After the World Motorsport Council‘s Meeting on December 6, the FIA have decided to make changes to the FIA Formula 4 category, with homologation being extended to 2023.
The move to extend the current homologation period by four years, was made as the FIA announced that all new Formula 4 series will be required to implement halos for the 2019 season. Existing F4 series, including the F4 British Championship, will leave it as optional until 2023, with an extra cost expected for the implementation.
From the WMSC release; “Upon request, the life of the current cars could be extended until the end of 2023 (with no Halo). The cost of the new car will be the same as the current car plus the cost for any additional safety equipment (i.e. the halo and its installation).”
This means that even existing series will be expected to run the Halo device from 2023 onwards, though many series may put off the new device because of costs and the fact the halo is still yet to run a full championship season.
For smaller single-seaters, it is likely that a new tub would be required to install the Halo, though many regions are expected to swallow the costs, with Australia’s ASN CAMS (who run Australian F4) saying;
“… if a new chassis is purchased from the manufacturer (Mygale) from 2019 onward, it will feature the Halo update kit. The cost of the new car will remain the same.”
The report also outlines plans that FIA F4 series be allowed to race in other countries even if that country has its own series.
This is mostly due to the introduction of the French F4 Championship, which was confirmed to have Mygale chassis and Renault 2.0 engines, as its 2018 calendar will see the series race in Spain for the Jerez round. Whether any drivers from the F4 Spanish Championship will make the leap across is yet to be seen, though the Iberian-based series uses different chassis and engines.
