Jean Todt, Cyril Abiteboul, Zak Brown, Montreal, 2019

New push to delay approval of 2021 F1 rules

2021 F1 season

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The FIA, Formula 1 Management and teams are reconsidering whether to delay approving a comprehensive overhaul of the 2021 F1 rules until the October meeting of the World Motor Sport Council, RaceFans has learned.

A comprehensive new regulations package for the 2021 F1 season was due to go before the WMSC for approval on Friday. Under the FIA international sporting code, regulations for 2021 must be approved by the end of June. However this could be waived, subject to the agreement of the FIA, FOM and teams.

FIA president Jean Todt is attending the Canadian Grand Prix and was present at a meeting between the sport’s governing body, F1 commercial rights holder Liberty Media and representatives of all the teams in Liberty’s offices on Saturday morning. A follow-up meeting has been planned for later this weekend.

Two options were discussed, sources told RaceFans: To delay signing off both the sporting and technical regulations, or just the latter. While sufficient progress has been made on the sporting regulations for these to go before the WMSC, the FIA is understood to have requested more time to refine the detail of the technical regulations.

Teams have requested assurances that a delay in signing off the new rules will not be used to introduce significant changes to them. Multiple meetings have been held between different groups of team bosses at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve this weekend.

According to sources, among the reasons given for the requested delay is the backlog which has arisen following the passing of FIA race director Charlie Whiting on the eve of the new F1 season.

Todt is preparing to step down as president of the FIA at the end of 2021. He is therefore believed to be keen to exploit every opportunity to refine the 2021 rules package, expecting it to be his last significant act in charge of the sport.

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5 comments on “New push to delay approval of 2021 F1 rules”

  1. Given the amount of time that Liberty and the FIA have had to come up with this, I find this really disappointing.

    It seems that nothing much has really changed other than its looking more and more likely that the top teams are going to have to lay off quite a number of people (or redefine their jobs as marketing related)

    1. @dbradock: Instead of wind tunnels, it’s Extreme Air Marketing. CFD = Computational Food and Drinks.

      1. Yep all the guys in the pain shop will be marketing because they’re adding logos.
        Engineering staff will be work8ng on better food preparation techniques.

  2. And round and round we go… Same old BS…

    1. Actually no. This is no longer the BE era. This is a new entity trying to get things right for the new chapter having inherited all the old problems F1 has been struggling with for a long time. It is very complex and difficult. But sounds like much progress has been made and I’m confident they’ll get there and are likely most of the way there already. It’s down to the finer details.

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