Refuel stops back in Formula 1? A scathing verdict from three team principals

The proposal keeps coming back like a well-thrown Australian boomerang: pit stops in Formula 1. Why is this back on the agenda at the FIA, the world motorsport governing body? The aim is to make the racing cars lighter again. Furthermore, it is argued, this would increase the spectacle factor.

Oh really? Experts such as Racing Bulls CEO Peter Bayer, Williams team principal James Vowles and Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu are not at all keen on the idea, for various reasons, as they recently explained.

Peter Bayer explains: “I remember – when I was still working at the FIA, we had a working group with Formula 1, with Ross Brawn and his team, which focused on how to improve the entertainment and spectacle.”

“One of the big ideas put forward by some people was refuelling, and we looked very closely at historical footage and the data we had available. It became clear that refuelling – apart from a few very spectacular and dangerous scenes – didn’t actually benefit the sport, as most overtaking manoeuvres suddenly took place in the pit lane.”

“I wouldn’t be in favour of it, therefore, as it has been shown that it doesn’t actually add much to the spectacle.”

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James Vowles adds: “Speaking personally, it’s quite warm wearing a racing suit whilst standing by the pit wall, so I’d rather not do that again.”

“What’s more, we could basically predict exactly where the car will come to a halt. You always drive the car until the fuel runs out, because that’s when it’s at its fastest. That means you can now predict what will happen – regardless of whether someone is on two, three or one.”

“And in fact, these days, because of the transparency towards the outside world, everyone will receive this information. For me, that actually takes a lot of the excitement out of it. I think the concept behind it is more along the lines of: ‘Let’s keep the car’s weight down’, and I fully support that. However, I believe that a return to refuelling isn’t the right solution for this.”

Ayao Komatsu concludes: “Personally, I’m not a fan of refuelling. Even when I’ve watched from the sidelines, the race was simply hard for me to follow as a spectator in the stands because of the refuelling, just as it was during qualifying and so on. I like it when the qualifying car is the lightest and the driver gives it their all. In short: I’m not keen on pit stops.”