Formula 1 is constantly evolving and the technical and sporting regulations that govern it are regularly amended to improve safety and keep the teams’ insatiable appetite for development at bay.
The latest changes for the 2022 season have been described as the biggest in “four decades,” with a radical new set of rules focused primarily on increasing the spectacle, despite last season being one of the most dramatic ever. remember, in part, thanks to the continuity of the 2020 regulation.
Why do the F1 rules change?
The goal of any sport is to win, and for that, in Formula 1 you need a car that goes faster than any other on the track. Teams spend hundreds of millions of euros to achieve this, and the regulations keep changing to prevent it.
In some cases, teams find a ‘loophole’ – as Brawn GP did with the double diffuser that won them the championship in 2009 – and if it is deemed unfair or costly to copy, it is often removed with a rule change.
Why not let the teams go faster and faster? Because the faster you go through a corner and the higher the top speed on the straights, the more dangerous an accident will be if something goes wrong.
Changes to circuit safety – such as the removal of old gravel traps that used to overturn cars and the introduction of safer barriers – can be introduced, but they have maximum protection due to the limitations of existing venues. .
Consequently, it is the cars and the engines that have to be limited from time to time by changes to the regulations, with things like limiting the aerodynamic elements on the wings until they learn.
What was the first F1 regulation?
When F1 was born in 1950, the official regulations, printed on a fold-out from the original race programme, were just three pages long, covering entry fees (£5 per car), technical regulations and prize money ( £500 to the winner).
Point 5 of the technical specifications stated that only “four-wheel racing cars conforming to the Formula 1 International established by the CSI” were allowed, and went on to establish only three specific rules:
- Cars were required to have either a 1.5-litre supercharged engine or a 4.5-litre naturally aspirated engine.
- There had to be “some form of protection” between the engine and the driver’s seat to prevent “passage of flames”.
- Each vehicle was to have “two reflector mirrors” to provide an “uninterrupted view of overtaking cars.”
And that was it.
The sporting regulations, meanwhile, only allowed one pit stop to “gain forces” and three people who could work on the car. There was no weight limit on the cars and the use of helmets was not even compulsory.
How have regulatory changes altered the F1 format over the years?
Not much for the first 20 years, but in the 1970s, the circuits became shorter, the familiar two-by-two starting grids were introduced (there used to be more cars per row), and races were limited to a maximum of 321 kilometers.
It wasn’t until the 1980s, when all the events were lumped under the banner of the FOM run by Bernie Ecclestone, that the format became standardized and by 1984 drivers were required to have a ‘Super Licence’ to compete.
Classification
For almost 50 years, from 1950 to 1996, Formula 1 qualifying always followed the same format: two sessions, one on Friday and one on Saturday, with the grid order being decided by the fastest times in both sessions.
This changed in 1996 when qualifying was limited to Saturdays and drivers were given 12 laps and one hour to set their best times. This format lasted seven years, but was changed because teams spent too much time in garages.
In 2003, single lap classification arrived, in which drivers had a single lap to set a time. Two sessions were held, the first in championship order to set the starting position for the second, which would decide the grid.
This format was maintained for three seasons, with some tweaks including the combining of the times from the two sessions, before a return to qualifying with all cars, and the introduction of the modern heats format with its three rounds.
In 2021, the rules changed again with the arrival of sprint qualifying for certain events. The traditional classification was moved to Friday to decide the grid of the session agreed to 100 km on Saturday, whose final positions decide the race grid.
Points
The points system rewarded the top five with 8-6-4-3-2 points, but in 1961 it was extended to the top six, with the winner getting nine points. This system was maintained for 30 years, until in 1991 the maximum prize was increased to 10 points.
In 2003, the rewards were increased and extended to eight drivers, in a 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 format, depending on where they crossed the finish line, and in 2010 a radical change was introduced in the current format, in which the top 10 score 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1.
In 2019, an extra point was also added for the fastest lap in the race (if done by one of the top 10 at the end of the test) and the introduction of ‘sprint qualifying’ in 2021 gave an extra opportunity to score points, with the top three finishers, winning 3-2-1 respectively.
How have car design regulations evolved since the early days of F1?
The rules have been changed or introduced for many different reasons throughout F1’s 70+ year history, and this is a look at what changes were made and why.
safety first
The first major changes to the F1 regulations came in the 1960s, with improvements to safety such as roll bars, quick evacuation cockpits, fire protection and fire extinguishers, helmets and overalls, and the prohibition of straw bales as protection barriers in circuits.
In the 1970s, advances in aerodynamics, including ground effect cars, brought increased speed, and the safety of the tracks was called into question. It was then that retaining fences were introduced (although a decade later they were deemed dangerous and banned).
At that time came two key safety criteria that still exist today (albeit highly evolved): cars had to store fuel in “safety” cells, and drivers had to be able to get out of the car in five seconds.
In the 1980s ground effect was banned and crash tests were introduced, first in 1985 on the front of the car and three years later for the entire “survival cell”, which was also to be designed with the driver’s feet located behind the front wheel axle.
Despite these efforts, advances in engine technology had led to cars being even faster, with turbochargers generating incredible power. This eventually led to a ban on turbo engines at the end of the decade.
The Imola Revolution
In the early 1990s, technological advances such as active suspension and automatic gearboxes led to increased speeds and created a chasm between the top teams and the rest of the field. Much of this was banned in the 1994 season.
The tragic deaths of Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna at Imola that year – the first on a race weekend in over a decade – led to a major new push on safety that has continued to this day.
Immediate changes focused on limiting aerodynamics to slow down the cars, lowering the rear wing, raising the front wing and adding a “plank” under the car to raise the ride height and reduce the aerodynamic effect of the ground.
At the same time, safety enhancements were introduced, such as the addition of a headrest around the rider and additional crash structures in the crumple zone, introduced over several years to increase protection against high-speed impacts in all directions.
Circuits also saw new changes, with the introduction of a pit lane speed limit and almost 30 corners identified as high-risk and modified or removed. Many gravel traps were also replaced with asphalt run-offs to prevent cars from being lifted or overturned.
By the end of the decade, engines were reduced in power, cars were narrowed and tires were fitted with grooves to reduce mechanical grip and thus lower overall cornering speed.
In the 2000s, the changes in the regulations to slow down continued, limiting the rear diffusers, reducing the power of the engines in the mid-2000s. In the late 2000s, the aerodynamic devices were eliminated “additional” and restricting the performance of the ailerons.
The FIA’s mission to improve safety also continued, with the HANS (Head And Neck Safety) device introduced in 2003 and, more recently, the Halo (so called because it looks like an angel’s halo) in 2018.
Costs and sustainability
Over the last 20 years, much of the regulation has focused on reducing costs, key to which has been the introduction of a multi-stroke lifespan for some parts, such as engines and gearboxes, along with with the limitations in the use of tires.
In the late 2000s, when teams were struggling with their budgets, a regulation change even increased the size of the engine cover and rear wing endplates, just to give the teams more advertising space!
The 2010s focused on sustainability and improving entertainment as F1 suffered an exodus of manufacturers and struggled to stay relevant to fans with the increasing distractions of global digitization and social media.
The introduction of the KERS braking regeneration system in 2010 fulfilled both objectives, giving F1 its first experience with electric power to give an acceleration boost that added uncertainty and strategy to racing.
A year later, the Drag Reduction System (DRS) gave drivers another chance to ‘boost’, balancing the effects of following in turbulent air by allowing cars less than a second from the ahead of them to move a section of the rear wing and get rid of aerodynamic drag.
At the same time, teams were growing and becoming more astute in finding loopholes. As a result, the rulebook was changed to remove advancements such as dual and blown diffusers, F-ducts, “shark-fin” powered rear wings, flexible front wings, reactive driving, complex engine mapping, and even guns. of air with helium.
In 2014, the latest engine regulations were introduced which brought the arrival of ERS-K (a much more effective version of KERS) and ERS-H 1.6-litre turbocharged V6s with integrated electric power and ever-increasing limits. in the number of units per year.
Along with this, in the latter part of the decade the cars were narrowed (back to what they were in 1998), the width of the tires was increased by around 20% and the wings were simplified, in an effort to improve the performance. overtaking.
And what’s coming for the 2020s and beyond?
This decade began with the introduction of a budget cap to further cut costs, along with the promise of new regulations for a new generation of F1 cars that are sustainable and allow for greater overtaking.
A radical new car
The 2022 cars – which were originally planned for 2021 before the coronavirus hit economies – are designed with the aim of reducing the complex vortices that are currently shedding cars and preventing others from chasing them around corners. which limits overtaking.
According to research, the 2021 cars lost 35% of their downforce less than three bodies from the car in front, and almost 50% in just one. The new rules aim to reduce it to 4% and 18% respectively.
The main point was to shift the aerodynamic focus from the wings to the ground, and the new cars use full-length underfloor tunnels that exploit the effect to provide the most efficient downforce and least disruptive wake.
During development, there were even tests to explore the effect of removing the front wings altogether, but instead an entirely new front wing shape was developed that provides more consistent downforce.
The rear wing is also designed to reduce the effect of dirty air, while wheel covers are now required to reduce the damaging unstable vortices created by airflow through them.
The tires have also changed dramatically, with low-profile 18-inch wheels designed to limit overheating and reduce the ‘bulging’ effect that current tires have on the airflow around the car which causes instability.
Safety and sustainability have not stood still either, as 10% of the fuel is now E10 ethanol and the chassis is longer, stronger and heavier (now 790kg) and must pass even more stringent crash tests.
More sustainable engines
The new engine regulations are planned for 2026 but have not yet been completed, although they are expected to have increased electrical power from a simplified hybrid power unit and run on 100% sustainable fuels.
F1’s electrical element has already doubled, moving from the original 60kW, 80bhp KERS system to the current 120kW MGU-K format. Future plans currently estimate that it will almost triple to 350kW, equivalent to 470bhp.
