In the cradle of Italian motorsport, the last one took place in Bologna FIA World Council. A two-day event in which it was possible to trace the path that the Federation, in its new formation, had to face in this long season, in order to lay the foundations for the future. Among the various topics concerning the 2023 regulations of the various categories, the FIA has also defined the number of races in the calendar 2023 of F1, after the recent cancellation of the Chinese GP.
23 races, no replacements
The ambitious record calendar with 24 stages will have to wait a little longer. The Chinese Grand Prix, originally scheduled for April 16, and canceled due to Covid, at least for the moment it will not be replaced. A return of the Portuguese GP to Portimao after its last appearance in 2021 had been thought of. The 23 rounds of the new season will still represent a record considering that in 2022 the cancellation of the Russian GP brought the number of races back to 22. The choice of the Federation has also found the consensus of the teams, worry about a too dense calendar, given the large amount of commitments and the addition of 3 more sprint races. The cancellation of the Chinese GP and the lack of substitution will lead to a long break of 3 weeks, between 2nd and 30th April.
Greetings to Binotto
The FIA World Council was also the last official event in which Mattia binotto was able to represent Ferrari after resignation. In fact, Laurent Mekies will enter the scene at the FIA prize-giving ceremony on 9 December in Bologna. Binotto will say goodbye to Maranello and the double role of Team Principal and Technical Director on December 31st, after a long and troubled history within the beating heart of the little horse. As a final acknowledgment, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, at the opening of his speech in Bologna, wanted to pay special greetings to Binotto. Underlining the results obtained with the team, he later thanked him for having contributed to the growth of the sport in his role as delegate of the F1 Commission.
The other news on the regulations
From a technical point of view, there are no particular changes other than those already anticipated and confirmed by the Board. One of these concerns the significant increase in the load that the Roll Hoops will have to withstand in the crash-test phase for 2024. The homologation tests will involve new horizontal loads to ensure a more effective fixing of the roll hoop to the chassis structure. In this case the suggestion came from an episode of last season, namely the scary accident of Zhou Guanyu at Silverstone, from which the pilot fortunately escaped unharmed. An episode that, like others, focused attention on the issue of safety, and on the fact that there is always one more step to take to reduce the risk.
Regarding the financial regulation, considering the increase in Sprint weekends, the World Council has approved several updates including a double increase in the amount of the flat-rate allowance for each Sprint session, from $150.000 to $300.000 from 2023 on. Furthermore, any adjustment for damages from accidents suffered during Sprint races has been eliminated.
Relaxation of the Covid-19 protocol
One last change concerns a relaxation of the Covid-19 protocol. Those who test positive, or with symptoms and are judged "unfit to participate" will not be authorized to access the "high-density" areas. Finally there will be no vaccination obligation and the FIA will no longer organize testing facilities on site, but will inform interested parties of the facilities available locally.
Source: Motorsport.com
