Abiteboul would like to replace the penalties on the grid

The second part of the season F1 notably involves an increase in penalties on the Grand Prix grid, with certain teams exceeding the limit of authorized Power Unit elements.

F1 management is considering modifying these sanctions for the sake of fairness for the drivers and for better understanding by the public. The general director of Renault sport racing Cyril Abiteboul proposes other penalty systems.

“We are proposing a time penalty observed during a stop or which could be added to the race time, indicated the Frenchman. This would offer better races without changing the starting position and qualifying. I don't understand why this solution isn't getting more support, but there must be a good reason. »

The director of the Losange stable received the support of his counterparts, in particular that of the director of Mclaren racing Zak Brown. The director of Red Bull Racing Christian Horner especially fears that the penalties on the grid will be replaced by ballast, a sanction studied by F1.

“We can see that it doesn’t work in other championships. It’s going strong all weekend, not just qualifying.”, commented the Briton, quickly supported by the Team Principal of Haas F1 Team Gunther Steiner.

Grid penalties have been debated for several years, particularly when McLaren suffered from the unreliability of the Honda unit.