F1: Dropping fuel rule would be dangerous, says FIA

The FIA has rejected on safety grounds the idea of scrapping Formula 1's fuel-flow limit to avoid a repeat of the Red Bull controversy.

Red Bull boss Christian Horner said on Friday that irrespective of the outcome of his team's appeal against Daniel Ricciardo's Australian Grand Prix disqualification, the sport needed to avoid repeat trouble in the future. He suggested that perhaps the best way would be to remove the limit of 100kg/h usage for the race itself.

"We need a better way of measuring and monitoring the fue – or get rid of it totally and say you have 100kg, that is your lot," he said. "That would be the easiest for the FIA and the teams because the fuel flow restriction would only be qualifying, as you could not go to stupid revs in the race because you have that [100kg] limitation of fuel."

But Horner's suggestion has been rejected by the FIA, which says that detailed analysis of the implications of removing the fuel-flow limit suggests it could produce dangers on track. It argues that if there was no limit on maximum fuel use, then drivers would be lifting suddenly on straights, which could lead to collisions.

Fabrice Lom, the FIA's head of powertrain, said: "Engineers are engineers, so if you have 100kg for the race, you try to be the fastest for the race. If you have no fuel-flow limit, the fastest thing is to use a huge boost at the beginning of the straight and then lift off.

"There will be huge and very dangerous differences of speed [between cars] on the same lap, with a driving style that is not really F1. It was even for us not Le Mans style – which is why we also put a limit on it for Le Mans, because we were really afraid of this type of driving."