FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem floated bringing back refuelling to cut car weight, but three team bosses shot it down hard. Racing Bulls' Peter Bayer pointed to FIA research from the Ross Brawn era: refuelling just moved overtaking into the pits, killing on-track action. Haas boss Ayao Komatsu, the American team's voice in the room, said refuelling made races incomprehensible for fans in the stands and neutered qualifying — he wants cars at their lightest when drivers are pushing flat-out for pole. Williams' James Vowles added that fuel loads are too easy to track now; everyone would run to empty because that's when the car is fastest, making strategy trivial. All three want lighter cars, but not this way. The 2026 regs already shave weight — Ben Sulayem's pitch looks dead on arrival unless he can sell it to teams who've heard it before and walked away.
Read the full story at RaceFansWHY F1 TEAM BOSSES BELIEVE REFUELLING “DOESN’T ADD A LOT TO THE SPECTACLE”
FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem floated bringing back refuelling to cut car weight, but three team bosses shot it down hard. Racing Bulls' Peter Bayer pointed to FIA research from the Ross Brawn era: refuelling just moved overtaking into the pits, killing on-track action. Haas boss Ayao Komatsu, the American team's voice in the room, said refuelling made races incomprehensible for fans in the stands and neutered qualifying — he wants cars at their lightest when drivers are pushing flat-out for pole. Williams' James Vowles added that fuel loads are too easy to track now; everyone would run to empty because that's when the car is fastest, making strategy trivial. All three want lighter cars, but not this way. The 2026 regs already shave weight — Ben Sulayem's pitch looks dead on arrival unless he can sell it to teams who've heard it before and walked away.
