Formula 1 is looking to the past as it shapes its future, with the possible return of race refuelling emerging as one of the ideas being considered for the championship’s next major technical era. FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has provided further details about the direction under discussion, with lighter cars, simpler power units and lower costs forming the central objectives.
Refuelling could contribute directly to the push for lower weight by allowing cars to start and run parts of a Grand Prix with less fuel on board. However, while the concept could introduce another strategic variable and create greater performance differences between cars, it could also spread the field out and make races harder to follow. The FIA will therefore need to assess both sides carefully before deciding whether the idea should return.
FIA makes reducing Formula 1 car weight a priority
The FIA and Formula 1 appear to have taken lessons from the increasing complexity of modern power units. Creating technically advanced engine regulations may be fascinating from an engineering perspective, but it also brings financial and technical complications that can ultimately have negative consequences for the championship as a whole.
The next generation is therefore expected to move towards simpler power units, part of a broader change in philosophy already reflected in Formula 1’s debate over its long-term engine direction. The intention is to satisfy manufacturers on only one of two major requests that would add weight to the car.
One option would be to retain a hybrid component, but with a significantly lower ratio of electrical power to combustion-engine power than at present. The alternative would be to keep turbochargers rather than return to naturally aspirated engines. Retaining both would carry a weight penalty, whether through the battery required for the hybrid system or the turbocharger itself, which is why the FIA intends to compromise on only one of those fronts.
Lighter F1 cars could improve racing in several ways
Weight is considered one of the major limitations of modern Formula 1, and reducing it further could deliver benefits that extend well beyond the driving experience. The governing body’s ambitions for significantly lighter future Formula 1 cars could have consequences across several areas of car design.
A lighter car would require less grip to produce similar performance and lap times. In turn, that could potentially make it possible to use tyres with a wider operating window or reduce aerodynamic downforce. Lower downforce could also decrease the disruptive effect of dirty air, making it easier for drivers to follow another car closely and potentially improving wheel-to-wheel racing.
There would also be further benefits throughout the car. Lighter machinery could require smaller brakes, suspension components and safety structures, creating a virtuous circle in which an initial reduction in mass makes further weight savings possible. For the FIA, this is one of the reasons weight reduction has become such an important part of its longer-term technical philosophy.
F1 refuelling return could further reduce car weight
Judging by Mohammed Ben Sulayem’s comments, the effort to make Formula 1’s next generation of cars lighter may not be limited to their static weight. The sport is also considering bringing back refuelling during races, allowing teams to carry less fuel at different stages of a Grand Prix and extending the same weight-reduction philosophy.
The possibility forms part of Ben Sulayem’s wider vision for lighter cars, future engines and the return of pit-stop refuelling. From a sporting perspective, the concept has obvious attractions. Fuel quantity would become another strategic variable, giving teams an additional factor to manipulate when planning their races.
Different fuel loads could also create wider performance variations between cars at different moments of a Grand Prix. A lighter car running a shorter stint could have a pace advantage over a rival carrying more fuel, potentially creating additional overtaking opportunities and introducing another layer of uncertainty into race strategy.
Why refuelling could also hurt the racing spectacle
There are significant drawbacks to consider, however, and they go beyond the obvious safety questions surrounding refuelling equipment in the pit lane. Formula 1 has experienced this type of racing before, and one potential problem is that teams could adopt strategies that differ too much from one another.
Rather than bringing competitors closer together on track, radically different fuel strategies could leave cars running effectively separate races for much of a Grand Prix. Large gaps could develop while drivers operate on different fuel loads and pit-stop sequences, with the various strategies only converging towards the closing stages.
That would not necessarily produce worse racing, but it would create a very different spectacle from the one Formula 1 currently offers. It could also be more difficult for less dedicated viewers to understand who is genuinely racing whom when track position does not accurately reflect each driver’s strategic situation.
For that reason, simulations and detailed analysis will be essential before any decision is taken. Formula 1 will need to examine not only the potential race scenarios created by refuelling but also how supporters might react to a strategic format that could be more complex and less immediately readable.
Future F1 rules also aim to bring independent engine suppliers back
The other major pillar of the next regulations will be cost reduction. The aim is to make Formula 1 power units financially sustainable even for an independent engine manufacturer, allowing such a supplier to serve customer teams without the enormous investment currently associated with a full factory programme.
That could also reduce the political dependence of customer teams on major manufacturers. One concept already being discussed involves making future customer engines considerably more affordable, although the practical feasibility of such a model would still need to be established.
More generally, reducing power-unit costs could encourage new manufacturers to enter Formula 1 or even persuade an existing team like McLaren to develop its own engine programme. Lower expenditure would also make it less attractive for manufacturers already involved in the championship to leave.
Such a departure may appear unlikely at present, but Formula 1 cannot completely disregard the possibility in an uncertain global economic and geopolitical environment. The objective of the next technical era is therefore broader than simply changing the sound or architecture of the engines: the FIA wants a simpler, lighter and more economically sustainable Formula 1 capable of protecting both the quality of the racing and the long-term health of the grid.
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