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FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has suggested reintroducing refuelling to Formula 1 as a means of making the cars run at a lower weight.
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However three bosses asked about the proposal are not convinced it would improve the racing.
Racing Bulls team principal Peter Bayer, who previously worked as the FIA’s secretary general, said the idea has been studied recently and found wanting.
“When I was still working with the FIA, we had a working group with Formula 1, with Ross Brawn [former F1 sporting director] back in the days, and his team, about how to improve the entertainment, the spectacle.
“One of the big ideas of some people was refuelling. We were digging very deep into historic footage, data that we had, and it showed that other than a couple of very spectacular and dangerous images, refuelling has not done really anything for the sport because most of the overtaking suddenly took place in the pit lane. So I wouldn’t be a big fan of that because it’s proven that it actually doesn’t add a lot to the spectacle.”
Refuelling also adds complexity for fans who are trying to follow the races, said Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu.
“I’m personally not a big fan of refuelling, really,” he said. “When I was watching from outside, refuelling, it’s just that the race was so difficult to understand as a spectator sitting on the stand.
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“Also in terms of qualifying, et cetera. I’m fond of a qualifying car being the lightest, the driver going for everything. So in short, I’m not fond of refuelling – and also the weight and cost and everything – I’m not a big fan.”
Williams team principal James Vowles, who previously headed Mercedes’ strategy division, pointed out that refuelling would take a lot of the intrigue away from pit stops.
“We could fundamentally predict exactly where the car is going to stop. You’re always going to take the car right to the end of its fuel load because that’s when it’s its fastest, which now means you can predict what’s going to happen, whether someone’s on a two or three or one, it doesn’t matter.
“Nowadays, with the exposure to the outside world, everyone will start getting that information. It actually takes quite a bit of the intrigue out of it for me.”
However he said he is in favour of trying to reduce the weight of the cars. “I’m completely in support of that,” he said. “I think going back to refuelling is not the right solution for it, however.
Vowles also admitted to having a personal reason to oppose refuelling. “It’s quite warm wearing a race suit when you’re on the pit wall, so I’d prefer not to do that again!”
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