John N
1. A reduction in the minimum car weight
Weight reduction has been a major talking point in the F1 paddock ahead of the 2022 season, with teams up and down the grid struggling to get as close as possible to the 798kg weight limit (without fuel). As F1’s new era develops, a reduction of 2kg – to 796kg – is being implemented for 2023, meaning designers will be trying to shave off even more weight from their latest challengers.
2. Revised mirrors to improve driver visibility
To increase driver visibility, there will be a change to rear-view mirrors on F1’s 2023-spec cars, with the width of the reflective surface increasing by 50mm from 150mm to 200mm.
Following tests by Red Bull and Mercedes in Hungary and Belgium last season, the entire grid got involved at the Dutch Grand Prix, and the changes have now been written into the regulations.
3. Paddock working hours cut
The number of hours worked by F1 team members across race weekends will be reduced in upcoming seasons, with the third of three restricted periods (effective on Fridays) beginning an hour earlier this year and another hour set to be knocked off in 2024.
To complement the move, the number of curfews permitted for the first (Wednesday) and second (Thursday) restricted periods will also be cut in half, from eight to four and six to three, respectively, again with another cut planned for next year.
4. Tweaks around gearbox changes
While changes to teams’ homologated gearboxes were only previously permitted “to resolve reliability problems” or “for cost saving, at the start of each season”, modifications are now permitted “in the case of materials, processes or proprietary parts becoming unavailable”.
Nonetheless, clear documentation justifying the change must be provided in all cases, prior approval must be obtained from the FIA, and the modification must not give any performance advantage. A summary of the modification will then be circulated to all teams by the FIA.
5. A move to clear up penalty confusion
Grid penalties came under the spotlight at last year’s Italian Grand Prix, where a host of drivers took power unit and gearbox-related drops and turned the order on its head. Following some confusion over how these were applied, the wording of the regulations has been updated.
The relevant section now reads: “Classified drivers who have accrued more than 15 cumulative grid position penalties, or who have been penalised to start at the back of the grid, will start behind any other classified driver. Their relative position will be determined per their qualifying classification.”
6. More flexibility to cool fuel
A small change on paper could impact reliability in 2023, particularly at hotter races, with some extra freedom for teams regarding fuel cooling.
For 2023, fuel in a car must not be colder than the lowest of either 10 degrees centigrade below ambient temperature, or 10 degrees centigrade (this being cut from 20 degrees), at any time when the car is running after leaving the competitor’s designated garage area.
7. Qualifying format and DRS trials
A ‘Revised Qualifying Format’ (RQF) will occur at up to two events in 2023 “to evaluate whether the revisions are suitable for subsequent championships” – per updated regulations.
This will see tyre compounds mandated for each stage of F1’s usual three-part qualifying session: hard tyres only in Q1; mediums tyres only in Q2; and, finally, soft tyres only in Q3. Intermediates and wets will be allowed if the RQF sessions are declared wet.
At RQF events, each driver may use no more than 11 sets of dry-weather tyres, four sets of intermediate tyres and three sets of wet-weather tyres. This compares to the normal weekend allowance of 13 sets of dry-weather tyres, four sets of intermediate tyres and three sets of wet-weather tyres.
8. Double the number of Sprint events
In 2023, the FIA has doubled the number of Sprint races from three to six. The venues chosen are Azerbaijan (Baku), Austria (Red Bull Ring), Belgium (Spa-Francorchamps), Qatar (Lusail), the United States (Circuit of The Americas) and Sao Paulo (Interlagos). Each team will receive a fixed amount per team for each race weekend, including a Sprint session.
The forfeit allowance amount for each Sprint will double to $300k from 2023 onwards, while all other Sprint damage allowances will be removed. Alongside this, parc ferme rules on Sprint weekends are under review for 2023, intending to simplify the set-up-locking process after the FIA cited a “significant increase in parc ferme requests” between Friday’s qualifying session and Saturday’s Sprint.
9. Ride height and diffusers adjusted
Following the arrival of F1’s new-spec cars last year, which feature ground-effect aerodynamics, a set of floor-based flexibility and monitoring measures arrived for the second half of the 2022 season. Starting this year, four additional changes will come into play: floor edges have been raised by 15mm; the diffuser throat height has been raised; the diffuser edge stiffness has been increased; and an additional sensor has been mandated to monitor porpoising phenomenon more effectively. These adjustments should make significant porpoising a thing of the past and keep the focus on the thrilling action that F1’s rules reset has delivered.
10. Stronger roll hoops after Zhou’s crash
Alongside the changes aimed at porpoising, there are tweaks to the safety standards for F1 car roll hoops after the frightening crash experienced by Zhou Guanyu at the start of the 2022 British Grand Prix, which involved his Alfa Romeo sliding along the track upside down.
The 2023 Technical Regulations now state that a rounded top is required on the roll hoop, reducing the chance of it digging into the ground during an accident. They also ensure a minimum height for the point of application of the homologation test.
Additionally, there will be a new physical homologation test where the load pushes the roll hoop in a forward direction.
