F1 News
Jean Todt wants re-fuelling back in Formula 1 in 2021
The FIA's president, Jean Todt, wants Formula 1 to consider returning to re-fuelling for the 2021 season. The rules book it set to be radically changed for that year and many believe refueling will lead to more drama throughout the races. Re-fuelling had been stopped due to the safety risk but Todt is confident that it could be reintroduced in a safe way.
“Personally, I would like to see re-fuelling, but I am happy to see a study on the positives and negatives,” Todt told the BBC.
“The cars have become too heavy which is something we have discussed, and if we did that [brought refueling back] you would have a lighter car at the start of the race and a smaller car.”
Todt remembers the fuel playing an important role in the team's strategy.
“My recollection of refueling, which was part of the sport when I came into F1, was that it became just a strategic race as to how much fuel you put in at the start,"
“You wouldn’t pass any cars on track because you would either short-fill or long-fill the car in the pit lane.
“So while it was a fascinating race for tacticians and strategists, it was a very static boring race on the track.
“And that’s why we moved away from refuelling so the drivers had to cope with a heavy fuel-load car and with that came the challenges of having to manage a car that lost 100kg during the course of a Grand Prix.”
It is a difficult subject to know what would be best for the sport. Some say that refuelling would add another element to the race where others believe it could lead to unworthy winners of Grand Prix's.
The 2021 rule changes will see some significant change and it will be interesting to see if refuelling is one of them.