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The 2023 F1 technical regulations were published some time ago with the reduction from 798kgs to 796kgs highlighted as part of a general push to eventually have lighter cars.
However, in the interim, the 2022 car weight was increased from 795kgs to 798kgs early last year largely in response to the porpoising seen in testing, in essence to take account of items such as floor stiffening and stays.
At a meeting of the FIA’s technical advisory committee, it was subsequently agreed to stick with the 2022 figure of 798kgs for this season, rather than drop to 796kgs as had originally been intended.
That change should have been a straightforward process, but due to an administrative oversight, it was omitted from a technical regulation update that was formally passed by the F1 Commission, and …