Grosjean and Magnussen would back F1 refuelling return

Haas Formula 1 drivers Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen would back a return to refuelling in the sport.

FIA president Jean Todt recently suggested that F1 could reintroduce refuelling, which has not featured in grand prix racing since it was outlawed at the end of the 2009 season.

A number of drivers, including Grosjean and Magnussen, have called for F1 cars to be made lighter, with both believing that a return to refuelling would be positive for the sport.

“I am for refuelling, I think it’s a positive to get the car faster and lighter,” Grosjean said.

“It makes it more demanding on the drivers. I believe also it could open some strategy. Driving a heavy car is not amazing.

“If we have lighter cars due to refuelling, it’ll be better and also easier on the tyres.”

Teammate Magnussen, added: “I think refuelling would be very good. I think it would have some positive effect on tyres.

“It would make the racing closer between cars. It would be more fun for the drivers and more challenging in the races because the cars would be faster with the lighter fuel load.”

However, Haas team principal Guenther Steiner remains cautious, adding F1 must be “clever” about the prospect of bringing back refuelling to avoid increased costs.

“I find refuelling very interesting,” he said. “It could help the spectacle, but we need to be clever about it, not to just introduce more people to do the pit stops.

“Maybe we need to lose a few people on pit stops in general. So if you’re clever, we design some very simplistic equipment to refuel and don’t employ another five people to refuel.

“We just need to handle it properly to have more show, but not more cost.”