Formula 1 says goodbye to the famous “grey areas”: here’s the announcement from Nikolas Tombazis
The FIA has announced a shift in how it manages Formula 1 technical regulations, aiming to eliminate the so-called “grey areas” that in the past allowed some teams to gain controversial advantages.
Nikolas Tombazis, FIA Single-Seater Director, told Formula Passion: “We’ve adopted a different approach compared to past situations. First of all, we made it clear to teams that we will have zero tolerance for anyone exploiting loopholes in the regulations that have previously gone unnoticed.”
“If a team develops a solution based on a certain interpretation of the rules without consulting us, we simply won’t accept it. If someone develops a concept based on an ambiguous 50-50 interpretation, it would be suicidal for that team.”
No 2009-style exceptions: all clarifications will be shared with everyone
The reference is to the famous 2009 “double diffuser” from Brawn GP, which allowed Jenson Button to win the championship thanks to a controversial technical solution. Tombazis emphasized that today, any clarification requests from teams regarding unclear aspects of the regulations will be shared with all teams equally, avoiding different interpretations and potential unfair advantages.
“In the past,” he added “some teams worked with different interpretations of the rules. Right now, our absolute priority is to ensure the regulations are clear to everyone.” . With this approach, the FIA aims to guarantee greater clarity, fairness, and transparency, preventing technical ingenuity from turning into disputes or controversial advantages.
