Bojan Vrbnjak
We have been witnessing debates for some time about being able to get back in Formula 1 returned refueling. This has been banned since 2010, but could be allowed again in 2021. Many racers do not oppose this proposal because it would make the race cars a bit lighter. But there are also critics of this idea, and it is one of them Otmar Szafnauer, team boss Racing Point.
"Calculated over five years, transportation to the racetracks and purchase of equipment would cost us about $ 2,5 million per team. Is that nice? Two and a half million is a lot of money. Especially if it's not necessary. This is expensive because it is custom made. And that raises the price in the clouds," so Szafnauer's an argument that applies to all smaller teams.
On average, teams in the first five seasons would face higher costs of around $ 500.000 per year. The highest would of course be the first year, because you would have to buy refueling equipment first. In the following years, the cost would be only transport to the racetrack and additional staff.
"This is a clear argument against me. I'm also afraid that overtaking in races will happen again at pit stops,He added Saffron. In other words, in his opinion, we would have fewer overtaking maneuvers on the track and thus less action for spectators. “Then something can go wrong and a fire can break out. Sometimes it can happen that the car is driven away with a refueling hose. This is also an argument against."
"On top of that, they would lose the magic of super fast stops in the pits at that time. Because refueling would stop at the pits again for about six or seven seconds,”Added the team leader Racing Point. Mechanics would have more time to change wheels again because the refueling stop would take longer. “We have super efficient engines. And now we would like to show the world how inefficient they are because we have to refuel them at the stop ?,”He asks at the end Saffron.
