UIM 2027: F2 sprints out, F4 yellow flags, halo rejected

Meeting in Sintra (Portugal) on Saturday 24 October 2026, the UIM Council adopted several rules for the 2027 season in F2 and F4, and rejected a mandatory halo or aeroscreen in GT15 and GT30. The adopted texts apply from 1 January 2027; the 2027 rulebooks are due on the UIM website by Wednesday 23 December 2026.

F2: no sprints, SST200 engine extended

The proposal to add two sprint races to each Grand Prix weekend was withdrawn before the Council vote. No reason was given and the justification section was blank.

On engines, SST200 homologation is extended to 31 December 2027, with an option for a further year, to 31 December 2028. The justification cites slow progress on the Mercury Racing 250 APX: five APX engines are in the class, but only two raced in 2026, mainly because of cost. The 2026 classification rule carries over: if at least five drivers register an APX engine for the first round, there are two world classifications (SST200 and APX); otherwise there is one, and points count even if a driver changes engine mid-season.

Other F2 decisions:

• practice: at least one 60-minute free practice and one 45-minute warm-up, if entry numbers do not exceed the water approval; qualifying is unchanged (Q1 of 20 minutes, Q2 of 15, Q3 of 15 for pole);
• start: the 300-metre minimum distance to the first turning buoy stays and a 450-metre maximum is added.

F4 and F2: yellow flags, crane order, liveries

F4 adopts F2's yellow-flag rules. The UIM Race Director, not the organiser, decides when to interrupt a race, and the leader always acts as pace boat. A boat speeding or driving dangerously under yellow faces a drive-through or a one-lap penalty; slowing to fall back into the field before a restart is banned, and overtaking before the green flag costs a lap. If the scheduled laps finish under yellow, five laps are added.

Two other measures apply to both F2 and F4:

• crane order: the top six finishers are lifted out first and go directly to Parc Fermé; boats in difficulty take priority;
• livery: the same basic design, colours and markings on both sides of every boat.

Licence applications must also include a race-number reservation, with priority to the first application received.

GT15 and GT30: halo not adopted

Entered by COMINTECH, with Pascal Reide as author, the proposal would have required from 1 January 2027 a halo-type or aeroscreen-type device able to withstand 15,000 N, with 5 kg added to the minimum weight. The COMINSPORT and COMINSAFE commissions had advised "Not Supported". Rule 550.05 is unchanged. Another proposal by Pascal Reide, making load-bearing canopies mandatory in F1H2O and F2, is "Withdrawn for further study".