Nine drivers had to the grid penalties in the 2022 Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix due to power unit component changes. It took hours for the FIA to issue a starting grid, because the rules are not written clearly enough, so there were several interpretations of the same text which states how the grid should be determined.
Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto has insisted that the FIA consider increasing the allocation of power units per season after nearly half of the grid suffered a penalty last weekend in the “Temple of speed”.
The current rules and regulation allow teams to use only three power units per car without any penalties, but it is clear that such as rule has become too extreme: with six races from the end of the world championship out of 22 races on the calendar there are only six drivers out of twenty who did not take any grid penalties due to using more power unit components than the allowed ones. These are six cars out of eight powered by Mercedes engines, while all the others have already had to take several penalties.
It is no coincidence that Toto Wolff was one of those who defended the current allocation of engines parts, arguing that an increase of components could lead to engines that are pushed more in the search for performance, rather than reliability.
Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto discussed the issue of poorly written rules and on the possibility of reviewing the increase in power unit components for next year to avoid too many penalties.
“The reason why it took so long to publish the Monza grid is that there have certainly been different interpretations of the rules because the regulation is not clear enough. It is something that we must fox for the future: I think we need to discuss not only the way in which the grid is defined based on penalties, but we also need to review the point of the measures” – Mattia Binotto explained, as reported by Motorsport Italy – “For a fan it is not nice to see a car in pole position that cannot start in front of everyone because he had to take some grid penalties. The facts indicate that the three power units available per driver are too few at this stage of the season, so we need to consider an increase for the next few years.” – the Ferrari boss explained.
The Belgian Grand Prix saw Max Verstappen take pole position in Saturday’s qualifying session with the Red Bull RB18, only to drop to 14th on the grid after penalties were applied. In Monza, where nine drivers had to take grid penalties for exceeding their power unit parts allocation, the FIA had a difficult task of confirming the starting grid: Formula 1 needs to simplify the rules to avoid the confusion seen at Monza.
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The drivers take a penalty of 10 positions on the grid when they use the fourth power unit of the season, while for each additional element, another five positions are added on the grid. The teams used tracks like of Spa-Francorchamps and Monza to mount fresh power units because these are circuits where it was possible to overtake, while in Singapore, for example, it will be almost impossible.
Given the difficulty of overtaking in many of the upcoming circuits, most saw Spa-Francorchamps and Monza as the best opportunity to add elements to their pool in the hope of making it to the end of the season without further penalties.
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