FIA outlines new procedural change as key equipment access removed from teams

The FIA has introduced a procedural change in the pitlane at the Singapore Grand Prix that could impact teams’ preparations at each Grand Prix from now on.

Starting this weekend, the FIA will no longer allow teams to make use of the calibrated weighing scales located in the pitlane.

FIA clamps down on weighing scale use

A change made in FIA Race Director Rui Marques’ notes for the Singapore Grand Prix has revealed that a significant change has been made that will impact every team to a certain extent.

The governing body brings along a fully calibrated weighing scale to each Grand Prix, which is used for spot-checking throughout the weekend as well as in scrutineering checks to ensure cars are meeting the required minimum weight limits at all times.

Usually, the F1 teams are permitted to make use of these scales at certain points through a weekend, with the wording of the Race Directors’ notes stating, “Should the outside scales be set up at the pit-lane entrance, these will be available for teams to use at any time outside the curfew times and the Parc Fermé cover-up times, except for the 30 minutes preceding the start of the Qualifying session and if there are support competitions using the pitlane.”

However, a succinct amendment has now been made, which rules out this practice henceforth.

“The FIA scales will not be made available for teams to use from this event onwards,” Marques wrote.

The exact reasoning for this change has not been made apparent, but it’s understood it’s with an eye to practicality – banning the use of the scales means cars will no longer be pushed up and down the pitlane at random intervals, as teams seek to weigh their cars during the previous windows of opportunity.

What the change does mean is that teams no longer can reassure themselves of legality using the same weighing scales as the governing body, meaning all 10 squads will need to ensure their own weight-measuring pads and scales are exact and calibrated to match what the FIA’s equipment reads.

Calibration weights have been issued to the teams to ensure their own equipment meets these requirements, but the change, according to some sources, could lead to minor headaches for the teams.

For instance, one consideration is that, even with calibrated scales, calibration across different equipment manufacturers can vary, meaning teams will need to identify if there is any offset between their supplier and that of the FIA’s.

Added to that are gravitational variations; as one travels closer to the equator, scales can read fractionally lighter due to the Earth’s higher centrifugal force. For example, the centrifugal force at the equator is 0.0337 metres per second squared, while the forces at the poles are negligible – the variation from circuit to circuit will mean additional calculations are required to ensure teams don’t get caught out by gravitational variance.

Other sources have indicated that the impact of the procedural change will be negligible, although a general consensus appears to be that teams will need to leave a little more margin on weight limits than they were previously able to while using the FIA’s weighing scales.

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