08/07/2022
NEWS STORY
Today's meeting of the F1 Commission sees the FIA's action on porpoising delayed until after the summer break, while the teams finally agree to budget cap increase.
While the introduction of the metric aimed at reducing bouncing was originally intended to be introduced at Silverstone, it was subsequently delayed until the French Grand Prix as the FIA sought to acquire more data whilst working with the teams.
However, following today's meeting of the F1 Commission, the metric will not be introduced until after the summer break at the Belgian Grand Prix.
"There was a discussion regarding the draft Technical Directive that addresses safety concerns relating to the vertical oscillation of the cars (also referred to as porpoising)," said the FIA in a statement.
"Following feedback and consultation with the teams and in order to allow the teams to make necessary updates to the plank and skid assemblies, which will ensure a fair application of the metric used to measure this oscillation across all cars, the implementation of the draft Technical Directive issued to the teams prior to the British Grand Prix will come into effect from the Belgian Grand Prix.
"The enhanced controls by the FIA introduced as from the Canadian Grand Prix will continue," it added. "Several proposed actions to address this issue in the 2023 Technical Regulations were also discussed, with clear directions to be taken to the Technical Advisory Committee."
In terms of the call by some of the bigger teams to increase the budget cap limit, the FIA admits that "rapidly increasing inflation rates since the end of 2021 have affected Formula 1 teams, and it is the opinion of the FIA and Formula 1 that this creates a risk of noncompliance with the Financial Regulations if actions are not taken".
Consequently, following consultation with the Financial Advisory Committee in recent weeks, the FIA brought a proposal to the Commission that was approved by the required majority with support from the FIA, Formula 1 and nine of the teams.
"The proposal recognises the unexpected increase of costs incurred by teams in 2022 thereby permitting indexation at a limited rate of 3.1% (which takes into account the original 3% inflation threshold already set out in the regulations) and permitting compounding of this rate as from 2023. This will preserve the long-term integrity of the Financial Regulations," reads the FIA's statement.
The Commission also decided by majority to update the regulations to allow pre-season testing to take place outside of Europe, four days prior to the first event of the championship, while in terms of the 2026 engine formula, it was confirmed that the package of regulations is close to finalisation.
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