F1: 2023 rules changes approved by FIA

In the FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting this week, the following F1 rule changes were approved for 2023:

Roll hoops strengthened

Roll hoops for F1 cars have been strengthened for next season, primarily due to the incident at the 2022 F1 British GP that saw Guanyu Zhou get upside down and slide on the car’s roll-hoop, only to have it fail.  The Halo held up and saved him.

The FIA has taken a proactive stance on this by strengthening the hoop starting next season.

Larger Mirrors

The second major change in cars is the installation of larger mirrors. This was trialed by a few teams earlier in the season and will be a part of the cars next season.

This has been done to address one of the biggest complaints F1 drivers have had over the years: their inability to see anything in the existing tiny mirrors. There had to be a rule change; otherwise teams would not enlarge them given the aerodynamic penalty that would result.

Back of the grid penalties clarified

Following confusion among teams regarding grid penalties, the FIA has tried to simplify things to an extent.

Article 28.3 of the sporting regulations now no longer mandates that drivers must start from the back if they incur 15 places of grid penalties.

This was amended after Ferrari replaced multiple elements of Charles Leclerc’s power unit at different times in Spa in an attempt to avoid a back-of-the-grid penalty. Updated regulations state that if a driver has accrued more than 15 cumulative grid position penalties or has been penalized to start at the back of the grid, he will start behind any other classified driver.

Any driver with 15 or fewer grid penalties is ‘filled in’ based on their results in qualifying. If two drivers end up in the same position with a penalty, the fastest based on their qualifying time is moved forward one place.