John N
Formula 1 drivers will be required to use different tire compounds during various stages of qualifying sessions in a trial of a new format in 2023. The change, detailed in updated sporting regulations for the current season issued by the FIA, will occur at two races where a ‘Revised Qualifying Format’ will be used next year. The F1 Commission agreed to reduce the total number of tire sets permitted for a race weekend from 13 to 11.
Drivers will get half as many soft tires for these races than four instead of eight for a usual race weekend. The allocations of medium and hard tires will increase by one each, to four and three respectively. One of each compound will be mandatory during the regular qualifying session, though drivers can only use one type of dry tire during Q1. The medium compound will be required in Q2, and those who reach Q3 may only use the soft tires.
On Tuesday, the FIA announced that it would run reduced tire compounds at two race weekends in 2023 to test their impact on track-running. It would be part of the overall intention to move to sustainable use of tires.
The governing body approved a series of rules changes this season, including scrapping the cap of 30 days permitted for testing tires and clarifying the use of ‘mule cars’ and what the FIA would recognize as actual car damage sustained in an incident.
The Commission also discussed expanding the number of sprint races to six next year, but the FIA has yet to approve the change. The first edition of the 2023 F1 sporting regulations has yet to be published.
