FIA set to take first drastic step to cure processional F1 races: Reports

It is being reported that FIA is set to increase the pit lane speed in some of the races as one of the steps to cure the issue of processional races in F1. Despite the promise of the current generation of regulations improving racing and bringing the cars closer together, they continue to struggle with the 'dirty air' effect and have processional one-stop races.

The difficulty in overtaking at some tracks has been laid at various reasons such as the width of the track, and robust Pirelli tires. The element of the strategy has also been taken out of the races, as most teams pit within a couple of laps of each other.

One of the main reasons behind all the F1 teams pitting at a similar time has been the amount of time lost in the pit lane due to the speed limit. Although most of the races have an assigned pit lane speed of 80 km/h, some tracks like Singapore, Monaco, Australia, and Zandvoort have been assigned a pit lane speed of 60 km/h.

As per The Race, FIA is set to increase the pitlane speed to 80 km/h in their bid to reduce the pit lane loss time from 28-29 seconds to around 22-23 seconds. The reduced time lost could enable the F1 teams to make strategic gambles and change the result as well.

Article 34.7 of F1’s Sporting Regulations states:

“A speed limit of 80km/h will be imposed in the pitlane during the whole competition. However, this limit may be amended by the Race Director following a recommendation from the Safety Delegate.”

The governing body was currently considering the races that needed the change in pit lane speeds and would relay the information soon to the F1 teams.

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Ferrari F1 driver gives his take on FIA increasing pit lane speed

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc stated that he was not aware of the proposed change but was in favor of it.

Speaking to the media at the Miami Grand Prix, the eight-time race winner expressed his thoughts and said (via The Race):

“I have never heard of it [the idea], but definitely not for all races. I don't think that will be sensible for all races. I felt like there are some tracks where it could work, but to be honest, I never thought about even doing this."

"I'll have to look a little bit more into details and what are the implications of all these things. But as a first thought, probably on some races, it can make sense, yes,” he added.

The longer pit lane times compel the teams to stick with a one-stop strategy to mitigate the amount of time lost on the track and risk losing positions to their rivals.