Ferrari: Monza engine turnover shows three PUs per driver is 'too little'

Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto has called into question F1's current season allocation of three power units per driver and its engine penalty rules after the starting grid at Monza was marred in confusion.

Ahead of the Italian Grand Prix, no less than nine drivers had undergone over-the-limit engine component changes that left them on race day out of their original qualifying position.

The absurd disorder confused not only the sport's fans, but also the FIA stewards who required several hours to make sense of the changes and publish a starting grid.

Binotto believes that F1 needs to simplify its engine penalty rules, not only for the fans but also for the benefit of the teams, and perhaps also increase the current minimum PU allocation, especially within the context of a calendar that could swell to a record 24 races next season.

"The reason why it took so long [to publish the grid] is that there are certainly different interpretations and the regulation is not clear enough," said Binotto.

"That's something we need to address certainly for the future - I think not only how we decide the grid position based on the penalties, I think the amount of penalties we got as well is too many.

"[It's] difficult for a fan, I think, to see a car on pole and not start on pole because he got grid penalties. So maybe the three PUs per drivers is too little at that stage for what we have achieved.

"Maybe it needs to be reconsidered for the next seasons."

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Aston Martin F1 team principal Mike Krack is on the same page as his Scuderia colleague.

"I think the system is complicated for the spectators to understand," Krack told the media in Monza.

"For me as well, I was just waiting, and you speculate 'where do we start?', and I think the final grid came quite late.

"I think when cars are not starting where they should, I think for the fans it's an interesting thing.

"Now, does it have to be as complicated as it is? I think we could make it simpler."

It was suggested that rather than handing out grid penalties to drivers for exceeding their engine allocation limits that teams could be docked championship points.

But Mercedes boss Toto Wolff doesn't support such an idea although the Austrian admits that the rules governing power unit element changes should be simplified.

"We have grid penalties because we don't want to have qualifying engines and deploy an engine every single race," he explained.

"There were suggestions we'll make the teams have penalty points in the championship, but that wouldn't solve the problem, because we will still throw engines at the driver that can win the championship.

"I think we need to tidy them [engine penalty rules] up. Maybe we can do it unanimously for next year, which makes sense.

"It makes sense for all of us together, sticking our heads together and saying: 'how can we clean that up so we are avoiding confusion?'"

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