Engine penalties continue to be debated at Monza, after nine drivers dropped at least five places on the grid at the Italian F1 Grand Prix. The diversity of penalties applied posed a problem in establishing a grid.
In addition, George Russell laments that the race for sustainability in Formula 1, aiming to use fewer mechanical parts, has the effect of having to take penalties and lose sportingly for the drivers.
« It’s a double-edged sword. We’re trying to be more sustainable in F1, reducing the parts and engines we use over a season. » Russell said. « We have three engines to allow us to do 23 races, going flat out with one engine. That’s huge. It’s normal for there to be failures. I’m sure F1 will reconsider that. »
Seidl wants faster grid posting…
As for McLaren, Andreas Seidl is annoyed about the time it takes to know the starting grid after a qualifying session like yesterday. Esteban Ocon joked on Twitter asking his fans where he would start from.
For the director of McLaren F1, it would be important to speed up the reflection of the marshals to have at least a provisional starting grid quickly after the session, rather than having to wait until the evening, like yesterday, to find out who will start where. .
“It was suggested to me that with all the computing in F1, calculating a starting grid via software should not be very complicated. I agree that it is a good idea” Seidl said. « It’s something we should be discussing in order to avoid that time vacuum that comes with having firm confirmation of the provisional grid. »
« It’s not a big deal to post a provisional grid, then wait for parc fermé to be completed, then re-confirm the grid, and so everyone knows early on how it’s going to go. »
But he has no problem with the system
On the other hand, the German has no problem with the engine penalties as they are distributed. According to him, the rules are clearly established and it is important that Formula 1 sticks to these principles.
« You just have to work with it. There’s nothing to complain about. For me, it’s a rule that’s well known, well established. We all accept that it’s that way when we start a season, so II have no problem with that. »
“At the end of the day, we have to accept having these penalties and this discussion every year. With the component limitations, there is no other way to control costs, so we have to accept it. a bit of spice in the show, which is a good thing. »
« Obviously when so many different penalties add up it makes it complex, unlike changing an entire power unit where it only takes one penalty to end up at the end of the grid. In the end, that’s fine. that there are different penalties for the number of components you take, so I don’t have a problem. »
Red Bull offers a larger engine pool
Red Bull director Christian Horner thinks the system is working well and can produce some interesting races. Nevertheless, he thinks it would be interesting to think about increasing the engine quotas by one or two elements.
“It will always be difficult to find a solution,” admits Horner, who recalls that this does not prevent the use of additional parts. « The only thing I would say for this race is you have a bit of a mixed grid and that could produce a really exciting race. »
« If you have a good lead, you keep taking engines, so there will never be a perfect scenario. Maybe three engines is a bit light, but we use the fourth and fifth engines in a season, from anyway, why not use them? It might be a little light for what they are being asked to do. »
Did you miss our previous article...
https://formulaone.news/mclaren/mclarens-daniel-ricciardo-willing-to-take-surprise-f1-role-in-2023
