F1 races could get longer as FIA works to avoid Japan 2022 repeat

FIA could extend the duration of F1 races in the coming years as they try to resolve the confusion that crept up during the 2022 Japanese Grand Prix.

During the main race, heavy rain poured down which forced the race directors to shorten the length of the race. Consequently, it caused massive confusion regarding the points system and whether Max Verstappen had won his second World Championship or not.

This kind of scenario was unpleasant for many fans as they were in the dark, not knowing what was going on. Additionally, the FIA rules for F1 can be quite confusing to understand, especially for newer fans.

Usually, there is a two-hour time limit for any race, which comes within a three-hour window that starts at the very beginning. To avoid the confusion that occurred in the 2022 F1 Japanese GP, the World Motor Sport Council is discussing extending the overall time window of a race.

This means that the three-hour window could be extended to four hours so that there is more time to finish a full race.

Additionally, there will be some changes to the rules regarding the shortened race durations as well. Since the shortened race duration rule only applies when the race is permanently suspended and not restarted, it didn't work during this year's F1 Japanese GP.

Hence, the FIA could be removing that scenario so that the shortened race duration and points system applies even if the race restarts after being suspended temporarily.

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F1 to introduce new tire compound in 2023

Though the 2022 season ended after the F1 Abu Dhabi GP, all the teams took part in a post-season testing session where they ran new tires for the 2023 season. Apart from all the regular tire compounds, Pirelli introduced a new compound named 'C0' that will feature next year.

Pirelli's motorsport engineer, Simone Berra, explained how the C0 compound tire will essentially be the old C1 from the 2022 season and there will be a new C1 tire that will sit between C0 and C2. Other than that, all the tire compounds for next year will be the same.

Berra said:

"The new C1 was tested in Texas and it offers more grip, as the old version of that tyre wasn't as grippy. The current C2 to C5 tires remain exactly the same in terms of composition."

At each Grand Prix, Pirelli selects three different tires for the race weekend: Soft, Medium, and Hard. These can be selected from the tire line-up, ranging from C1 (hardest) to C5 (softest). Since C1 is considered to be the hardest compound, the new C0 will now become the hardest compound in the 2023 F1 season.

This new tire compound will give teams more strategy and performance options for their cars.