As per the latest FIA directive, teams will be prohibited from further developing their F1 pit equipment after September 30, 2020.
One of many measures taken to limit the economic damage from COVID-19 pandemic in the context of F1 has been freezing the development of parts, and joining the list of components that will be carried over from 2020 to 2021 is the pit equipment.
Since the ban of re-fueling, the wheel guns have become subject to intensive and rapid evolution, as teams seek to gain tenths in the pit stop procedure – something that plays a key role in modern F1 strategy.
However, as of September 30, this evolution will be stunted, as per a recent FIA directive. F1 teams will be permitted to further develop their paraphernalia until this point and after, adjustments will be allowed to be made to car jacks, but only to react to changes in car ride height – that too after an approval from the governing body.
The freezing of the equipment is also the first step towards the potential introduction of standard F1 pit equipment further down the line, this being something that was weighed as an option at the outset, to lower the cost.
As per the directive, all F1 10 teams are required to provide a full description of the pit stop equipment they use to the governing body by July 22. They can change few things between then and September 30 but they will need to update the FIA duly.
F1 chassis’ are among other things being carried over largely unchanged for 2021, albeit on the exterior the cars will have alterations undoubtedly, as progress continues to be made on the aerodynamic front.
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