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FIA adjusts fuel temperature rules after close call Verstappen in Spain
- GPblog.com
It was only eight seconds or Max Verstappen would have had to start the Spanish Grand Prix from the pit lane. The temperature of the fuel was too low for a long time, but in the end everything worked out just in time. There was confusion about how hot the fuel needed to be when exiting the pit lane, so the FIA updated the regulations.
The teams always cool their fuel as much as possible, as this is a lot more efficient for the engine. When the F1 cars enter the asphalt for their reconnaissance lap on Sunday, the fuel temperature is allowed to be a maximum of ten degrees colder than the measured air temperature.
The temperature is recorded two hours before the start of the race. At that time, according to several teams, it was 34 degrees Celsius, but the FIA determined that it would have been 35 degrees Celsius. Thus, many race teams thought the fuel should have been 24 degrees Celsius, rather than the required 25 degrees Celsius.
FIA intervenes after confusion
The result was that several teams had over-cooled the fuel. All they could do at the time was wait for the temperature of the fuel to rise again. The past week there have been talks between the FIA and the competitors and from this, it has come that from now on a more accurate number will be used. Previously, the temperature was rounded to whole numbers.
Race director Eduardo Freitas, in an update to the 'event notes', let it be known: "The official air temperature message, which is sent one hour before each practice session and two hours before the race, will now be displayed to one decimal place.”