Mercedes’ championship leader Nico Rosberg has criticised the new move by the FIA. (EPA)
Safety car periods will be followed by standing race restarts from the grid next season, Formula One’s governing body announced yesterday.
The measure, which replaces rolling restarts, is aimed at making grands prix more exciting but has been criticised by some drivers. “I understand the start is one of the most exciting times for the fans but it sounds very extreme and I hope it’s not going to be done. It’s going too far with things,” Mercedes’ championship leader Nico Rosberg said at last weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix.
The International Automobile Federation (FIA) said in a statement that its World Motor Sport Council had agreed the change to the 2015 sporting regulations. “Safety Car restarts will now be a standing start from the grid,” it said. “Standing starts will not be carried out if the safety car is used within two laps of the start (or restart) of a race or if there are less than five laps of the race remaining.”
Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull was another unimpressed by the ‘artificial’ proposal which was put forward by the Formula One Strategy Group that brings together leading teams including his own.
“If it goes to a standing start the chance of not having a great start is pretty high so you could go from first to fourth. It’s just a bit too much of a disadvantage for someone who earned the lead in the first place,” Ricciardo told Sky Sports.
Other changes include measures to reduce costs in areas such as testing and design and to make cars more attractive than the current ‘ugly-nosed’ ones.
Three pre-season tests of four days each will be scheduled in 2015 and restricted to Europe, ruling out more costly excursions to Bahrain. In 2016 this will be reduced to two tests of four days each.
There will also be two in-season tests of two days each, also in Europe, with two of the four days reserved for young drivers.
Wind tunnel testing will be limited to 65 hours a week, from 80, and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) usage reduced.
Friday night personnel curfews at race weekends will be extended from six to seven hours next year and then eight in 2016.
The FIA has also introduced new regulations to change the look of the cars’ noses for “improved safety and to provide more aesthetically pleasing structures”.
Drivers will be limited to four engines per season instead of five, unless there are more than 20 races on the calendar, and parc ferme conditions will be enforced from the start of final practice on Saturday rather than qualifying. A proposed ban on tyre blankets has been put on hold.
The governing body added that any changes to sporting and technical regulations would in future require unanimous agreement from all parties from March 1 instead of the current cutoff of June 30.