At the British Grand Prix, a bullish FIA president, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, set out his vision for the future of the sport beyond 2030. Firstly, he intends to crush the power of the engine manufacturers by introducing simpler, more affordable V8 combustion engines with either a turbo or some minor form of electrical power.
In an effort to head of dissent from the current engine manufacturers, the FIA president went on to outline how an independent engine manufacturer like Cosworth could be engaged to produce engines for teams who don’t build their own.
When F1 last allowed the refuelling of cars during a race, the tanks carried around 100 litres of juice. When refuelling was banned in 2010, the fuel cells almost doubled to around 200 litres.
The North American Precedent and Past Disasters
Many motor racing series allow the refuelling of their race cars, and not just the endurance races for sports cars. In North America’s premier single-seater open-cockpit racing series, IndyCar, refuelling has been part of its tradition forever.
Refuelling was banned by the FIA in 2010 following a number of incidents that were both spectacular and life-threatening. At the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, Felipe Massa experienced a premature green light on Ferrari’s pit stop lighting system, and the Brazilian launched out of his box with the fuel hose attached.
The following year in Brazil, Heikki Kovalainen left his pit box with the hosepipe still attached to his McLaren. It sprayed raw fuel across the pit lane and onto Kimi Räikkönen’s trailing Ferrari, momentarily igniting a massive flash-fire that briefly blinded Räikkönen.
For many F1 fans, the subsequent ban on refuelling was an overreaction by the FIA given it is an integral part of racing in a number of top-flight motorsport championships. Yet for others, the confusion of who has what amount of fuel in their car was removed, making it simpler to understand the relative pace of the cars racing on track.
The Pros: Nimbler Cars and Dynamic Strategies
The pros for a return to refuelling in F1 are as follows. The cars will be much lighter, faster, and nimbler—a goal the FIA set out for the 2026 cars and failed miserably to achieve. Starting a Grand Prix with 100 kg of fuel makes the cars heavy and sluggish, and also prone to more extreme tyre wear in the opening phase of the race.
Refuelling would see the fuel loads shrink to around 30–40 kg, which unlocks raw pace for the drivers from the very start of the Grand Prix. Further, without having to nurse a massive fuel load, the drivers can push their cars to the limit on each and every lap.
This, together with the reduced effect on tyre wear, would see the drivers pushed to the absolute limit throughout a Grand Prix, creating a series of short sprints between refuelling stops. Refuelling also brings another strategic dimension to an F1 race and, depending on the rules for qualifying, potentially unlikely candidates for pole position.
If teams must start the race with the amount of fuel they have left after qualifying, a smaller team may fuel their car light to claim pole, but be forced to stop in the Grand Prix after just a handful of laps.
The Cons: Strategic Chess and Pit Lane Danger
Yet there are cons to bringing refuelling back to F1. Prior to 2010, Grand Prix races were often processional events with a distinct lack of on-track passing. Teams would strategise to do their overtakes during the pit stop phase by running longer or shorter than their rivals. Those against refuelling claim the race merely becomes a high-octane chess match.
Of course, as was the case with Massa and Kovalainen, there are dangers to refuelling during a Grand Prix. The iconic pictures of Jos Verstappen’s Benetton engulfed in flames due to a flash-fire in Hockenheim during the 1994 German Grand Prix remain in most people’s minds to this day.
Probably the most significant impact on the spectacle of F1 would be the loss of the 2-second pit stop. F1 is world-leading in terms of how quickly cars are serviced and returned to the track, with almost 20 people working in harmony over 2 seconds to change four tyres. Refuelling will take much longer than 2 seconds, so it becomes the critical factor in determining the length of the pit stop, not the drama of the pit crews changing the tyres.
There are also skyrocketing costs and environmental impacts to consider, with the FIA’s 2030 Net Zero agenda potentially impacted. Shipping heavy, specialised refuelling rigs and backup equipment to 24 global destinations drastically increases freight costs and carbon emissions.
A Modern Solution to Old Issues?
Yet since the last F1 era of refuelling, there have been many changes to the sport which should nullify some of the downfalls listed above. No longer do we have processional racing, due to active aerodynamics and the FIA’s improved understanding of how to restrict aerodynamic designs that create dirty air for the cars behind.
Motor racing fans have also become more sophisticated, and in IndyCar, there are regularly at least two strategies at play, if not three. Further, teams could be required to reveal their fuel levels at the start of the Grand Prix and during refuelling, making it simpler for the fans to understand why certain cars are quicker in a specific phase than others.
Ultimately, reintroducing refueling could solve F1’s modern struggle with bloated car weights, delivering the lightweight, flat-out racing both fans and drivers crave. However, for the sport to take this step, the FIA must be willing to accept the trade-offs: re-introducing old pit lane safety risks, sacrificing the iconic 2-second tyre change, and explaining how high-freight fuel rigs fit into a Net Zero future.
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The Judge, a nom de plume of an experienced F1 journalist and site founder with long-standing sources across the paddock. With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
A.J. Hunt is Senior Editor at TJ13, where Andrew oversees editorial standards and contributes to the site’s Formula 1 coverage. A career journalist with experience in both print and digital sports media, Andrew trained in investigative journalism and has written for a range of European sports outlets.
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No no no
Refuelling spoils racing so much
Please block this idea
What a load of rubbish. You forget how boring Formula 1 racing was back in the ‘90s. Processional laps with almost no overtaking, thus the one lap qualifying was critical. Predictable tyre wear. Refuelling is dangerous and a contrivance to artificially change the race. This is meant to be Grand Prix racing not some sort of Sunday afternoon family outing!