Diego Ioverno on changes to the sporting regulations

Ferrari sporting director Diego Ioverno spoke about the main changes to the sporting regulations that will affect the work of the teams in 2024.

Q: What are the key changes to the 2024 Sports Rules that will most impact all championship teams?

Diego Ioverno: There are many changes in the sporting regulations for 2024, but perhaps the most interesting, the one that will affect everyone most noticeably, is the new format of the sprint weekends – there will be six such stages this season.

All teams have been in discussions with Formula 1 and the FIA ​​​​for some time about possible changes to the design of the sprint weekends to make them as attractive as possible for the fans, but also to make it more difficult for the teams.

It was decided to make the program of such weekends more linear, and in 2024 we will see this: as before, everything starts on Friday with training, but immediately after that on the same day there will be qualification for the sprint, which will be held on Saturday morning.

The rules for closed parks apply to qualifying on Friday and the sprint. They finish after the sprint race, allowing teams and drivers to work on the cars to prepare them for Saturday’s qualifying. The rules of the Parc Ferme are in force again and end after Sunday’s race.

There are even more interesting changes that fans should appreciate: on Sunday, the grid will open 40 minutes before the formation circle, up from 50 minutes before. The rule for the use of DRS systems will also change: they can only be used one lap after the start of the race and one lap after the restart. In previous years they could be deployed after just two rounds.

The approach to rain tire distribution has also been revised: where previously teams received four sets of intermediate tires and three sets of heavy rain tires, they now receive five sets of the first and two sets of the second.

But there are also points that are still being discussed, although these will most likely not be included in the sporting regulations, but in the instructions of the race management in each stage separately. It’s about how to control traffic during qualifying and how to respect track limits to avoid unwanted complications.

Question: This year’s championship consists of 24 stages. How will the team’s work be organized so that it can work with maximum efficiency throughout the season?

Diego Ioverno: There has never been such a long season in the history of Formula 1; we have 24 races to hold, and the last one takes place on December 8th. The team and all employees will face many difficulties and stress, but we already have experience with staff rotation and this is paying off.

In 2024, we will use this approach even more actively and try to make the work of our people as efficient as possible. In addition, it is necessary for everyone to work as steadily as possible, and for this it is necessary to provide time for rest.

This is not easy, everything must be well organized and prepared, including the need to establish a clear exchange of information at different levels within the team. But we think this is the approach we will have to take in the future.