On Thursday, Formula 1 bosses met with teams and agreed that they could keep their current chassis and designs into the 2021 season.
This is as a result of the coronavirus pandemic sweeping across the world. The virus has put racing plans on hold and has forced many competitions to be postponed or cancelled, resulting in loss of millions of dollars.
The Australian GP, scheduled to hold on March 13 was cancelled while the three GPs set for May, including the Dutch GP, making its appearance for the first time in 35 years have also been cancelled.
All these have led to serious loss of money for the teams who have spent a lot working on their cars to take on the challenge of the new season.
According to the FIA, the decision to maintain chassis was due to the “volatile financial situation created” by the coronavirus. It also stated that plans to maintain other components for next year would be made known in due time.
Besides the chassis, the gearbox has also been agreed to be maintained into the next season. Areas dealing with the car’s aerodynamics can be adjusted.
The plan to maintain chassis was initially thought to be a problem for McLaren, who had hoped to switch to Mercedes engines for the 2021 season. The problem came from the fact that due to the difference in the engine size and design, it would not fit into the space occupied by the Renault engine.
But McLaren had said that it would only make little changes in the chassis for it to accommodate the new engine. The changes could be made in line with safety, as the combustion unit is just as important to the car as well as the engine.
McLaren currently uses the Renault engine, which it has used since 2018 after dumping Honda engines due to underperformance. Now, the racing company is set to go back to the Mercedes engine, which it had used from 1995 to 2014 season.
The FIA also said it would wait till 2022 to enforce the technical regulations which it had planned to begin in 2021, which would cost teams to make modifications to their cars.
Written by: Leon Osamor
