F1 teams will be allowed virtually no engine upgrades from today

March 1, 2022 marks an important day for Formula 1. From this day on, the freeze will apply for development of very many parts of the engine. This rule was introduced at the request of Red Bull Racing.

Big day in Formula 1

As of Tuesday, Formula 1 teams are no longer allowed to further develop the internal combustion engine, the turbocharger and the MGU-H, among other things. The idea of the engine freeze came from Red Bull after it had to look for a new engine supplier itself. Indeed, Honda, which the team worked with from 2019, stopped making F1 engines after the 2021 season.

Although the performance of the engines can no longer be improved, there is still a possibility to adjust the reliability for the teams. This makes minimal adjustments still possible, but with these adjustments the teams must be able to show that it is really only about reliability.

Electric upgrades still possible

Incidentally, there is still room to adapt electrical components to the 2022 engines. Teams have until September 1, 2022 to optimise this for the next four seasons. Brand new engines are expected in 2026.

Source: Formula 1 Technical Regulations 2022, FIA