Date: December 16 2009
Mood: Optimistically thoughtful (S)=:)
Currently: Reading the 2010 F1 Sporting Regulations
The FIA recently issued a brand-new version of the 2010 regulations. As such, I will be comparing this version of the document with the previous version and highlighting the changes. The fact that the FIA has not highlighted some of the alterations is annoying, but I will do my best.
Contents and Preamble
There is now a section on homologated parts, appended to the "Spare Parts, Gearboxes and Engines" section (Article 28).
The organisation agreement, rule changes, driver contract recognition bureau and cost cap regulations appendices have been removed. The latter will have gone because the Concorde Agreement was signed by all parties after the last version of the regulations was released. The organisation agreement and rule changes appendices also obsolete due to the Concorde Agreement. The CRB chapter never had anything shown in it, so removing it was probably a size-reduction exercise with no implications on the way that side of F1 is run.
The preamble no longer refers to Article 4 of the Sporting Regulations, instead invoking the Concorde Agreement.
Article 1
We no longer know when the FIA can make changes to the Sporting Regulations, these now forming part of the secret Concorde Agreement. This is slightly worrisome because if the FIA pulls a stunt like releasing a new version of the regulations a week before the first race, we won't be able to call them out for it with confidence. We will have to rely on the teams to know for certain... ...and since they missed several regulation changes within that late-changing document due to concentrating on the attempt to impose medals, I don't have a huge amount of faith in that route.
The regulations are now "published on the date below" which, when you think about it, makes more sense than re-typing the date into the text every time, given that the date of publication appears on the footer of every single page of the regulatory documents.
Article 2
There are no longer any exemptions for cost-regulated teams for the simple reason that the budget cap no longer exists.
Article 6
Article 6.3 now contains a provision concerning Listed Parts. These are the components of a car that define a constructor in the eyes of the FIA. It is OK to outsource these components as long as they are not used by any other teams. All references to intellectual property rights have been removed, meaning that a third party could design and build every part of the car - provided that they only allowed one team to use those parts. The Red Bull Technology/Paul White Racing trick (used by Red Bull and Honda respectively to allow whole cars to be used by two different teams - in the former case, simultaneously) is no longer possible.
The regulation change which has received the most attention so far is the points change in Article 6.4. Positions 1-4 and 7th place have had their points allocation multiplied by 2.5 and other positions in the top 8 also receive more points than before in order to extend the points system down to 10th. 5th and 6th become less valuable relative to 2009 while 8th-10th become more valuable (in the latter two positions' case, that was the point). It will still be trickier to score points in 2010 than in 2009 (40% of any given race entry list scored points each race in 2009, but only 38.4% will in 2010), but with six more cars on the grid something had to be done and this is probably the closest thing possible. It doesn't really change the status quo much, except for historians who have yet another statistical wrinkle to resolve.
Article 9
A very minor modification to refer to the Concorde Agreement instead of the obsolete arrangements in the previous Sporting Regulations for organisers of races.
Article 11
The FIA still retains the right to select an observer and a steward's advisor. Logically, this suggests that the former drivers Jean Todt has recently talked about will simply replace Alan Donnelly (apart from the chairman's role, which will now be held by one of the voting stewards), not perform some new role in the stewarding process.
Article 12
There is confirmation that whoever is the steward chairman will now have a vote.
Article 13
According to Article 13.1, entries into the 2011 championship will be accepted between 30 June and 15 July. This leaves a two-week window, just right for causing chaos if there is a stupid political situation. That said, the last few championship windows have been a bit... ...fluid, so this may change nearer to the time. Entry will cost the same (€309,000) for the 2011 season as it did for 2010, unless it is amended by the Concorde Agreement.
References to the year have been changed to refer to the date in the footer, thus saving whichever admin assistant types up these regulations some work in future years. This is a good thing.
According to Article 13.5, the F1 Commision, not the FIA, will decide if a team brings the sport into disrepute. This is presumably to allow the FIA to keep at arm's length from the impact of $100m fines and the like. It also proves that Jean Todt is serious about reviving the F1 Commision that Max Mosely allowed to wither away.
Article 16
If a driver has a penalty involving the pit lane issued within the last five laps of the race, the penalty now differs according to whether a drive-through or stop/go penalty was indicated. If it was a drive-through, then only 20 seconds instead of the previous 25 will be added. In practise, this makes the penalty lighter than if it had been issued in the race - possibly impetus for the stewards to make quicker decisions. However, stop/go penalties will now be 30 seconds (the new drive-through penalty plus 10 seconds), which is 5 seconds longer than before. Expect stewards to make greater use of stop/go penalties for bad behaviour penalised late in the race in order to discourage teams from deliberately waylaying penalties by asking for "clarification" or similar - or just plain discouraging drivers from behaving worse as the race goes on and the cut-off point approaches.
Article 16.4 means drivers may only drive for two laps before taking pit-lane-related penalties, not three. It is also specifically defined as "crossing the Line twice" rather than the slightly vaguer definition of "laps" and the prohibition on taking penalties under the Safety Car has been altered to reflect this. I think communication is just about good enough between driver and pit for this to work. It will also reduce the mitigation a driver can do by waiting until the last possible moment to take a penalty. Someone may get caught out at the start of the year though while everyone adjusts their thinking.
Article 19
Substitute drivers will have to take the engine and tyres allocated to the previous driver. I was under the impression that this was required in 2009 as well (and not just in the case of mid-race-weekend substitutions as already written in the regulations), but having it codified is no bad thing...
Article 22
Instead of three one-day driver tests, there will be one three-day driver test (which was what happened in 2009 in practise because the teams tested together in three adjacent days). The addition of "a site approved by the FIA for Formula 1 cars" is superflous becuase circuit testing (other varieties are covered under different parts of the Article) can only happen on FIA F1-approved sites - Article 22.1 e) is clear on that score.
In-season testing has been restricted but more options have been granted. Teams can choose between six straight-line/constant-radius corner tests, 24 hours of full-scale wind tunnel testing or a combination thereof (with 4 hours of full-scale wind tunnel testing in a 24-hour period being equivalent to one day of straight-line/constant-radius corner testing). Note that in 2009 full-scale wind tunnel testing was strictly forbidden. This reduces the effect of upgrades and will mean teams must plan carefully. Those who upgraded effectively in 2009 will do so even more effectively in 2010.
Article 22.1 c) has a new exception to it, which I would like to call "the Badoer rule". If a substitute driver is needed by a team and that driver hasn't raced in the last two years, that driver may do one day of circuit testing for familiarisation purposes. This test must be done at a track not hosting a round of F1 (so Silverstone and Barcelona are out, Fiorano and Jerez are in), it has to happen in a 28-day period around the first time where the substitution occurs (14 days before, 14 days after). Failing to make the substitution after declaring the test will result in one day of in-season testing being taken away from next year's allocation (what the FIA proposes to do about teams who break this rule and then quit F1 is unknown). In the specific case of the 2009 Ferrari, I'm not sure it would have been much help, but for easier-to-handle cars, it could save a lot of problems for rookies who are summoned to F1 under difficult circumstances.
Article 23
According to Article 23.1 a), Work in the fast lane is apparently forbidden if other cars could be impeded. The number of occasions when this could be invoked are limited, for work is only permitted in the fast lane in the build-up to a race start for those starting from the pit lane. I'd love to know what eventuality the FIA were trying to prevent with this that wasn't already prevented by some other part of the regulations.
Article 23.1 b) has changed a lot. All garage allocations must be equal, which the backmarker teams will love and the frontrunning ones will not (because someone must lose positions for equality to be achieved). All pit areas will be within a team's garage area, which I thought was always the case... ...maybe the FIA is attempting to prevent some sort of outlandish pit lane design or something.
No powered lifting devices are permitted in the pit lanes during races any more. This could cause a major problem if a driver needs a front wing changing because the standard lifting gear used by teams previously depended on either being able to use the front wing as a leverage point or power. Anyone in a first-corner bash may need to be taken into the garages for a front wing change, or else spend considerably longer having the change completed using manual labour. I can also see the mechanics at the front of the car in pit stops needing to increase their fitness training in case such a situation happens.
A driver who chooses to start from the pit lane by electing not to leave the pits until the 15 minutes are up, as opposed to one required to start there, for example because of a post-qualifying change of monocoque, would appear to now be exempt from 23.1 e). I say "appear" because without that regulation, such a driver would no longer be required to start from the pits! I suspect this was not the intention of the regulation, so don't be surprised to see the next amendment of the regulations iron out this flaw.
The requirement to release a car from a pit stop only when safe to do so has been moved to 23.1 j). I have no idea why.
Article 25
There is now a reference to the tendering process the FIA uses to select single tyre manufacturers.
Heating elements are permitted, but only if they heat the outer surface of the tyres (probably to prevent the heaters taking the form of whole-tyre boxes or heaters between the wheel hub and tyre).
Article 25.4 is written in such a way that races re-started under Article 42.5 a), in common with races started under the Safety Car, require all drivers to be on extreme wet-weather tyres. This should hopefully result in fewer problems when re-starting races under monsoon conditions (though it still won't help if the situation is like Malaysia 2009).
Interestingly, Article 25.5 prevents teams from using tyres on simulators, except for acquiring aero drag, tyre rolling resistance and purely vertical forces. Wheel rim producers are allowed to use F1 tyres solely to check their products work. I'm not sure how much of an effect this will have in practise - how easy would it be to collect extra data while the permitted data is being collected? Even if the teams aren't trying to collect that data?
Article 27
Tyre heating blankets are now permitted. This will be a relief to those who worried that the cars won't heat up their tyres correctly, especially given the large quantities of fuel that will be in the cars in 2010.
Article 28
The reference to fuel loads being free for anyone starting from the pits has been removed because the refuelling ban means it would make no difference to fuel load where a car is positioned on the grid - they'll all have just enough to complete the race.
Article 28.4 will make sure every engine replacement beyond the permitted eight is penalised. This gets round a proposed (but not acted upon) plan for Sebastian Vettel to take only one engine penalty by using engines 9 and 10 on the same Saturday. However, the proposed method (putting the second penalty for the next race) means such a plan could still be done at the final race of the season without penalty if the driver and team in question are not on the grid the next season (since I assume that if either were, the entity in question could take the penalty on the first race of next season).
Article 28.7 represents a significant change. It is only possible to have one survival cell, roll structure, impact structure, front and rear wheel design in a given year. These components are mostly safety devices that will reduce the workload the crash test centres and FIA beuracracy will have to deal with, but it means that any true monocoque design will effectively be fixed at the start of the year. I wonder about the possibility of making the aerodynamic parts a shell around the survival cell (and thus modifiable), but weight concerns would probably militate against that. This would prevent at least part of the McLaren upgrade that made them so powerful in the second half of the 2009 season.
Safety and reliability changes are permitted to all the components listed above at any time, so it is possible that some will shamelessly exploit the loophole. Adding "clear" into the sentence probably doesn't help, given that "clear" itself has multiple interpretations depending on who is looking at the situation.
Article 29
The refuelling article has changed substantially, as you'd expect given that refuelling (and removing fuel) between cars leaving the pits on race day and the moment the chequered flag is waved has been banned. When there isn't a race on, fuel can only be added or removed at a stately 800ml/second and the engine must be stopped when this is happening.
Article 34
Article 34.1 now permits fluids to be replaced in parc fermé, provided their specfic gravity is 1.1 or less. This is primarily to enable fuel to be added between qualifying and the race, thus allowing all qualifying sessions to be done on qualifying levels of fuel.
It will be compulsory for all cars to be covered with a FIA-sealed (but presumably team-provided) protective sheet after qualifying. This is instead of attempting to shoehorn 26 cars into the FIA garage for overnight parc fermé accommodation. Removal of the sheet may occur up to five hours before the race at each team's discretion.
Article 36
The reference to engine penalties has been amended to take into account a change of position of where engine penalties are described in Article 28. This has no material effect on the starting grid procedure.
Article 38
Article 38.4 has acquired a comma. This makes it grammatically incorrect because the comma is followed by the word "or", but makes no difference in the effect of the regulation.
Under Article 38.8, it is now possible to overtake another car if it's delayed anywhere on the lap, not just when it's slow off the line. This could be useful if a car has a technical problem, but I doubt it will be used very often. The car thus delayed has until the first safety car line (which is immediately before the pit entrance) to fully regain position, otherwise the driver must start from the pits. This won't help people who stall unless they get going before everyone passes them. The line used to determine what constitutes "everyone passes them" (1 metre ahead of pole position unless otherwise specified by that particular circuit) is now used for Article 42.6 as well as Article 40.15.
Article 38.11, which required pit lane starts for anyone moving when the one second light prior to the start of formation lap comes on or loses position on the formation lap, has been deleted. The "loses position on the formation lap" situation is covered by the re-write of Article 38.8 (which now gives such drivers more leeway), but it would appear that a driver can still be moving at the 1-second mark and not be penalised. This does not strike me as a good idea because having cars moving during a part of the procedure has resulted in dangerous situations. Particularly when the green lights come on and there are cars trying to slow down when others are speeding up...
Article 40
Article 40.7 has been changed in the light of Nico Rosberg's delta time in Japan 2009 being obscured by a "fuel low" message. While teams appear to still be allowed to overrule the delta time message, they do so at their own risk; it is explicitly stated that drivers must drive faster than the time given by the ECU until the safety car line is crossed for the first time.
There are some wording changes in Article 40.7 to make it clearer what is meant by a safety car period. Since it is from the "Safety Car Deployed" signs until the first safety car line after the safety car is called in (i.e. what the safety car period has meant ever since it was introduced), this makes no difference to the racing.
Article 40.11 has been highlighted as a change in Article number because lapped cars will no longer be permitted to overtake the safety car in a safety car period.
The message put out when it's time for the safety car period to end is being changed to "SAFETY CAR IN THIS LAP". Once the sign is out, the lead driver may drop more than ten car lengths behind the safety car. In effect, they will assume part of the safety car's job on the final lap of the safety car period, even before the safety car pits. Erratic acceleration and braking is also specifically banned on restarts, which will alter most drivers' methodology when it comes to restarting near the front of a race. There's a general ban on behaviour which could endanger other competitors or the restart as well.
Article 40.14 makes it possible to restart races under the safety car as well as begin races that way, with minor wording modifications made to reflect this. This has been done before (Nurburgring 2007 springs to mind), but now the formal conditions for such an event are listed in Article 42.5 a). Such situations will now be communicated through the timing monitors. This is especially important because Article 25.4 requires all such restarts to be conducted with everyone on extreme wet-weather tyres and timing monitors are much more reliable than e-mail for communication (ask Ferrari in Japan 2007).
Article 41
Following the mess that was the failed attempt to restart the Malaysia 2009 race, Article 41.2 no longer uses the grid as last seen on the timing screens to decide who starts where. Instead, the grid slots will be filled in order of cars arriving back to the grid. Yes, this will mean lapped cars in the middle of the pack and similar potentially-chaotic elements, but at least it won't take 10 minutes to figure out where everyone should be parked.
The safety car will take restarts from the front of the grid, not just position itself behind the red flag line (as it would for a standing-start course inspection). Work is permitted on cars once they reach thr grid. In practise, all this is likely to mean is that the red flag line is going to be taken out of the vocabulary needed to understand the regulations.
References to work permitted in the fast lane have been excised. Therefore, all work between a race suspension and restart must occur in the team's pit garage area or on the grid. This will reduce the risk of impediments to cars attempting to leave the pits.
Article 42
Lapped cars between the safety car and the leader will be waved off to complete a lap at the two-minute mark, as opposed to the previous vague "some point after the three-minute mark".
Under Article 42.5 a), wet weather is now a legitimate reason for a safety car restart, provided that the race director feels a formation lap under the safety car is insufficient to make the course safe for normal racing.
Article 42 has been modified to change all instances of "red flag line" with "grid".
Appendix 2
The team entry form no longer has lines across it. I hope nobody filling in that form has bad handwriting, or the forms could get tricky to read...
Changes to any element of the team appearing on the entry form must now be submitted to the FIA within 7 days of the changes being made, to give the FIA the right to refuse further participation in the championship should such changes breach the Concorde Agreement. This would appear to reduce flexibility in teams, but whether it actually does would depend on the contents of the Concorde Agreement.
The information is the same as last version of the document except that references to cost-cap regulations have been removed. Therefore, if a team changes its owner, address, contact information, directors, team principal, team manager, authorised representatives, engine supplier or drivers during the season, the FIA must be informed in case action needs to be taken. I can see this having some minor benefits (for example, the FIA need never worry about having a wrong number again!) but the lack of transparency over what the FIA could legitimately object to is causing me worry concerning potential abuse of the system - perhaps unwarranted worry, but some nonetheless.
Appendix 4
Note that, although this isn't a change, that the FIA is still permitting KERS engine fittings. I'd need to consult the technical regulations to see whether a KERS may be connected to said fittings.
Conclusions
These regulation modifications are mostly minor in nature. There are a couple of glaring errors in there, but they're the sort that will probably be corrected before too long. I particularly like the new safety car and restart regulations, but am slightly worried about the new entry form. Still, a generally positive document.
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