Refuelling Ban Reversed.

The ban on teams removing their refuelling hoses before the fuel rig is empty has been reversed by the FIA.


Instigated following fears of a pit-lane inferno should fuel spill from the hose, the rule was challenged by Ferrari in the build-up to this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix, because the Italian team felt it was being unfairly dealt with. Ferrari has been the prime mover behind the tactic of overfilling the fuel rig and disconnecting the hose after a set time, believing that it improved pit-stop speeds, while the majority of other teams simply filled the rig with the required amount of fuel and disconnected when it hit empty.


Ferrari's title rival McLaren protested the Italian team's procedure following a conversation with rig manufacturer Intertechnique which suggested that the practice of early disconnection was dangerous. The FIA, however, has now overturned its earlier ban after Ferrari wrote to the French company claiming that its own tests proved that the process was indeed safe.