FIA finalizes rule changes for Imola’s two-day schedule

The FIA World Motor Sport Council has approved changes to the Formula 1 sporting regulations that will be used for the two-day Grand Prix weekend in Imola.

• The single free practice session on Saturday morning will last for 90 minutes
• Practice will be separated from the start of qualifying by a two-and-a-half-hour gap, 30 minutes longer than the usual break between final practice and qualifying, to give teams more time to process what they learned.
• There will be two drivers’ briefings, with the first in the standard late Friday slot, and a second meeting has been added to the lunch break on Saturday, so drivers can give any feedback on the circuit between the single free practice session and qualifying.
• Each driver will have 10 rather than 13 sets of dry tires: two sets of hards, two mediums, and six softs. Three sets have to be returned after practice.

“The sporting regulations for a two-day event have been voted or finalized through the World Motor Sport Council,” he said. “They have required a significant amount of change to facilitate a two-day event.

“And it’s compressing everything, because effectively what has occurred is all of Friday’s normal activity has been removed. Even some of the elements of scheduling, of drivers’ briefings and so forth, that normally happen after the first day of practice.

“It’s going to certainly be interesting to see, and something I’m looking forward to. And I know having spoken to a number of the team managers that they are too. It’s just something completely different.”