Parc ferme was introduced to limit how much teams could alter their set-up between sessions to effectively deter bespoke cars for qualifying and the races as part of money-saving measures.
But since the FIA introduced a cost cap for F1 in 2021 and with curfews limiting how late teams may work to refine their cars, there is now scope for parc ferme regulations to be eased.
This topic has climbed up the agenda after Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were disqualified from the United States Grand Prix last month when their floor planks were found to have worn excessively from an Austin track that was markedly bumpier in 2023.
The FIA noted that this breach of the technical rules was likely due to the sprint race format, which meant car set-ups had to be locked in under parc ferme after only one-hour of practice running.
Asked by Autosport whether the constraints should be eased, new Ferrari sporting director Diego Ioverno reckoned the rules still had a role to play in limiting engineer ‘fantasies’.
He said: “Parc ferme, we are discussing about it. The original one was to prevent teams from doing crazy things from qualifying into the race.
“But there is also another aspect: that is to protect teams from themselves, because engineers have always a lot of fantasy and sometimes mechanics are a bit too stressed.
Source: Autosport