F1 drivers and team bosses have spoken out about the on-going concern over the 690kg minimum weight limit for 2014.
The weight limit is being increased from 642kg next season to cover the heavier V6 Turbo powerplants. However, the engines are believed to be heavier than expected, tightening restrictions further.
Heavier and taller drivers on the 2013 grid fear that teams who field lighter drivers will gain a considerable advantage, saying it isn't fair.
It also means that heavier drivers could be at risk of losing or failing to get a race seat due to the minimum weight limit. Nico Hulkenberg is one such driver and talking in the Korea paddock, the German would like to see the limit increased for next season.
He said: "I think there was a similar situation in 2009 when KERS was first introduced and drivers had to lose a lot of weight. Unfortunately I am what I am - I am tall and therefore on the heavier side, but not as heavy as some other drivers.
"It is not under my control but maybe in terms of regulations you have to raise the weight a bit more to make it fairer for different weight levels. You can really get an advantage with your weight distribution if you are 10-15kg lighter."
He is also certain that the issue will be discussed by the GPDA, saying: "I think it will come up... I am pretty sure it will."
Jenson Button is the director of the GPDA and agrees with Hulkenberg, telling media in Korea that the issue needs looking at: "It is a big problem, and next year we don't know how bad it's going to be, but it's going to be very tricky. Every year we start with ballast, and throughout the year, because you add parts to the car, the car puts more weight on.
"Whereas at the start of next year already, every team is not going to have ballast on the car and it's only going to get worse through the season."
He added: "It does hurt the heavier driver, and it's very unfair to say 'lose weight' because some of us can't lose any more. You need to have skin on your bones, and a little bit of muscle to drive a Formula 1 car, so it is unfair."
The Brit added that he can't see a reason why the weight limit can't be increased: "I can't see a reason why we can't put the weight limit up by 10kg. It wouldn't penalise half of the grid next season. It's one of the easiest things to put right - and it could save a driver's career, or make a driver's career. It's definitely something worth pushing for."
Team bosses have also discussed the problem, McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh fearing that some teams could struggle to hit the 2014 weight target: "The truth is that the way the regulations have fallen now, weight is a bigger challenge."
He added: "I have been speaking to another team principal to ask if they will hit the target weight, and they won't. If you are not on the weight limit then having a driver that is nudging towards 80kg is a difficult thing to have. It is a simple equation - on average every 10kg is a third of a second."
Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner, whose 2014 line-up of Vettel and Ricciardo doesn't pose a problem, commented on the weight limit issue as well.
He said: "Theoretically it is not a factor for us because we have got two drivers that are of a reasonable weight, but it does penalise a driver like Mark [Webber], who could have driven for us - or someone like [Nico] Hulkenberg.
"It would be a factor in signing a driver like him: which cannot be right. He shouldn't be penalised for being more than six foot. For sure the engine with all its ancillaries and cooling requirements is heavier as a unit, and it [a change to the weight limit] perhaps is something that should be looked at."
Mark Webber is currently the heaviest driver on the grid at 75kg with Di Resta and Hulkenberg being marginally lighter. Vettel is the lightest driver at 58kg, just ahead of soon to be ex-Ferrari driver Felipe Massa.
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| (c) Octane Photographic |
Heavier and taller drivers on the 2013 grid fear that teams who field lighter drivers will gain a considerable advantage, saying it isn't fair.
It also means that heavier drivers could be at risk of losing or failing to get a race seat due to the minimum weight limit. Nico Hulkenberg is one such driver and talking in the Korea paddock, the German would like to see the limit increased for next season.
He said: "I think there was a similar situation in 2009 when KERS was first introduced and drivers had to lose a lot of weight. Unfortunately I am what I am - I am tall and therefore on the heavier side, but not as heavy as some other drivers.
"It is not under my control but maybe in terms of regulations you have to raise the weight a bit more to make it fairer for different weight levels. You can really get an advantage with your weight distribution if you are 10-15kg lighter."
He is also certain that the issue will be discussed by the GPDA, saying: "I think it will come up... I am pretty sure it will."
Jenson Button is the director of the GPDA and agrees with Hulkenberg, telling media in Korea that the issue needs looking at: "It is a big problem, and next year we don't know how bad it's going to be, but it's going to be very tricky. Every year we start with ballast, and throughout the year, because you add parts to the car, the car puts more weight on.
"Whereas at the start of next year already, every team is not going to have ballast on the car and it's only going to get worse through the season."
He added: "It does hurt the heavier driver, and it's very unfair to say 'lose weight' because some of us can't lose any more. You need to have skin on your bones, and a little bit of muscle to drive a Formula 1 car, so it is unfair."
The Brit added that he can't see a reason why the weight limit can't be increased: "I can't see a reason why we can't put the weight limit up by 10kg. It wouldn't penalise half of the grid next season. It's one of the easiest things to put right - and it could save a driver's career, or make a driver's career. It's definitely something worth pushing for."
Team bosses have also discussed the problem, McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh fearing that some teams could struggle to hit the 2014 weight target: "The truth is that the way the regulations have fallen now, weight is a bigger challenge."
He added: "I have been speaking to another team principal to ask if they will hit the target weight, and they won't. If you are not on the weight limit then having a driver that is nudging towards 80kg is a difficult thing to have. It is a simple equation - on average every 10kg is a third of a second."
Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner, whose 2014 line-up of Vettel and Ricciardo doesn't pose a problem, commented on the weight limit issue as well.
He said: "Theoretically it is not a factor for us because we have got two drivers that are of a reasonable weight, but it does penalise a driver like Mark [Webber], who could have driven for us - or someone like [Nico] Hulkenberg.
"It would be a factor in signing a driver like him: which cannot be right. He shouldn't be penalised for being more than six foot. For sure the engine with all its ancillaries and cooling requirements is heavier as a unit, and it [a change to the weight limit] perhaps is something that should be looked at."
Mark Webber is currently the heaviest driver on the grid at 75kg with Di Resta and Hulkenberg being marginally lighter. Vettel is the lightest driver at 58kg, just ahead of soon to be ex-Ferrari driver Felipe Massa.
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