Formula One Rules Simplified
Each race of Formula One is governed under a plethora of rules and regulations. While some of these regulations are widely understood, many spectators have problems with understanding those penalties and directives that do not become part of the races on a regular basis. We attempt to explain and simplify these rules for Formula One spectators so that they can understand the sport better.
Officials
There are 7 key officials that monitor and control every race. 5 of these are nominated by the FIA which include race director, a permanent starter and three stewards. The rest of the two officials are nominated by the National Sporting Authority of the host country and includes a race clerk and an additional steward.
The race director has the overriding authority over the decisions on the rest of the officials.
Car Livery
Carrying car numbers, driver’s name and manufacturer’s monogram on the car is mandatory. The two cars of same team are further distinguished by the colour of the onboard cameras which must be red for one car and yellow for the other.
Technical Changes
No more than two cars are allowed per team during a race and in case a driver has to change his car, he will have to start his race from the pits. Each car is allowed eight engines for the entire season and should a driver use more than the designated number, he will drop ten places on the grid at the race when the additional engine is used. There is also a requirement of using one gearbox for four consecutive sessions and any change of gearbox before four events results in the driver losing 5 places on the grid before the start of the race.
Tyres
On every race weekend, a driver is given 11 sets of dry weather tyres, including 6 hard and 5 soft sets, 4 sets of intermediate tyres and 3 sets of extreme weather tyres. During dry conditions, the drivers are required to use both hard and soft compounds. In case a race starts behind the safety car due to wet weather conditions, the drivers are required to use wet weather tyres. Other than that, the drivers are free to choose dry, intermediate or wet weather tyres.
Parc Ferme
Parc Ferme is an enclosed area where all cars are submitted after the qualifying and stay there until a little while before the start of the race. In Parc Ferme, the tyres may be changed, brakes bled and wings adjusted. Any other changes are not allowed and the purpose of keeping the cars in this area is to ensure that no significant changes are made to gain unfair advantage in the race.
Race Starts
Drivers must have tyres on their cars three minutes before the formation lap and their engines must be running one minute before it. A failure to meet these conditions forces a driver to start from the pit lane. Drivers are allowed to run practice laps until 15 minutes before the race but they can only pass through the pit lane instead of the start-finish straight. Pit lane closes 15 minutes before the race starts and any car in the pit lane during that time will have to start from there.
Flag Rules
Blue flags are the most common of the flags use in Formula One racing which indicate that a faster car is approaching and is about to lap the car in front. The slower car is shown the blue flag which must give way to the car which is following it. Yellow flags indicate danger and require the drivers to slow down. Overtaking is prohibited in the sectors in which yellow flags are being waved. Red flags indicate that the session has been stopped due to an accident or poor racing conditions.
Green flags are waved to indicate that all is clear and are waved after yellow flags have been lifted. The white flags warn of a slow moving vehicle on the track while a slippery track is indicated by a striped red and yellow flag. A black flag followed by a car number means that the race for that driver is over and he has been disqualified from the race.
Safety Car
Whenever an incident or accident occurs which is not severe enough to stop the race but cannot be dealt with under yellow flags, safety car is deployed. All lapped cars are allowed to overtake safety cars and un-lap themselves. The safety car carries orange lights which are turned off when it is about to go off the track to signal the drivers that race will resume after this lap. Cars are no longer allowed to go into the pits under the safety car but if the start-finish straight is blocked and the safety car has to pass through the pit line, only then can the cars can make it to the pit stops.
Penalties
Penalties are given to drivers following jump starts, causing avoidable accidents, unfairly blocking other drivers and speeding in pit lane etc. The most common penalties include the drive-through penalty which requires a driver to drive through the pit lane under pit lane speed limitations and stop-go penalty which requires the driver to pass through the pit lane and stop at his team’s pit for 10 seconds.
Driver must serve these penalties within three laps after they are awarded and in case these penalties are given during the last five laps of the race, the drivers are not required to serve them and instead 25 seconds are added to their final race time.
Other penalties include dropping a certain number of positions on the grid following a gearbox or engine change.
Classification & Points
Sometimes drivers are retired and yet they are classified. This happens because to gain classification, a driver has to complete only 90 percent of the race. If a driver has completed the required distance, then he will be classified even if he stopped before the eventual winner crossed the finish line.
If a race cannot be completed, then allocation of points will depend on the percentage of completion. If 3 quarters of the race have been completed, all points will be awarded, if a race has been stopped before 75 percent distance and after the completion of 2 laps, half the points will be awarded. In case of less than 2 laps, no points are given.
Where the races cannot be completed, classification will be based on the position of drivers on the lap two laps prior to that on which the race ended. For example if a race ends on lap 42, the drivers will be classified according to whatever their positions were at the end of lap 40.
We believe that the simplification of these rules will aid the readers to understand them and in turn they will be better able to understand the race and stewards’ decisions.
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