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F1 rule change to shutdown loopholes in regulations

Published on 09 Feb 2020 12:33
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By: Harry Mattocks

A proposed rule change for Formula 1 in 2021 will allow the FIA to clamp down on any loopholes the teams find in the 2021 regulations in a bid to make the sport more competitive.

Due to the new regulations that are coming into force in 2021, the sport's governing body is working hard to make sure that none of the teams can find a loophole to jump ahead of the field. This happened in 2009 with Brawn's double diffuser, a device which ultimately meant that they won the title.

The FIA will now be allowed to change the rules during a season, rather than waiting for the net year to outlaw the part. However, the proposed rules would not have prevented Brawn's double diffuser, as three teams had exploited the feature.

Ross Brawn explained: "The governance in the past has been the teams have to all agree to make a change. We’re pushing through governance where we can make changes much more on short notice than at the present time.

“If you exploit a loophole in the future, you can be shut down at the next race, which you could never do now. So the Brawn diffuser – as it happens, there were three teams that had it, so it would have carried on.

"But if one team stands out there with a solution that has never been conceived, and has never been imagined, and destroys the whole principle of what is trying to be done, the governance would allow, with sufficient support from the other teams, to stop it. This is a whole different philosophy.

“Then what happens is someone who has a loophole thinks, ‘Do I want to use it or do I want to tell the FIA about it as it wasn’t intended?’. You’ve found a loophole in the regulations and you turn up at the first race and the FIA says, ‘Sorry chap, that wasn’t intended, we’re going to hold a meeting now and if everyone agrees, apart from you, we’ll stop it’.”

Brawn went onto explain that this change would not stop new technical innovations, but would stop teams from looking for loopholes.

A great idea is the exploitation of the regulations within what was intended,” Brawn said. “If someone comes up with something that was a play on the words, or some interpretation that was never intended, it completely corrupts the principle," he said.

“What is the choice? Either live with it for a year, and have something which is not a great competition, or we change it, put it right and get the competition back to where it is.

F1 News Ross Brawn

Replies (7)

f1dave

Posts: 782
“What is the choice?" Either have teams innovate or just follow the rules like sheep.
The latter will stagnate the series. It's not what F1 should be about.
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- Feb 9 2020 - 16:34
siggy74

Posts: 194
Pinnacle of sport & development in motor racing, & is now going to be stopped at every turn ;p

Nice to see the development go backwards ;p

Set a money Cap, and let em got on with it:(
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- Feb 9 2020 - 18:45
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  I agree. While I do think there should be some degree of limit to just how effectively they can exploit loopholes, stuff like the F-ducts or FRIC were just genious things, and there is no reason for why they couldn't allow them. Budget cap is fine, and if someone were to find something vastly dominant, they could always use BoP systems.
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  Feb 9 2020 - 19:56
- Ram Samartha
  
  Posts: 1,172
  I don't know. It seems like they are genuinely trying to level the playing field. It's a no-brainer that if you just let the teams with the most money run with development to the top of their budgets then the lesser financed teams are still at a huge disadvantage. With Brawn at the helm and even saying his own team's taking advantage of loopholes was unfair, it seems like he is doing the right thing to me. Agree, set a budget cap and make sure they don't cheat. I don't see how that is going to stop development. It only encourages better innovation at improved cost limitations. Don't see how that is going backwards. Seems like moving forwards over the old model to me.
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  Feb 10 2020 - 07:23
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  I don't doubt it, and I applaud their efforts. Brawn is a fella I tend to trust, but even so I have my concerns. The tricky thing about evening out the F1 field especially compared to other motorsports lie within the many philosophies. F1 need to be about both driver, car and team, and should be about both racing and innovation at once. Go too far towards one direction, and the sport will suffer. Time will tell, and I generally feel it is a net-positive, my shrimp is more that they are already clamping down pretty intensely on anything different, and more might render differentiation between teams impossible. I'd much rather then having, as I say, a budget cap where the smartest, most cost efficient teams are benefitted, complimented by BoP to limit just how dominant certain innovations can be. But that's just me.
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  Feb 10 2020 - 18:06
- siggy74
  
  Posts: 194
  The point i was trying to make Ram S,
  
  At the moment not only are we having a budget cap, but also clamping down on the rules ;p
  
  Is the FIA going to develop the sport? no chance have they got a budget bigger than Merc or Renault, or even the prancing horse.
  
  As Calle has said its a mix of the team, the car, and the driver.
  
  Look at the development for a 1.6 ltr v6 hybrid, producing 1100 hp ;p
  
  The teams will be even more matched this year ;p
  
  next year? the teams that spend before the cap have the advantage ;p the others wont close the gap for some seasons to come
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  Feb 10 2020 - 19:35
f1ski

Posts: 726
I believe that philosophy is wants used in spec car racing. Comon this lets not let teams innovate led to the hybrid lack or parity because of the tokens. Let them race and develop.
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- Feb 10 2020 - 12:12