New wet tire; winter shutdown among F1 rule tweaks for 2023

The Formula 1 Commission has approved a number of regulatory changes including a new wet weather tire this season, the introduction of a winter shutdown and closing gaps in the rules.

The teams met with Formula 1 president and CEO Stefano Domenicali and FIA head of single-seaters Nikolas Tombazis on Tuesday to discuss a number of topics ahead of the 2023 season, agreeing on multiple details for the near future. Foremost was a wet weather tire that is more performant and doesn’t require a tire blanket, which will be available from the sixth round of the season in Imola onwards.

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After the confusion around the points on offer in the Japanese Grand Prix last year – where full points were awarded for a short race due to the race still running at the point time ran out – the wording in the sporting regulations has been updated to prevent a repeat.

There will also be a winter shutdown period for both teams and power unit manufacturers in much the same way the summer shutdown currently operates, and the FIA will be able to demand access to factories more easily when its auditing team wants to police their adherence to the financial regulations.

A proposal to relax radio messages between teams and drivers at all stages during a weekend was also approved during the F1 Commission meeting, as was changes to a number of DRS zones at circuits to try and make overtaking possible but still challenging. The first five venues – Bahrain, Jeddah, Melbourne, Baku and Miami – will all see changes, with Australia getting a fourth DRS zone while others will have zones shortened where overtaking was deemed too easy.

Other amendments include the raising of the cost cap adjustment for additional races over 21. Previously, every extra race increased the cost cap amount by $1.2 million, but as most of the additional races tend to be flyaways outside of Europe, that has been increased to $1.8m per race.

Looking further ahead, the FIA stated it is grateful for offers of support from teams willing to support a wet weather package project that aims to reduce the amount of spray generated by cars and improve visibility to provide more racing in wet conditions. A technical directive is being worked on to allow testing later this year that would be exempt from Aerodynamic Testing Restriction and cost cap limits.