F1 chiefs plan emergency rule change after 'toughest ever' threat to drivers

29 November 2023 , 07:00

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F1 will be better prepared to cool cars in extreme heat in the future (Image: Hasan Bratic/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)

Formula 1 teams will have to take extra steps to keep drivers cool while racing in extreme heat as the FIA plans to give itself emergency powers.

It comes after last month's gruelling Qatar Grand Prix when a cocktail of factors led to unbearable heat for the drivers during the race. Several needed medical attention after the race while Logan Sargeant was forced to retire and Esteban Ocon threw up in his helmet.

The FIA launched an investigation into how it could mitigate against such a scenario in the future. And last week the F1 Commission agreed that teams could add a small scoop onto their cars to direct cold air into the cockpit next year.

But the governing body is not stopping there. It plans to make it so that it will have emergency powers to make changes in the event such extreme conditions occur again at future races.

FIA single seater director Nikolas Tombazis said: "This will give an extra bit of weight for the cars, something like probably two kilos, which will be mandatorily put on and mandatorily [must be] used for the purpose of cooling the driver. So, that will enable solutions such as cooling vests."

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Responding to suggestions some teams could look to take advantage of such changes, he added: "We need to work out some of the details, but we want to make it clear that it's not something that you can use for any form of dodgy advantage.

"It's really for the purpose of [cooling] and it's mandatory. Therefore, you could put the ballast in the seat, but you'd be a bit of an idiot because, like in Qatar, we saw drivers towards the latter part of the race make mistakes. I think that it is clearly not in the teams' interest [to ignore it]."

Ocon was among several drivers who, after that Qatar race, said the conditions were the toughest they have ever faced in their racing careers. The Alpine racer said: "I was throwing up, yeah, by lap 15 or 16 for two laps, I think. I was doing that and was like, 'S***, it's going to be a long one'."

And Charles Leclerc concurred, adding: "It was the toughest ever race in all of our careers. There were a lot of things that added up. On its own it would have been a tough race just because of the heat, which was absolutely crazy. Second, we've got a lot of high-speed corners and third, which I think is the most significant thing, was having three stops.

"We were all speaking about tyres... but I think we maybe underestimated that it meant we were under so much more stress in the high-speed corners, which is normally not the case. It's difficult to put into words how difficult it was. It was twice as difficult as a race like Singapore in the past. We need to be careful and consider if we should come here at different times of the year, which will be the case next year."

Daniel Moxon