remained under discussion. You were raised at today’s meeting of the team managers and key FIA and F1 staff.
The concern of some teams is that routine jobs that they normally do on Friday evening or Saturday lunchtime will now have to be brought forward as the parc ferme starts before qualifying on Friday afternoon.
One of the main points is clutch shimming, an operation that some teams usually perform on Friday evening or Saturday morning to give their clutches extra life for the rest of the weekend.
The concern is that these teams will have to reduce their mileage for the remainder of the weekend if the job is not exempted from Parc Ferme regulations, which could affect the run in FP2 on Saturday morning.
It is understood that Alpine, McLaren, Aston Martin and Alfa Romeo are among the teams affected by the problem.
Other teams have clutches with “longer service life” that do not need to be relined, but homologation rules and a waiting list for orders make it impossible to switch during the season.
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It goes without saying that it was agreed at today’s meeting that there will be no routine exception for clutch relining.
However, according to Parc Ferme regulations, teams can install new clutches, but only if they can show data that indicates excessive wear. You then have to hand over the original clutch to the FIA for inspection in order to prove the necessity of the change.
Another issue is the underbody plank, which teams routinely change prior to Saturday’s qualifying to reduce the risk of being penalized for excessive wear and tear. This job cannot currently be carried out after qualifying has started, i.e. Friday noon on a sprint weekend.
However, the result of today’s discussion was that they cannot be changed.
F1 CEO Ross Brawn stressed ahead of the meeting that a debate on such details today would not undo plans for the first sprint weekend at Silverstone.
“The rules are pretty definitive,” he said. “I mean, the topic of clutches was mentioned in the beginning, but I have to say that it has been pretty quiet lately.
“So I was intrigued that it was mentioned again, and I think we’ll talk about it [on Thursday]but the rules are well defined.
“And the original agenda consisted of a few small details, like how many sets of rain tires do we get back from Pirelli? And very, very small details. So there was nothing essential.
“And to be clear, if nothing has been agreed [in Thursday’s meeting], it still goes on. There is a set of rules that went through the World Motor Sport Council.
“And small details can be adjustments. But the approval process has happened. So nothing will stop it now.”
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