Kevin Magnussen, Haas, Shanghai International Circuit, 2019

Grosjean and Magnussen support call to bring back refuelling

2021 F1 season

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Haas drivers Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen are in favour of plans to allow refuelling in F1 races.

FIA president Jean Todt suggested reintroducing refuelling, which last happened in F1 races 10 years ago, following calls from drivers to reduce the weight of cars, which has risen rapidly in recent years.

While other drivers last week expressed doubts over the plan, Grosjean is convinced it would be a change for the better.

“I am for refuelling,” said the Haas driver. “I think it’s a positive to get the car faster and lighter. It makes it more demanding on the drivers. I believe also it could open some strategy.”

He admitted the current generation of F1 cars have become less rewarding to drive as their weight has risen.

“Driving a heavy car is not amazing,” said Grosjean. “If we have lighter cars due to refuelling, it’ll be better and also easier on the tyres.”

Magnussen echoed his team mate’s views. “I think refuelling would be very good,” he said. “It would have some positive effect on tyres.

“It would make the racing closer between cars. It would be more fun for the drivers and more challenging in the races because the cars would be faster with the lighter fuel load.”

Wide-ranging changes are planned to F1 cars for 2021 in order to improve the quality of racing, but Magnussen says refuelling is “a big one” which should happen.

“Also I think it would be great to maintain some fast cars that can follow each other easily. Maybe they’re producing more of the aerodynamics and downforce from the bottom of the car, from the floor.

“Also, more equal resources for the teams to have closer competition between the front and back of the field.”

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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27 comments on “Grosjean and Magnussen support call to bring back refuelling”

  1. From most of those who are for refuelling, seem to forget one thing: The current engines consume much less fuel than V8s which were used when refuelling was last allowed and therefore the effect of lighter car – and even differences between cars – will be smaller.

    On another note, refuelling also locks up a big part of strategy. If the car was fuelled for 25 laps it didn’t make sense to stop any earlier since the car traditionally became slower in the pit stops and of course, it wasn’t possible to run any longer since the car would run out of fuel. So nowadays the tactics are more adaptable during the race.

      1. I think 100kg of fuel is still enough to make refuelling worth it, you can see the speed difference as they use up fuel in races now and there would be more size and weight savings just from shrinking the tank which a lot of people forget.

        I really hope we get a few years of refuelling back before F1 inevitably goes electric as I think the positives outweigh the negatives – faster, lighter cars for more of the race with more strategy options.

    1. I keep reading that refuelling locks the strategy. Having been through the previous refuelling era as a fan i have to say i don’t agree.

      Some the various fuel options would lead to a similar end result(race time), but naturally one is more favourable but we have DRS now so passing is quite easy so that would open the door to 2-3 stops. Hey we once even had a 4 stop!

      Currently we have tyres as the only option to vary strategy and currently they ALL pretty much follow the same strategy. There is occasionally differences but it is minimal.

    2. @bleu Yes, refuelling indeed locks up a big part of the strategy mainly because with the fuel it’s realistically only possible to drive as long as there’s fuel left to use, i.e., till a certain lap. Finally, someone else also gets what Pat Symonds once pointed out concerning the matter.

      1. And now they drive until the tyre is done. Which they already know is lap x and at most 2 laps before or after. But they are all in the same boat.

        BUT with refuelling you can take a punt a start the race with more fuel, which mine mean you get overtaken at start. But you comeback later with the over-cut.

        With fuel the options are endless. Has everyone forgotten france 2004 or Hungry 98? Imola 96 with Damons crazy short stint.

  2. Nice to see them meeting in agreement on a topic, instead of just meeting in the middle of a track.

    I’m curious though, how much (if at all) have they raced in a series that had refuelling? To my memory, they’re both drivers of this decade and the post-refuelling era, so I’m not sure they have any real seat of the pants experience on the matter.

    KMag’s point about a lighter car being easier on the tyres is interesting, though.

  3. Only Hamilton, Vettel, and Kimi are drivers from current era who have raced when refueling was allowed. Also what I find funny is that for most part of F1, refueling wasn’t explicitly part of F1 racing until 1982 and even then it wasn’t particularly common.

    1. @Chaitanya Grosjean as well in 2009.

      1. Forgot about him, he raced last 7 races of that season if I remember correctly.

  4. This will be as good for the racing as high deg tyres and DRS.
    Ask not, F1, for whom the bell tolls.

  5. isaac (@invincibleisaac)
    23rd July 2019, 7:43

    Grosjean actually did 7 races in 2009 so has a bit of experience with refuelling.

    1. @invincibleisaac – thank you, I didn’t know that.

  6. joe pineapples
    23rd July 2019, 8:08

    I think the cars are demanding enough already for Grosjean.

    1. RoGro: I am for refueling, …(gobble)… It makes it more demanding on the drivers.

      Yeah, like he is chauffeuring next year?!
      Hilarious guy that Romain.
      Very French.

      Since there is no chance of editing, or even preview an entry, I wish to apologize in advance.
      I´m sorry. And I’m Swedish! So, you know…

  7. I am not sure these two are the most sensible voices to take a lot of notice of.

    It seems pretty clear to me from the debate so far, that refuelling might have more downsides than advantages.

  8. I wonder if this has anything to do with the Haas being good on low fuel runs…

  9. I think the Haas guys are happy to talk about anything but their own performance at the minute.

  10. > I am for refueling […] it’ll be better and also easier on the tires

    > I think refueling would be very good […] It would have some positive effect on tyres

    The problem are the tires. Fix the tires, otherwise we’ll introduce another layer of problems instead of fixing the underlying one.

    Refueling speaks the exact opposite message of having these hybrid engines and be more green. Also leads to incidents in the pit lane, that were spectacular but dangerous as hell (who was it, Verstappen sr. with Benetton in that fire ball?).

    We need to simplify things and to simplify we need to remove, not add. Maybe Liberty and FIA should give Marie Kondo a call.

    1. Keke Rosberg Brazil 83, Verstappen Sr. Germany 94, Pedro Diniz 96, Micheal Schumacher Austria 03, Felipe Massa Singapore 08, BMW Williams Hungary 08, Heikki Kovalainen Brazil 09. Indycar had its own share of problems with refuelling apart from these incidents(which were tip of iceberg)

      1. Cant remember who was driving car no.8 for BMW Williams(most probably Vettel) but there are videos of fire brewing on the nozzle while the car came in for pit at Hungarian GP.

  11. Well if F1 is true to form, based on all the refuelling discusions:-

    Refueling will return because it has been pretty much universally said that it’s a bad idea.
    Bigger wings and more downforce will be in because it causes so many problems.
    Ground effects and active suspension (or anything that will be useful) will be outlawed because it might make a difference.
    At the last moment the budget cap will be withdrawn because it makes sense to have one and we can’t have anything making sense.

    1. DB-C90 (@dbradock)
      23rd July 2019, 11:31

      Well if F1 is true to form, based on all the refuelling discusions:-

      Refueling will return because it has been pretty much universally said that it’s a bad idea.
      Bigger wings and more downforce will be in because it causes so many problems.
      Ground effects and active suspension (or anything that will be useful) will be outlawed because it might make a difference.
      At the last moment the budget cap will be withdrawn because it makes sense to have one and we can’t have anything making sense.

      I was thinking the same thing. I have no idea who makes these decisions but it’s like the twilight zone for engineering xD

  12. ”I believe also it could open some strategy.”
    – Wrong, as I’ve pointed out before it isn’t really possible to stretch a stint with the fuel as is the case with the tyres.

    1. Let’s say you could stretch fuel strategy. Wouldn’t that cause a lot of the tire management problems that people whine about incessantly on this site? I really can’t believe they are considering refueling. It really seems the powers that be and even some of the fans want the focus to be taken from racing and put into the pits. I would be more open minded about refueling if there was no pit speed limit as it was when it was reintroduced last time. I just don’t get why people want to see cars going down the pit lane at 55 mph multiple times a race. I would pay for Sky coverage if they would stop showing the damn stops. The only way you will get real strategy is by not forcing teams to make a certain amount of stops per race. I don’t get why the rule makers seem to fear a non-stop race.

  13. Of course the Haas drivers would say that. They are sooo bad on their tyres with full fuel load.

  14. Why are we listening to opinions from the worst drivers on the grid.

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