Formula 1 is set to prohibit the development of cars for the next set of technical regulations until next year in order to cut costs during the COVID-19 crisis.A number of initiatives have already been agreed upon, designed to reduce the pressure on teams while the sport is unable to function normally given the global restrictions.
Those include moving the mandatory shutdown period forward from August to March and April — cutting overheads and opening up more time for potential races later in the year — and delaying the introduction of the 2021 technical regulations by 12 months.
With the current chassis to be used again next season and the next set of regulations a significant change, teams would still be tempted to try and gain a competitive advantage by starting development of the next generation of car as early as possible. In order to combat this, RACER understands the teams are working on a proposal to prohibit development of the 2022 car until next year.
With no events being held, teams are facing greatly reduced income and therefore have less to spend on car development. By limiting what can be worked on over the coming months, costs should come down, with the planned budget cap still due to be implemented in 2021. It is hoped the financial restrictions will also encourage a closer grid when the new cars are finally introduced