Formula 1 teams banned from hiding new parts in tweak to sporting regulations : PlanetF1
Formula 1 teams were forbidden from using a clever trick to hide new parts from the competition and the media in a revision of the sporting regulations for the 2023 season.
To achieve more technical transparency, F1 launched what it called a show-and-tell program for 2022, under which teams would disclose changes made to their cars from the previous race weekend – both in writing and by displaying the car in the pit lane – before opening practice.
It made the development race easier to follow, but some teams still found ways to hide their secrets.
In the event that only one driver would receive upgrades, in some cases teams have been known to market the old specification car and keep the updated version hidden in the garage.
As this practice goes against the spirit of the show-and-tell initiative, ahead of the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, the sport’s governing body, the FIA, has made efforts to ensure that the car on display by the teams is of the latest specification .
The revised rules state: “If only one car carries the major aerodynamic and bodywork components and assemblies not raced at a previous competition or TCC [testing of current cars] and are destined to be used in the competition, that car must be the one shown to the media.”
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In a similar move, the FIA has also taken action to ensure fans are better informed of developments under the skin of 2023 F1 cars.
Engine manufacturers are now forced to hold at least a 30-minute media presentation about their aggregates once a year.
This development comes after claims Mercedes may have “missed a trick” in developing their engine for the 2023 season.
Sky Sports’ F1 reporter Ted Kravitz worries that the team’s healthy reliability record over the past year has given them less leeway compared to Honda/Red Bull powertrains, Ferrari and Renault, as F1’s engine stall was only changes for the sake of reliability allows.
“With the sport shutting down engines by 2026, there is a theory in the paddock that Mercedes missed a trick because last year Mercedes was reliable with their powerplant to design it to be powerful but not reliable and then it repaired the reliability that was allowed up until September of last year,” Kravitz explained.
“Many other manufacturers have done the same. Renault did it, Ferrari did it, Honda did it. It meant they couldn’t get to the end of the season without using an extra powerplant and getting a penalty but they didn’t mind because they could make the engine reliability changes but had a secondary advantage, by adding a bit more power too.”