FIA: Changes to the 2014 Sporting Regulations

Published this Thursday, December 12, the Formula 1 sporting regulations for the 2014 season indicate some new features; some are not surprising or have been announced very recently, while others shed light on certain points. Motors Inside offers you a complete overview of the main regulatory changes, while noting that further modifications may still be made, as the World Motor Sport Council will meet next March.

It is worth noting that, in addition to the information that will follow, the regulation, in article 25.1, provides an indication of the contract duration between Pirelli and F1: it is a three-season commitment (2014, 2015, and 2016).

Moreover, on the technical regulations side this time, it is specified that the minimum weight of the single-seaters, which had been set at 690kg in 2014, despite the reluctance, will increase to 700kg starting in 2015.

Changes in Security, Offenses, and Penalties

Article 4.2: the points-based license, officially introduced for several months, is logically incorporated into the regulations. No sanctions scale has been communicated, and the regulations implicitly confirm that, alongside this new measure, the usual penalties are indeed maintained (art. 16).

Article 20.2: drivers cannot gain a lasting advantage from leaving the track limits. The addition of the term “lasting” aims to allow stewards to make the decision they consider best by assessing the circumstances of the case. Especially since this article has been extended: « At the absolute discretion of the race director, a driver may be given the opportunity to relinquish any advantage gained from leaving the track. »

The question of track limits has been an important point in Formula 1 news, with incidents involving Fernando Alonso and Sergio Pérez in Monaco, Romain Grosjean and Felipe Massa in Hungary, as well as Fernando Alonso and Jean-Eric Vergne in Abu Dhabi, which have sparked strong reactions from those involved and observers. Even more so, the question arose at the end of the season whether a driver who exceeded track limits while in a defensive position could also be penalized.

Article 23.11: all team members working on a car during a pit stop in a race must wear head protection. The rewriting of this article was likely prompted by the incident that occurred during the last Singapore Grand Prix, where a member of Renault Sport intervened for an issue on Romain Grosjean’s Lotus engine without wearing any particular protection.

Article 23.12: if a car is released unsafely into the pit lane during free practice or qualifying, the stewards may impose grid penalties they consider appropriate. However, if the same maneuver occurs during the race, there will be an automatic 10-place grid penalty for the next Grand Prix, and the stewards may, if possible, impose a penalty during the race in which the infraction was committed (drive through, additional time…).

**Article 26:** If a driver misses the FIA-imposed weighing during a Grand Prix session but the car is immediately returned under the same conditions as if it had come directly, the driver will receive a simple reprimand. However, if the car is not immediately returned to the FIA garage or is returned after the team has worked on it, the driver must start from the pit lane.

Changes regarding the drivers and their ranking

Article 6.4: The doubling of points during the last race is indeed confirmed. The use of a different scoring system between certain races during the season is a first in the history of the premier discipline, which has already experienced scoring systems that did not include all the season’s races or has multiple times changed the point system awarded at the end of the Grand Prix.

Article 6.7: This article establishes the creation of a trophy for the driver who has achieved the most poles during a season. In the event of a tie, the trophy will be awarded to the driver with the most second positions, then third positions, then fourth positions, and so on. If a winner cannot be determined, the FIA will decide based on its own criteria.

Article 21.2: The permanent number chosen by each driver must be clearly visible on « the front of the car and the driver’s helmet ». While number 1 is reserved for the reigning world champion if they wish to use it, they must still choose a permanent number for the years when they are not the reigning champion. It is not specified in this regulation, however, that the numbers must be between 2 and 99, for now.

Article 36.2 d): if two or more drivers do not set any time and do not even leave their garage during one of the qualifying sessions, they will be separated and ranked on the grid based on their ranking in Q2, Q1, or in Free Practice 3.

Changes regarding free practice and private testing:

Article 19.1 b): It will be possible for a team to run up to 4 drivers during Free Practice 1 and 2, with reserve drivers required to display the number they have chosen. Teams will also have an additional set of tires available for Free Practice 1 (see art. 25.4). This regulatory change is intended to allow more track time for the teams’ third drivers, whose role and experience acquisition suffer due to the restriction of private testing.

Article 22: The article on testing has undergone extensive rewriting, particularly due to the various controversies that have marked the season /f1/actualite/16713-the-fia-announces-changes-for-2014.html and especially the one concerning Pirelli’s secret tests with Mercedes. Three categories of testing are created: current car tests (« TCC ») including single-seaters for the 2014 to 2015 seasons, previous seasons’ car tests (« TPC ») including single-seaters for the 2010 to 2012 seasons, and historical car tests (« THC ») including single-seaters from 2009 and before.

The TCC and TPC must be notified to the FIA at least 72 hours before they begin, so that the Federation can send an observer. The F1 World Championship teams are obviously the main recipients of these rules, but not exclusively, as the regulations specify that third parties acting on behalf of competitors are also subject to this obligation to notify the FIA. It is possible to think of Pirelli or even Honda, which will not arrive until 2015 but may want to test its engines in real conditions throughout the year 2014.

Article 22.6 g): the principle of a wet track tire testing day during pre-season testing is established.

Article 22.6 h): four private two-day test sessions with the current year’s cars will be conducted on circuits that have just hosted a Grand Prix (the tests must start within 36 hours after the race ends). This rule marks the relaxation of the authorities regarding the ban on private testing during the season and is intended to allow both the teams and Pirelli to work on improving their production at lower costs.

Article 25.4: A set of prime (the hardest tires brought by Pirelli during a weekend) tires may only be used during the first thirty minutes of Free Practice 1; this is to add a bit more excitement to this often very calm moment of the Grand Prix.

Modifications regarding the « power unit » and fuel management

Article 28.4: With the arrival of this hybrid engine, which will include six distinct elements (the engine, the MGU-K, the MGU-H, the energy store, the turbocharger, and the electronic control unit) limited to a maximum of 5 per season, penalties will be imposed differently, as follows:

– le remplacement du power unit dans son intégralité (les 6 éléments précités) entraînera le départ du pilote depuis les stands

– la première utilisation d’un sixième élément parmi ceux qui composent le power unit vaudra 10 places de pénalité sur la grille

– les utilisations suivantes d’un sixième élément vaudront 5 places de pénalité sur la grille.

– la première utilisation d’un septième élément parmi ceux qui composent le power unit vaudra 10 places de pénalité sur la grille

– les utilisations suivantes d’un septième élément vaudront 5 places sur la grille et ainsi de suite.

For example, if a driver must use a sixth turbocharger during the 2014 season, and it’s the first power unit component to exceed the quota of five, the penalty imposed will be 10 grid places. However, if they subsequently need to use a sixth element, different from the turbocharger, they will incur a penalty of 5 grid places.

The regulation also specifies that if a penalty cannot be fully served during the race following its application, the remainder of the penalty will be carried over to the next race, and only to that one.

Article 29.5: no car can consume more than 100kg of fuel between the start and finish of a race. Drivers who exceed this limit will be excluded from the race, except in cases of force majeure.

As a reminder, the engines will be homologated and gradually frozen each year (article 28.5 and appendix 4) to prevent an “arms race” from developing among engine manufacturers and driving up costs.