Copying becomes more difficult: "Is not the direction the sport wants to go"

The FIA has announced that copying the cars of opponents will become a lot harder from next season. In the current Formula 1 season, Racing Point is running a car that is almost identical to the championship-winning Mercedes of 2019.

Peter Bayer, the FIA's general secretary, has informed the teams in a letter that copying behavior will become a lot more difficult from 2021. “We are in full agreement with many of you that it is not the direction that the sport wants to head towards," said Bayer's letter, according to Motorsport.com.

"Additions to Article 22.3 of the 2021 technical regulations will expressly prevent teams from using photography or other reverse engineering techniques to copy large parts of other teams’ cars," Bayer continued in his letter.

Bayer does say in the letter that further design based on the 2020 car is possible in 2021. "Designs from the first race of the 2020 season may still form the legitimate basis for further evolution in 2021," he concludes.