F1 is discussing refueling: costs of over 1 million euros

D he Formula 1 is about to make groundbreaking decisions. The regulations for 2021 should be in place by October. Until then, the final details of the car of the future will be discussed. Even old ideas are rehashed in the hopes of improving the show on the racetrack. FIA President Jean Todt obviously wants a return to refueling stops. The voices in the paddock are increasing, the French are pushing in this direction.

Operating costs of 330,000 euros

At a meeting on Tuesday (23.07.2019) in front of the GP Germany, the FIA ​​discussed Liberty Media and the team bosses at a meeting in Geneva sometimes about refueling. With an open result. In any case, returning to refueling would lead to additional costs. An expert does the math. “We would have to pay one million euros for the purchase of the tank system in the first season. We'd have to assign two mechanics to take care of the devices. ”

In the following years, the teams would have to reckon with operating costs of around 330,000 euros per season. This mainly includes the transport costs (air freight), the maintenance of the systems and the spare parts. “We used to have to get them from a manufacturer. The price was correspondingly expensive. ”

However, it is not necessarily just the costs that most teams warn of. The engineers fear that the races will become more predictable with refueling stops, and the strategies even more monotonous. “You just have to look at the races before 2010. Especially the races at the beginning of the 2000s, 'says a team manager.

' The one with the least fuel initially drove ahead in the first stint. The tip pulled apart depending on the filling quantity. Only after the first stops did we fight against each other. Not like later, when refueling stops were banned. The overtaking curve rises relatively steeply between 2009 and 2010. ”

An engineer interjects. “The times of the undercut and overcut would be more or less over. Everyone would drive until the tank was empty and then refuel. Because that's the fastest way. ”The undercut describes the earlier pit stop in order to overtake the opponent with fresher tires. The overcut means changing tires later, in the hope that the old tires will do better than the new ones. Because it takes too long to warm up the new rubbers, for example.