Picture Credit: Twitter@F1
Formula 1 commission met to discuss various aspects of the motorsports on Tuesday in London. The meeting involved the FIA and F1 as the meeting was presided over by FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem. In the meeting, stakeholders have unanimously agreed on a plan to hold six sprint races in 2023, but the proposed idea is yet to get approval from the governing body, which is evaluating its implications on the track.
FIA released a statement which stated, "With the first of three sprint events of the 2022 season popular with fans and stakeholders last weekend at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Formula One and the teams were supportive of an extension to six sprint events for the 2023 season, running with the same format as in 2022."
FIA further informed that although it supports the principle of an increased number of sprint events, it is still evaluating the impact of this proposal on its trackside operations and personnel. "FIA will soon provide its feedback to the commission," the statement read.
Notably, there are currently three sprints on the calendar for 2022, the first of which came at last weekend's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola, where reigning world champion Max Verstappen claimed victory. Another significant development discussed in the meeting was the 2026 Power Unit (PU) regulations. Following the approval of the initial draft of the new rules in November 2021, the FIA has proposed an update to the aerodynamic rules for 2026 to supplement the new PU regulations.
Based on the limited simulations, it has set the following targets.
1) Significantly reduced drag to improve sustainability and efficiency and complement the power unit characteristics.
2) Maintain and improve on recent lessons learned about close racing and cars being able to follow each other.
3) Reduce car dimensions.
4) Reduce or contain car mass.
5) Sustainability: continue the path toward standardising or simplifying strategically selected components for cost-cutting purposes. Expand the usage of sustainable materials or technologies and focus on recyclability.
6) Continued innovation in terms of car safety, moving towards active and connected safety systems.