Only eight exhausts per season allowed from 2021; grid penalties on the way?

From 2021 onwards, Honda, Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault, as engine manufacturers in Formula 1, will also have to design and supply the exhaust and the system behind it. All teams in the pinnacle of motorsport agreed to this when drawing up the new regulations. It is a new measure to reduce costs for the race stables.

So far the teams have been able to design the exhaust system themselves. This has led to a real arms race in recent years. With expensive materials and special constructions the teams went to the extreme, Auto Bild reports. Of course there was also a price tag.

Limit on number of exhausts

In order to save money, it was therefore decided to include the exhaust system in the list of engine components from 2021. Article 23.3.a of the new rules also states that there will be a limit on the number of exhausts that can be used per year.

At the moment the Formula 1 teams use a lot of exhausts and there are also some changes between sessions. In 2021 this will be a thing of the past, because only eight identical (!) exhausts per car can be used each year. Development during the season is therefore also not possible. Anyone who needs more than eight exhausts per year will have to pay a grid penalty of five places.

More grid penalties coming up?

The aforementioned German medium writes on its website: "The change of the rule could affect the reliability in 2021. The same cars must be used in 2021 as in 2020. At the moment the exhaust is built to look for the absolute limits. It is therefore unlikely that all teams will make it to 2021 with only eight exhausts".