Formula 1 is no stranger to rule changes that impact the competitive order, after a new front wing technical directive was introduced at the recent Spanish Grand Prix.
All teams had to ensure that their front wings could pass stronger static load tests, after suspicions that the wings were bending on purpose.
Several of the teams brought new front wings to Spain to comply with the new rules, although McLaren and Ferrari were both outliers in this respect.
Guenther Steiner thinks the new rules appeared to make McLaren faster, despite a lot of lobbying from Red Bull to introduce the new rules.
But while the competitive order remains largely unchanged since the Spanish GP, a new rule could be introduced by the FIA this season after a problem that was identified earlier in the season according to journalist Christian Menath speaking on the Motorsport Magazin YouTube.
FIA could introduce new skid block rule after fires
Those may remember during the Japanese Grand Prix when there were stoppages due to fires breaking out on the dry parts of grass on the edges of the track during practice.
This was due to the sparks generated by the skid block, which the FIA said it would investigate and attempt to mitigate for the future. A solution in the form of replacing the current material could be pushed through as early as this season, according to Menath.
“A problem has been identified that these titanium skid blocks are causing strong sparks, and this was blamed for the run-off areas catching fire at Japan this season. This happened several times over the weekend, and this is exactly what the FIA want to prevent in the future,” said Menath.
“They have now brought out steel skid blocks as an alternative, but there were very different opinions. Sauber told us that the wear was much higher than on the titanium. Curiously, the other teams and the FIA say the opposite and that it’s even a little less.
“But it’s a crucial point because if the wear is higher, you have to raise the ground clearance a bit. With a higher ground clearance, you have a completely different setup. The ground effect era cars react incredibly sensibly to changes in ground clearance, because the closer the underbody is to the tarmac, the more downforce it generates. This means one team may lose more downforce when going higher than others.
“That wasn’t originally an issue at the start of the season, but if you are now obliged to change the ground clearance, then it could lead to an unfair advantage.”
Can the FIA introduce new rules without agreement from teams midway through a season?
Technical regulation changes normally require unanimous agreement between the teams for them to be pushed forward while a season is ongoing.
However, in the case of technical regulations that involve changes to the safety of the cars, the FIA has a veto that enables them to push through changes without a vote.
In the case of the skid blocks, this could be deemed a safety problem because of the ongoing issue of fires at circuits.
Last year, a fire broke out on dry grass during practice for the Chinese Grand Prix due to the same issue. The problem can be mitigated by watering grass, but in high ambient temperatures, this would not be viable.
