The F1 Commission has voted against reforms to red flag standing restart procedures. Concerns were raised over the suitability of a standing restart late in races after the chaotic end to the Australian Grand Prix earlier this season. A proposal was made to provide a set point in races whereby standing restarts would be replaced with rolling restarts, whilst another idea was tabled to limit the number of standing restarts allowed per race. Detailing the discussions and tweaks to the technical regulations, a statement released by the FIA read: "Minor updates to the 2023 and 2024 technical regulations were approved by the Commission. "The Commission approved the formalisation of an updated procedure for standing starts, whereby at the discretion of the Race Director, the safety car may either stay in the pit lane, or extinguish its orange lights and pull to the side of the track, letting all cars that are eligible to take the standing start overtake it. "Additionally, following the FIA and Formula 1's consultation with the drivers, the Commission discussed the topic of standing restarts close to the end of the race. "Current practice is to always restart the race from a standing grid start, provided track conditions are suitable. "However, the concept of a fixed point in races after which any resumption would be done with a rolling start, and whether there should be a limit on the total number of standing restarts there can be in a race were considered. "The ideas presented did not receive sufficient support from the Commission members to be taken further at this stage, however the group reaffirmed that the final decision on this topic always remains at the discretion of the Race Director based on the specific conditions of each restart."
2026 car update
The findings from the Commission meeting have revealed 'significant progress' has been made on the shaping of the 2026 technical regulations. "The FIA presented an update regarding the ongoing work of the 2026 F1 car specifications," the statement explained. "While the core targets have remained unchanged, there has been constructive dialogue in the relevant Advisory Committees between the FIA, FOM and the teams that continues to shape the direction of the future regulations. "Significant progress has been made on the project that is ongoing and the FIA is currently analysing the most effective ways to achieve a significant reduction in the since and weight of the cars, as well as improving the energy management."
CapEx work ongoing
There has been much talk of equalisation in infrastructure through CapEx allowances given discrepancies in levels. Confirming work is ongoing on the subject, the statement read: "The Commission discussed the aim of closing an inherent discrepancy between teams with different levels of infrastructure within the framework of the Financial Regulations. "Work in the Financial Advisory Committee will continue on this topic in the coming months."
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