F1 teams ready to shorten races to get 2027 changes agreed

A proposal to shorten some races, and reduce laps to the grid, has won support from teams as part of a package of measures the FIA hopes can allow changes to Formula 1’s power units for 2027.

In the wake of the post-Miami Grand Prix team meeting, where there was an agreement in principle to move F1 away from the 50/50 power split between combustion and electrical energy and more towards 60/40, efforts have been ongoing to make this a reality.

One of the first issues that needed to be resolved, however, related to the consequences that would come from increasing the fuel flow rate that would be required to achieve it.

As well as needing redesigns of the current power units, lifting the flow rate would also necessitate teams to run more fuel in races and therefore need bigger fuel tanks for 2027.

This was going to be a problem for those teams that were intending to carry over their chassis into next year for cost cap reasons, because their current tank size would then not be big enough to run flat out at more thirsty venues.

While one option to get around would have been to open up the cost cap to allow teams to build fresh chassis, this was concluded to be too wasteful.

Instead, in a bid to solve this problem, the FIA canvassed opinions from teams about an idea to reduce the length of races at venues which are the most demanding in fuel consumption.

A shortening of the race distance by one or two laps would be twinned with a limitation of just a single lap from the pits to the grid prior to the start.

Racing Bulls team boss Alan Permane confirmed at the Canadian Grand Prix that the support was there for the shorter race idea.

“We’ve come to an agreement, certainly at team principal level, that if anyone wanted to carry their chassis over and that wasn’t quite big enough to do the 310km race, we would look at selective races and, of course, only where absolutely necessary, by shortening them by maybe one or two laps, and limiting laps to grid to one," he said.

While the chassis problem relating to the 60/40 shift for 2027 appears to have been resolved, there are bigger issues to get the rules changed that do not have the necessary support down the pit lane.

One of these is the extra financial expenditure needed to revamp hardware. This estimated $10 million increase is said to be too much for some manufacturers – with Audi understood to be resistant to unleashing any extra spending right now.

Furthermore, there remains a big division over what to do about the catch-up mechanism known as ADUO (Additional Design and Upgrade Opportunities).

If engine homologation is opened up for next year to allow manufacturers to redesign engines for a 60/40 balance, then ADUO will have to be scrapped.

With Ferrari in particular feeling that ADUO offers it the best opportunity to catch up with Mercedes in the short term, it is against anything that could scupper that plan - so is understood to be resistant to the 60/40 idea.

The costs and ADUO elements have left the idea of hardware changes for 2027 hanging in the balance, with efforts due to continue at the Canadian Grand Prix to try to find an agreement that enough manufacturers can get behind.

There may be room for an arrangement where the fuel flow is adjusted enough to negate the need for major engine modifications next year, but shift the power figures enough to allow the current cars to run more flat out in qualifying.

Red Bull team boss Laurent Mekies explained that it was the timing of making changes to the power unit that was central now to the next steps.

“I think chassis side, there is not really a stress on it,” he said. “There is some tension on the PU side from a timing perspective, and that’s why we are all trying to converge as quickly as we can now.”