By Graham Duxbury @TheRealDux 

Today Formula One teams’ technical chiefs as well as representatives from the engine manufacturers are to gather with heads of the FIA and F1 management for a pivotal discussion on immediate rule changes as well as the future direction of the sport. There are a number of suggestions on the table.

One of the most important is a reduction in “lift-and-coast” energy harvesting – particularly during qualifying. A solution would be to increase how much power can be harvested when super clipping - when drivers harvest energy while still on full throttle.

Currently, drivers are limited to 250kW when super clipping, compared to the 350kW that is available from lift-and-coast harvesting.

Another option is to reduce the total amount of energy that can be recovered over a lap which will reduce energy harvesting requirements.

At the moment, the maximum allowed in qualifying is 9 Megajoules (MJ) per lap. But, at the recent Japanese Grand Prix this was reduced to 8MJ. Some believe that it should be just 6MJ per lap.

This will make it easier for drivers to hit the recharge limit and therefore avoid the need for lift-and-coast and super clipping (which dramatically and dangerously reduces straight line speed).

This “less energy” approach could be seen as counterintuitive, but may well contribute to a short-term balance between the current “battery formula” demands on the driver and traditional racing which is missed by so many fans.

Today’s discussions may prove decisive in redefining what F1 means in the current era.