Source: F1.com
Formula 1 teams will discuss lifting the 100kg fuel limit for 2017.
It is earlier stated that the 100kg rule do not allow drivers to race flat out and are forcing drivers to back off during the race.
The Strategy Group and F1 Commission are to meet at Biggin Hill on Tuesday to make a final decision on the 2017 car revamp that is aimed at cutting lap times by up to five seconds.
While aerodynamic regulations have been set – and only a last-minut majority vote can change them – Other aspects are yet to be settled.
Sources have said that, as a part of the discussions to finalize the 2017 rules, a plan to ensure that the new generation of cars do not have a negative impact on fuel economy.
The wider cars and wider tyres will result in more drag than the current ones. That will result in using more fuel per lap.
The concern is that with the increased drag on the 2017 cars would force drivers to back off even more, if the 100kg fuel limit stayed in place.
Renault technical director Nick Chester warned back in February that if the 100kg fuel limit stayed in place there would be problems.
“I think it will be a mess, if we stay at the 100kg and go to the 2017 regulations then there will be a lot of fuel saving, and I think people will start complaining about it.”
It is understood a compromise has been reached so that if the 2017 car regulations are signed off, the F1 Commission will be asked to vote on a plan to raise the fuel limit by 5kg making a total of 105kg of fuel for a race.
Renault F1 chief Cyril Abiteboul, who has been pushing hard for the fuel limit to be raised, has long thought that it is important for gran prix racing to have an element of being flat out.
“I am a big fan of making sure F1 remains F1. We should not lean towards endurance.” He said.
“One of the things that has put F1 in danger, or could be another threat to F1, is if we try to combine F1 and endurance. Endurance is about efficiency, sustainability, the capacity to run very long distances without any issues.”
“F1 is about a short race, sprint race, usually able to attack constantly.”
Cyril Abiteboul said that part of the negativity surrounding F1’s turbo hybrid era was that it had too much focus on being about fuel savings.
“Even in the V8 era, there was some fuel management, it was part og the tactics, to optimize your lap time, for the duration of the race from the strategy.”
“I would remove the fuel quantity completely, and then we would take away all the negativity of the message that we have from this new technology, which is fantastic.”
“We have done an amazing job to reduce the fuel consumption by 30-40 per cent, but this fantastic message is destroyed by this fuel limit – which is making people believe that it is only about managing fuel.”
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