F1 Azerbaijan GP: Formula 1 teams stop FIA from making CRUCIAL tire ‘loophole’ rule change

F1 teams have prevented the FIA from closing a 'loophole' with the tires, within the changed format of the sprint weekend in Baku.

Pictured: F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2022

This weekend, Formula 1 is debuting a new sprint weekend format. The changes mean that there will only be one practice session. This is a deviation from the normal sprint weekend format, which has two practice sessions. The big change, of course, is the addition of the ‘Sprint Shootout’ on Saturday. It will replace the second practice session, and act as a qualifying session for the F1 sprint later that day.

It will generally follow the format of the normal qualifying session, with two significant adjustments. The first of these changes is that their sessions, termed SQ1, SQ2, and SQ3, will be shorter. The first of these sessions will be 12 minutes long; the second 10 minutes long; and the third 8 minutes long, respectively. The other is the use of mandated tire compounds. Teams are obligated to use medium tires in SQ1 and SQ2, and soft tires in SQ3.

But according to Motorsport.com, the teams have caught out the FIA in regards to the tire obligation. As written, the rule does not mean that teams have a new set of soft tires for the shootout. The rule reads: “In the period SQ3 of the sprint shootout, up to one set of dry-weather tires may be used, and this must only be a new set of the soft specification.”

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So, a team that is not banking on making it to SQ3 in the shootout, can actually use up all of their tires for the Grand Prix qualifying on Friday. If they do not care about the result of the sprint as much, they could use up an extra set (more) to get into a better position for the race on Sunday. This can be particularly useful for teams towards the bottom of the grid.

The ‘loophole’ can be instrumental for ‘smaller teams’ at the F1 Azerbaijan GP

Pictured: The Baku City Circuit, hosting the F1 Azerbaijan GP 2023

On Friday, the FIA attempted to change this rule. They arranged a vote for the teams and tried to close the loophole by obliging teams to save a set of soft tires for the Sprint Shootout. There is a provision for temporary rule changes, perhaps just for a single race weekend, to be made with the consent of eight teams. However, the governing body was not successful in this pursuit – they failed to get the eight votes.

So, the race weekend will continue with the ‘loophole’ in place. This could really help teams toward the bottom of the grid. It is already hard to make up significant amounts of places starting from the back. Especially when you have a slower car. Combine that with the ‘race’ only being 1/3 of the race distance, then you are looking to climb a very steep mountain.

Instead, teams can abandon their pursuit of the sprint, and try to get themselves in a better position for Sunday. Obviously, the normal race has more points on offer. For a team like AlphaTauri, this can be a very big boon. It’ll be interesting to see who decides to use this loophole if any of them do utilize it. F1 teams will take advantage of anything they can, so one can expect them to not let this one go.