A drastic reduction of grid penalties for 2021?

The sporting director of the discipline, Ross Brawn, has already expressed his frustration with the numerous grid penalties that drivers face each season. Indeed, in an effort to limit costs, a defined number of engine components can be used before penalties are imposed for exceeding the quotas. The same restrictions exist concerning gearboxes.

Relaxations of these rules were adopted for 2018, but the F1 race director Charlie Whiting believes that the 2021 regulations could drastically reduce technical penalties. The Briton also stated on this subject: “We would like to get rid of all grid penalties if we could. That’s what we’re working towards.”

Although a revision of these rules may be possible before 2021, it seems that the quotas concerning gearboxes cannot be revised until the introduction of this new regulation. The current rules are stricter than for engine elements, as each gearbox must be used for six consecutive Grand Prix to avoid any penalties.

The project would allow teams to have a quota of gearboxes for each season, which, like engine components, can be used at the discretion of each team. To be clearer, the idea is to impose the use of a limited number of components instead of requiring a number of uses over several consecutive events.

Charlie Whiting does not believe a change in rules in this area is necessary for the moment: There is no need. It’s a good system we have.

However, he does not rule out changes at this level for 2021 with the introduction of a brand-new ambitious system: « If we were to think of something, it would be a set of gearboxes, like we have for engines. You only have three gearboxes for the year and you do with them as you wish, but that’s all you’ll have. This is one of the things we are considering for 2021. We will present a quite comprehensive system with a number of changes. »

It remains to be seen whether these declarations of intent will be followed by actions in the years to come.