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Current F1 regulations state that a car is only allowed to use a maximum of 110 kilograms of fuel in a race. Drivers cannot come into the pits to refuel their cars and have to manage their race with the allotted fuel load. Fans new to the sport have often asked why F1 cars can't refuel during a race. Let us answer their questions in this feature.
Did F1 ever have refueling?
Yes, there was a time in the sport when cars could pull into the pits, refuel, and then rejoin the race. Most strategies were determined around these refueling periods in the race as it takes significant time to pull into the pits and make any changes to the car.
Refueling was first given a go in the 1982 F1 Austrian GP by Brabham as the gas-guzzling turbos from BMW meant a no-refueling strategy was just not viable. Over the years, refueling started becoming a crucial part of race execution as more and more iterations showed that running a car lighter for multiple stretches helped save the aggregate time needed to execute a race.
Race strategies were modeled around two variables, one being the fuel load that the cars were carrying and the second being the tire life that a particular stint could sustain. This resulted in some brilliant strategic masterclasses from Michael Schumacher in the 1990s and 2000s when he had the wizard in Ross Brawn sitting in the pits and making calculations on how to execute a race.
Notably, Schumacher used these inventive strategies to beat Fernando Alonso in the 2004 F1 French GP. Other teams like McLaren had reportedly cracked a way to ensure a more efficient way of refueling to save precious time during a pitstop. Having said that, refueling was banned at the end of the 2009 F1 season.
So why was it banned?
There were multiple reasons involved in getting refueling banned from the sport. Let's take a look at a few of them.
#1 Safety
When you're refueling a car, you're pouring inflammable fuel into a piece of machinery that is extremely hot. Even a minor spill could result in fire and that is exactly what used to happen far too often. Almost every season has seen incidents of a small fire breaking out due to fuel spilling over.
In 2009, at the Brazilian GP, Kimi Raikkonen suffered minor burns when he came into contact with the fuel spilling from the car in front in the pits. In 2008, Felipe Massa had a disastrous pitstop in Singapore that ultimately cost him the title.
Arguably the one with the worst esthetics of them all happened with Max Verstappen's father Jos during his stint with Benetton when petrol spilled on the driver and the car caught fire.
#2 Cost reduction
The second reason behind the refueling ban was the excessive cost involved in bringing specific agile refueling rigs to the races. The cost of the refueling equipment was huge and by getting rid of it, the cost was negated. Similarly, by restricting the maximum allowed weight over a race to 110 kg, fuel consumption over a race was capped.
The other reason behind this was the fact that the teams had started looking at the refueling system and the pitstops as a means to gain a competitive advantage. If that avenue was closed, it would help reduce the costs for the teams.
Can refueling make a comeback to the sport?
Some avid fans have suggested that refueling should return to the sport to aid the on-track action and provide another avenue in terms of strategy during an F1 race. These suggestions do more or less get shut down because, in the current era of F1, the aim is to improve on-track action.
While fuel loads do play a role, their significance over other factors like tire life and generic car setups is not much. Bringing in refueling means bringing another cost factor into the equation.
In a sport that is run on a cost cap and every possible step is taken to reduce the expenses, introducing something as major as refueling is not going to get the vote from the teams in any which way. The sport has evolved a lot and considering the pros and cons, it will be tough to see refueling finding its way back into the sport.
