Teams will be forced to have a minimum driver weight of 80kg from 2019 under a proposal agreed by the Formula 1 Commission.
It was one of the only agreements to come out of the Strategy Group meeting early last week, which also involved further talks on the engine and financial changes for 2021, and is aimed at reducing the penalty for heavier drivers on the grid.
Since the introduction of the hybrid engines in 2014, sticking to the minimum weight has proved troublesome for the teams and that means drivers have often had to reduce weight to compensate, some even raced without a drinks bottle on board in extreme cases.
This year, the problem is even greater with the arrival of halo and the device is heavier than the six kilograms added on to the minimum weight of the car in this year’s regulations to accommodate it.
Under the idea given the go-ahead, 80kg of the 734kg minimum must be designated for the driver and for those under that figure, ballast must be added but that can be placed wherever a team wishes.
The inclusion of the driver in the overall weight of the car began in 1995, back then, to prove how much heavier the current machines are, the minimum was 595kg.
