FIA Sepakati Perubahan Regulasi Mesin Formula 1 Musim Depan

Federasi Automobil Internasional (FIA) dan manajemen Formula 1 menyepakati perubahan prinsip regulasi mesin mulai musim depan dengan mengubah rasio daya menjadi 60 persen mesin pembakaran serta 40 persen energi elektrik.

Langkah yang diambil setelah munculnya berbagai kritik terkait keselamatan dan kualitas balapan tersebut mendapatkan respons beragam dari para pembalap menjelang Grand Prix Kanada.

Pembalap McLaren Lando Norris memberikan sambutan positif terhadap arah kebijakan baru yang diambil oleh otoritas tertinggi balap mobil tersebut.

"I certainly think that's a great direction, we all welcome that as drivers, we all want that, I think that will eliminate a lot of the talks that we have about not going on throttle here and doing this and that." kata Lando Norris, Pembalap McLaren.

Norris menambahkan bahwa meski perubahan ini belum menjadi solusi yang sempurna, langkah tersebut tetap menjadi arah yang benar demi masa depan kompetisi.

"Maybe it's not perfect, and it's not the perfect world that we all want, but it certainly will be in the correct direction. And that's what we want for the future, it's what we want for racing, it's what all of us want as drivers, so the FIA are doing as much as they can, you still have to try and please a lot of people, but if you want the sport to be better, if you want the racing to be better, if you want the drivers to be better and happier, that's certainly the correct direction to go." kata Lando Norris, Pembalap McLaren.

Sikap senada ditunjukkan oleh juara dunia bertahan dari tim Red Bull Racing, Max Verstappen, yang menilai perubahan ini sebagai kebutuhan mendasar bagi olahraga tersebut.

"It's definitely heading into a very positive direction. It's like the minimum I was hoping for and it's really nice that that's what they want to do. That's definitely what also the sport needs." kata Max Verstappen, Pembalap Red Bull Racing.

Verstappen yang sempat mengkritik regulasi mesin sejak tes pra-musim di Bahrain menyatakan bahwa rencana ini memengaruhi komitmen jangka panjangnya di Formula 1.

"Yeah, definitely. I mean, I just want a good product in Formula One and that will for sure improve the product." kata Max Verstappen, Pembalap Red Bull Racing.

Pembalap asal Belanda itu sempat menyinggung pengalamannya di ajang 24 Hours of Nürburgring minggu lalu, namun ia menegaskan kebahagiaannya di Formula 1 akan meningkat seiring perbaikan kualitas kompetisi.

"It was also just depending on the future rules," kata Max Verstappen, Pembalap Red Bull Racing.

"So what I said before with the changes, hopefully that will happen next year, that will already help a lot. Because I've always said it doesn't matter if I had a good car or not, it's just the product and I think the product will improve like that so naturally I think then the enjoyment will go up as well." kata Max Verstappen, Pembalap Red Bull Racing.

Pembalap muda Isack Hadjar turut memberikan dukungan penuh terhadap intervensi regulasi yang direncanakan tersebut.

"It's something I think is 100% a huge step in the right direction and it's something we want to see happen and we take the right decision." kata Isack Hadjar, Pembalap F2.

Di sisi lain, pembalap McLaren Oscar Piastri menilai perubahan rasio daya belum sepenuhnya menyelesaikan masalah manajemen baterai yang rumit di lintasan lurus.

"It's a step in the right direction, but if it's a step, it's not the fix. Even with the previous engines we had, which were 80-20 or 85-15 split, even at some circuits, we didn't have full deployment everywhere. We were very close, and at a lot of the circuits we did, but until you find a split where you can maintain that full electrical power everywhere, it's always going to be a little bit odd for us as drivers on the straights." kata Oscar Piastri, Pembalap McLaren.

Piastri menjelaskan kesulitan teknis yang dihadapi pembalap dalam menyeimbangkan tingkat daya tahan baterai saat memulai putaran kualifikasi.

"And no matter what the split is, you're going to have these troubles with opening a qualifying lap, getting the battery in the right level. It's such a fine and difficult balancing act of having the battery in the right state, because either you start the lap with not a full battery or you start it with no boost pressure in the turbo, and there's not really a solution to that apart from changing the hardware. So that's really the only full fix, but it is a step in the right direction if we do that." kata Oscar Piastri, Pembalap McLaren.

Rekan setim Verstappen, Sergio Perez, memilih bersikap hati-hati karena dampak nyata dari perubahan 60-40 ini baru akan terlihat saat mobil dikendarai di berbagai sirkuit.

"Until we run, what it means at 60-40, we don't really will know. And it will vary from circuit to circuit so much. It was really nice to see the steps FIA and F1 were willing to do in Miami. They were really much better in a much better direction. So yeah, let's see a couple of races like this and see if we can adjust for the future." kata Sergio Perez, Pembalap Red Bull Racing.

Pembalap Ferrari Charles Leclerc mengingatkan pentingnya aspek keadilan bagi seluruh tim dalam pengembangan mobil di bawah regulasi baru.

"First of all there have been a few steps that have been going in the right direction already. Is this enough? There are still some other steps that we can make. Which are the ones that we need to do? This is another topic." kata Charles Leclerc, Pembalap Ferrari.

Leclerc menambahkan bahwa setiap tim memiliki pendekatan desain yang berbeda sehingga penyesuaian aturan ini akan sangat kompleks agar tetap adil.

"Obviously those rules have been a big change and teams have been working since many years now in order to make sure that we are ready and that you take kind of a direction of development for these few years, and with the change of next year you need to be careful not changing the balance of what has been done in the past years, so that's the trickiest point." kata Charles Leclerc, Pembalap Ferrari.

"We have to do something to try and make it better, sure, but we need to be cautious in which way we do that, because every team has very different designs and very different ways they approach those rules, and to find something that makes sense for everybody and that is fair for everybody is probably a lot more complex than what we initially thought, so that's why I think it's going to be tricky to find something that is good for everybody but I know everybody is working towards that." kata Charles Leclerc, Pembalap Ferrari.

Sikap skeptis juga datang dari Liam Lawson yang meragukan apakah perubahan ini cukup signifikan di tengah berkurangnya downforce mobil saat ini.

"It all helps. It's just a question of whether it's enough. I don't fully know. It's positive that we're moving in this direction – improving things, trying to improve things. Whether it's enough to make a big enough difference, I really don't know." kata Liam Lawson, Pembalap Visa Cash App RB.

"It's great that we're making this step, but the cars are a lot down on downforce than what we were in the past, almost compensate for the lack of battery that we have. Honestly, it wouldn't be fair of me to say ‘no’ until we drive them. But in my head, it's probably still not enough." kata Liam Lawson, Pembalap Visa Cash App RB.

Pembalap Williams Alex Albon juga mempertanyakan kemurnian esensi balapan di bawah bayang-bayang regulasi teknis yang rumit.

"We'll see, because I think it's not finalised yet. I'm always just wondering, is it enough? Are we taking away the issues of, ‘Is it pure? Is it genuinely the fastest car, the fastest driver, does the fastest lap time?’" kata Alex Albon, Pembalap Williams.

"I don't think it would be totally fixed from what I've seen so far. As long as we can just get rid of that stuff, get rid of throttle, driving styles affecting different things, all these kinds of things, then we're kind of good to go." kata Alex Albon, Pembalap Williams.

Sementara itu, pembalap Ferrari lainnya Carlos Sainz memberikan pandangan singkat mengenai situasi yang dihadapi para pembalap.

"For us" kata Carlos Sainz, Pembalap Ferrari.

Di tengah dinamika regulasi tersebut, Lewis Hamilton menegaskan komitmen jangka panjangnya bersama Scuderia Ferrari sekaligus menepis rumor pensiun.

"Yeah, I’m still in contract, so everything is 100% clear to me," kata Lewis Hamilton, Pembalap Ferrari.

Hamilton menyatakan bahwa fokus dan motivasinya tidak berkurang sama sekali untuk terus bersaing di level tertinggi dalam beberapa tahun ke depan.

"I’m still focused, I’m still motivated, I still love what I do with all my heart. I’m going to be here for quite some time, so get used to it. There are a lot of people who are trying to retire me, and that’s not even on my thoughts. I’m already thinking of what will be next and planning for the next five years. But yeah, I still plan to be here for some time." kata Lewis Hamilton, Pembalap Ferrari.