Wet weather changes, circuit resurfacing approved by F1 commission

New wet weather procedures and a raft of track changes have been approved by the F1 commission at their first meeting for 2023.

New wet tyres will be introduced midway through the 2023 season. (Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool)

A new wet weather tyre which provides peformance benefits and does not require tyre blankets, will be introduced by Pierlli from the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix onwards.

The commission, chaired by Formula 1 president and CEO Stefano Domenicali and newly-appointed FIA single-seater director Nikolas Tombazis, also noted work is ongoing on a “wet weather package project” with track testing to occur in the second or third quarter of 2023.

A standard bodywork kit will be introduced to reduce tyre spray in wet conditions, comprising of a removable wheel arch and potentially additional lights.

The wet weather package would be fitted to cars either before a race or during a red flag caused by extreme wet conditions.

The commission also approved a proposal to relax the regulation of radio messages, as well as a range of circuit updates.

Azerbaijan and Miami circuits will be resurfaced, while pit lane positions will be spaced out further in Zandvoort.

A new pit building and paddock will be built in Qatar, while significant changes will be made to the Jeddah circuit “to improve visibility on corner entry wherever possible.”

DRS zones will be updated at five circuits: Bahrain, Jeddah, Baku, Miami, and Melbourne - with an additional fourth activation zone to be added in Melbourne.

Changes were also approved to F1 regulations to introduce a winter shutdown period, to ensure points are reduced if a race is shortened, and to prevent greater access to factories for the FIA auditing team in enforcing cost caps.

The cost cap adjustment for seasons with more than 21 races was also increased from $1.2 million to $1.8 million USD.