The FIA’s System 1 Fee has permitted the introduction of driver cooling kits for the 2025 season, for use in excessive warmth situations.
Driver cooling has develop into a subject because the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix, with a number of drivers affected by signs of warmth exhaustion after the chequered flag.
As first reported by Motorsport.com in July, the FIA and all F1 groups initiated analysis to enhance the venting and cooling of drivers in such excessive situations.
Preliminary proposals concerned becoming a simplified air con system to the automobiles however whereas precise technical particulars are but to emerge, Motorsport.com understands the answer now agreed between the FIA, F1 and all groups entails a simplified system that now not requires an AC unit.
The system will solely be mandated by the FIA in excessive warmth situations, with the minimal weight of the automobiles elevated correspondingly when relevant.
The Fee additionally agreed to vary the protocol for closing up the grid each time sure automobiles do not make it to the beginning of a race. The difficulty got here up in Brazil when Williams driver Alex Albon did not make the beginning after a heavy crash in that morning’s qualifying session, along with his workforce unable to restore the automobile as a result of compressed timetable.
Mechanics clear the grid previous to the beginning
Picture by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Photographs
Albon’s automobile was withdrawn lengthy earlier than the race, however per the prevailing grid protocols the definitive beginning grid had already been set and his seventh place on the grid was nonetheless left vacated.
Motorsport.com understands the FIA will now tighten up its process by forming the ultimate grid one hour earlier than the beginning on the newest. Which means automobiles which are withdrawn as much as 75 minutes earlier than the beginning might be not be included within the last grid, and the next automobiles can all transfer up the related positions to shut up the grid.
Throughout the Geneva assembly the Fee, which was chaired by the FIA’s head of single-seaters Nikolas Tombazis and F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali, additionally tidied up parts of the 2025 monetary guidelines, approving expanded exemptions in opposition to the price cap for prices referring to sustainability initiatives.
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The assembly mentioned the progress that has been made on the 2026 technical rules to enhance the efficiency ranges by growing downforce, as just lately defined by Tombazis. The assertion stated the FIA is assured that the much-discussed technical rules for 2026 might be prepared in time for approval by the FIA World Motor Sport Council after the conclusion of the 2024 season.
There have additionally been revisions to the FIA sporting rules to include gender-neutral language, eradicating sure masculine pronouns and different gendered language. Comparable tweaks had already been made to the sporting rules of F2 and F3 late final 12 months.
