Montmeló (Spain) (AFP)

Farewell to the engine mode dedicated to qualifying - or "party mode" - which has made Mercedes successful since 2014? The International Automobile Federation (FIA) intends to remove it as soon as possible, perhaps after the Spanish F1 Grand Prix this weekend.

The teams were warned by a letter from the FIA ​​Secretary General for Motorsport, Peter Bayer: the championship's regulatory body has plans to ban any modification of the engine mode of the single-seaters between qualifying and the race, which is already the case for all the rest of the cars except for safety reasons.

The next step is the distribution of a technical directive authorizing only one engine mode for all on-track sessions, for which the teams' agreement is not necessary.

The teams that have it, primarily Mercedes and those that the German manufacturer powers (Racing Point and Williams), could no longer use the device which allows them to push their engine performance to the maximum on a qualifying lap.

- "Slow us down" -

"It is not a surprise. They always try to slow us down", fulminated Lewis Hamilton Thursday, after the release of this information in specialized media. "The guys on the team have done a great job on the engine. The goal is to slow us down but I don't think that will have the desired result. It's great if they do," continued the star driver. from Mercedes.

This measure is part of a series of clarifications by the regulatory body of F1 on the operation of hybrid engines, introduced in 2014 and improved since, which notably led to a secret agreement targeting Ferrari unveiled at the beginning of 'year.

"The primary goal of the FIA ​​is to better understand and analyze what is happening with the engines, said Friday Toto Wolff, the Mercedes team principal. Between the combustion engine and the entire energy recovery system, it is very complex and having only one mode would allow the FIA ​​to see if everything is legal. "

The fact remains that with a single mode, the most efficient engines on a lap may be the most heavily penalized.

"Will this affect one engine manufacturer more than another? We will only be able to really know that when we have received the technical directive. You have to see its real content, boot finely in touch the leader of Ferrari Mattia Binotto. sure, if you have the best car, the status quo would be the best option for you. "

- "Helping hand" -

This is not the case with Ferrari, largely behind Mercedes and Red Bull this year. "We have nothing different between qualifying and the race, so that won't change anything for us," Monaco driver Charles Leclerc assured Thursday.

Not surprisingly, the measure was approved by Red Bull driver Max Verstappen, the only real Mercedes competitor behind the wheel of a Honda-powered single-seater. “Maybe that's a good thing because you're not really allowed to change the cars after qualifying except the engine modes. So if you want to be consistent it seems good to get rid of that too,” he answers softly.

Finally, there are those who, like Britain's George Russell, say they are worried about the show.

“I'll be disappointed to lose it,” said the Williams driver. “I think whoever the engine manufacturer is, you have a boost in qualifying, with the least fuel of the whole weekend, the most engine mode. fast. You're pumped up for the lap you come in. All those little extras let you get that little extra out of the car and it's such an exciting part of the weekend. "

© 2020 AFP