The minimal weight of the current crop of Formula 1 machinery had an increase of over 5% compared to the previous generation that ran up until 2021, moving from 752 kg to 795 kg. But there is a push among various teams on the grid to get another 3 kg added to those 795 kg. Many people involved in the sport has suggested this is a change to help the struggling teams to match the weight target.

The FIA’s head of single-seater matters, Nikolas Tombazis has clarified why there is this new push for another increase in minimal weight, stating that some of the car’s standard components are heavier this year, and the change would avoid “penalising” the teams for something out of their control:

"The issue with the weight is that certain standard components turned out to be a bit heavier than anticipated, and that was not in the team control.

"So we wanted to compensate for that, or not penalise teams as a result. In fairness, tyres were only a small amount heavier, I think 100g [more in total] compared to the prediction, quite a small number.

"The wheel rims were about equal weight to the predictions, maybe a smidgen less. And then wheel covers turned out to be a bit heavier than expected. That was the bulk.

"There's been quite a lot of effort to make [wheel covers] cheap, because they're quite expendable. And we didn't want to have to make [them costly], we could have made them lighter, out of carbon or something.

"The quantities that have been made are quite high, and it could have led to quite a cost increase."

Alfa Romeo is one of the teams that is not overweight. Image by Hasan Bratic - MotorLAT

Although he is adamant that it’s not a case of helping balance the weight of some teams, Tombazis conceded that this did play a part in the process of making the teams agree with the proposal, but said it is “not a guarantee” that the change will be implemented, as it is awaiting an official decision from the F1 Comission:

"Obviously a lot of teams have been struggling with weight this year, more than normal. As part of the whole package, let's say, there was an agreement on a 3kg proposed increase.

"That is awaiting F1 Commission approval, so it's not a guarantee at the moment,” warned Tombazis.

During the testing days in Bahrain, several teams were spotted running stays-on in the floor of the car, in order to keep them from deflecting too much and avoid severe porpoising. These items also add weight to the cars, but Tombazis says it’s “optional” and shouldn’t come into consideration when raising the minimal weight:

"While they have an option to run a stay, some teams' floor designs might already be stiffer than others," Tombazis said.

"Their geometry might be such they needed more than others. We can't force everyone to run it.

"It's optional. Running a stay, you lose a bit of aerodynamic load because of its presence of the tube in there. So we left it open.

“We tried to reach a sensible balance or solution to compromise. I think hopefully it will be OK in the F1 Commission," he concluded.