Ahead of the Silverstone race, Prior to the British Grand Prix, the Formula 1 governing body confirmed two important rule changes that will strongly impact how things unfold for the teams in the second part of the 2022 championship. One major rule change is related to the cooling of the fuel: currently Formula 1 teams are permitted to cool the fuel to a temperature of twenty degrees, in order not to encounter any issues related to overheating.
This will be good news for Red Bull Racing, the team that could benefit the most from the change, given the fact that the Austrian team suffered from overheating problems in the first part of the 2022 F1 campaign. Ahead of the Spanish GP at the Circuit de Catalunya, Max Verstappen came very close to having to start from the back of the grid due to this situation. Red Bull was able to let him out of the pits just a few moments before the light almost went red due to the fact that the fuel was too cold and needed to be warmed up to ten degrees below ambient.
Scuderia Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto pointed out to that moment adding that the FIA should investigate and take a closer look, but nothing came of it given the fact that the fuel temperature was never measured below the minimum. Yet a few weeks later, the FIA clarified the temperature measurement point to prevent F1 teams from over-cooling their fuel in the future.
Formula 1 teams permitted to cool fuel further by FIA
Before the British Grand Prix last weekend, the FIA provided further details about the rule change, by introducing a notable noveltye: teams will have the possibility of cooling fuel to a temperature of twenty degrees, without taking into consideration the outside temperature. This means that in Grand Prix that take place in hotter conditions, the teams will be able to take advantage of this and Red Bull was the team that had more issues in this regard. As reported by Italian daily newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport, teams are even allowed to cool the fuel below twenty degrees at colder races.
Red Bull had already encountered issues in the first races this season with the so-called ‘vapor lock’, the evaporation of the ten per cent ethanol of which the new biofuels are composed. This phenomenon is amplified at high temperatures and can lead to problems with the operation of the fuel pumps in the tank. While the Austrian team never officially confirmed this, it is believed to be the main reason why Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez were forced to retire in the Bahrain Grand Prix at the Bahrain International Circuit.
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According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Scuderia Ferrari pushed for a different rule change in order to agree with the cooling aspect that Ferrari knew would help its title-rivals. The Maranello team initially demanded that temperature readings should always be taken one hour before the start of the Grand Prix and that the temperatures should remain the same, but later Ferrari dropped that request and instead focused on a quid pro quo in the form of a different rule change. More specifically, the one which gives teams the possibility to switch power units between qualifying and the race. This could prove veru useful for the Maranello team given the technical issues encountered in the previous events, as it gives the team more freedom to rotate the engines, with the goal of improving reliability.
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