New cooling scoop, modified schedule and tweaked floor - FIA confirms rule changes

F1 Grand Prix, GP Singapore, Marina Bay Street Circuit

Following the season-closing Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Formula One's governing body, the FIA have confirmed tweaks to the Sporting, Technical and Financial Regulation for the coming F1 season. F1Technical's senior Balázs Szabó writer analyses the changes that await the F1 teams in 2024.

This week, the last 2023 FIA’s World Motor Sport Council meeting took place in Baku where multiple rules of the Sporting, Financial and Technical Regulations have been tweaked.

Drivers encountered extreme hot conditions at this year's Qatar Grand Prix, where multiple drivers needed medical care following the race. Williams driver Logan Sargeant tolerated the conditions the worst, as the Miami-born racer was forced to retire from the race due to heatstroke.

As a result of these extreme conditions, the governing body announced directly after the Qatar round that measurements would be taken in order to avoid a similarly exhausting and dangerous race.

The Paris-based governing body noted that the Losail race „had an impact on the wellbeing of the drivers. While being elite athletes, they should not be expected to compete under conditions that could jeopardise their health or safety.

„The safe operation of the cars is, at all times, the responsibility of the Competitors, however as with other matters relating to safety such as circuit infrastructure and car safety requirements, the FIA will take all reasonable measures to establish and communicate acceptable parameters in which Competitions are held.”

The FIA has now confirmed that teams may now also add an additional scoop atop the chassis from next season in a bid to improve cooling to the cockpit.

Moreover, the governing body will limit the number and mass of certain metallic components in the floor that have been identified as a safety risk should they become dislodged from a car. From next year, components and inserts will be no longer permitted in the outer boundaries of the floor body, the edge wing and the fences. However, the use of brackets or fasteners between the floor and edge wing and any metallic components used for wear protection will remain permitted in 2024.

The sport tweaked the pre-race schedule ahead of the Miami Grand Prix, pushing the 10-minute period when cars complete their installation lap and take their position on the starting grid ten minutes forward. The aim was to accommodate a pre-race show before the race.

The FIA noted back then that the change was introduced to allow more time for "the pre-race grid activities, which would be used for the presentation of the drivers to the fans”. The new pre-race ceremony took place ahead of the Miami Grand Prix, but drivers quickly expressed their opinion of the ceremony that caused disruption to their final preparation for the race.

As a result of it, the pre-race show was not staged after the Miami Grand Prix, and the FIA has now confirmed "the reduction of the time spent on the grid prior to a Grand Prix from 50 back to 40 minutes as it had been prior to the trial of pre-race driver presentation elements."

The FIA has noted that there currently are no regulations in place to describe the procedure surrounding personnel and equipment related to cars starting from Pit Lane. For safety reasons, it will now be mandatory to remove all personnel and equipment from the fast lane 90 seconds after the start of formation lap.

The Hungarian Grand Prix saw the introduction of the Alternative Tyre Allocation. Under the new rules drivers only received a total of 11 sets of slick tyres instead of the usual 13 sets. This meant just three sets of Hard tyre, four sets of Medium, and four sets of the Soft tyre. Moreover, drivers were restricted to the Hard in Q1, the Medium in Q2 and the Soft in Q3. The tweaked tyre allocation made a second appearance at the Italian Grand Prix.

However, it has now emerged that the Alternative Tyre Allocation has been scrapped for next year.