Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsFormula 1

Refuelling, quicker lap times planned for 2017

The F1 Strategy Group has voted for a return for refuelling and wider tyres to reduce lap times by "5 to 6 seconds" in 2017.

Yesterday's meeting at Biggin Hill saw a change to tyre regulations suggested for 2016, while the main focus was on a revolution of the rules for 2017. With the current power unit regulations retained, the FIA has announced a number of areas where the Strategy Group has agreed to make changes:

Faster cars: 5 to 6 seconds drop in lap times through aerodynamic rules evolution, wider tyres and reduction of car weight
Reintroduction of refuelling (maintaining a maximum race fuel allowance)
Higher revving engines and increased noise
More aggressive looks

Refuelling was last seen in Formula One in 2009 ahead of a complete ban the following season. Allowing refuelling will lead to lighter cars and therefore quicker lap times.

Pirelli has previously said it would support a change to wider rear tyres to help increase performance, and with recent criticism about the speed of F1 cars, the Strategy Group's proposals are aimed at dramatically lowering lap times.

Click here for Wednesday's gallery from testing at the Circuit de Catalunya

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.