FIA announces introduction of driver cooling kit among a raft of changes
The Formula 1 Commission gathered on Wednesday, with a host of matters covering the 2025 and 2026 regulations being discussed in a meeting chaired by FIA Single-Seater Director Nikolas Tombazis and F1 President and CEO Stefano Domenicali.
Ahead of the last season before the sweeping technical changes kick in, the F1 Commission has approved a range of technical changes for the 2025 F1 cars. Among the changes is the introduction of a driver cooling kit.
Following multiple test runs, the sport is now confident that the cooling device will help drivers in challenging situations such as last year's Qatar race when several drivers encountered unexpected difficulties in the heat. The FIA noted that the cooling kit will only be used when heat hazard gets declared.
As for the sporting regulation, the Commission has confirmed a revised protocol for closing up the grid when a team withdraws a car. The change was necessary after the Sao Paulo Grand Prix where Williams driver Alexander Albon was unable to start following his high-speed crash in qualifying. As the Grove-based outfit needed time to assess the damage to Albon's FW46, it only notified the governing body within an hour before the start of the race. As a result, Albon's starting position was left empty, leaving a vacant spot on the grid.
The rookie sprint race initiative was also revisited. Earlier this year, it emerged that the sport was assessing the possibility of staging a sprint race for rookie drivers after the season finale.
Although there was a slight chance for that race to take place this year, it has been confirmed that it will not happen after the Abu Dhabi finale. However, "the commission remains interested in the concept and will consider it further in 2025 with the aim of having a rookie sprint race in 2026."
Regarding the financial regulations, the Commission approved further measures to expand the exclusion of sustainability initiative costs from the financial regulations for 2025.
