F1 2014 thread

New F1 rules for 2015:

From next season, safety-car periods will be followed by a standing re-start from the grid. The move is one of a number of 2015 changes announced by Formula One racing’s governing body, the FIA, following a meeting of its World Motor Sport Council in Munich, Germany on Thursday.
Other revisions to the F1 regulations include tighter restrictions on testing, with a ban on pre-season testing outside Europe, and changes to make the cars’ noses both safer and more attractive. Drivers will be limited to four engines per season instead of five, while cars will enter parc ferme conditions from the start of final practice, rather than the start of qualifying.
The standing re-starts will replace the current rolling re-start procedure unless the safety car is used within two laps of the original race start (or a subsequent re-start), or if there are less than five laps of the race remaining.
The full statement from the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council:
FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Changes to the F1 Regulations for 2015 have been agreed by the WMSC.
The last date at which the sporting and technical regulations can be changed without unanimous agreement has been changed from 30 June to 1 March each year, starting from 2015.
Changes to 2015 Sporting Regulations
Power units
- The number of engines permitted by each driver in a season will be four. However, if there are more than 20 races in a season, the number will increase to five.
- The penalty for a complete change of Power Unit will be starting from the back of the grid, not the pit lane.
Aerodynamic testing
- The number of wind tunnel runs will be reduced from 80 hours per week to 65 hours per week.
- Wind-on hours are to be reduced from 30 hours per week to 25 hours.
- Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) usage is to be reduced from 30 Teraflops to 25 Teraflops.
- Two periods of tunnel occupancy will be allowed in one day (rather than only one).
- Teams will only be able to nominate one wind tunnel in one year.
Testing
- There will be three pre-season tests of four days each in Europe in 2015 (currently teams are able to test outside Europe). This will be reduced to two tests of four days in 2016.
- There will be two in-season tests of two days each in Europe (instead of the current four). Two of these four days must be reserved for young drivers.
Car specification at an Event
The current restrictions to the parc ferme will now apply from the start of P3 instead of the start of qualifying.
Wheels and tyres
The [proposed] ban on tyre blankets will be rescinded for 2015. This will be re-discussed if and when the wheel and tyre diameter increases in the future.
Personnel Curfew
The Friday night curfew will be extended from six to seven hours in 2015 and will increase to eight hours in 2016.
Safety Car restarts
Safety Car restarts will now be a standing start from the grid. Standing starts will not be carried out if the Safety Car is used within two laps of the start (or restart) of a race or if there are less than five laps of the race remaining.
Changes to 2015 Technical Regulations
A number of changes have been made, including:
- A number of new regulations for the noses to ensure improved safety and to provide more aesthetically pleasing structures.
- A number of new regulations concerning skid blocks to ensure that they are made from a lighter material (titanium) and are better contained.
- New regulations to ensure that the brake discs rotate at the same speed as the wheels.
- A two-stage wheel fastener retaining system is now compulsory.
 
Some smart, some average and some really dumb ideas from the FIA.

Lets see how this works out.
 
Polish said:
Isn't that what this means ?

You mean like in original post qualifying grid formation ?
Click to expand...

Where does the safety car come into the equation? Call it stop race...everyone stops on the grid after this is called (no overtaking) and restarts. No need for a physical "safety car". Or did I misunderstand the rule?
 
satanboy said:
Where does the safety car come into the equation? Call it stop race...everyone stops on the grid after this is called (no overtaking) and restarts. No need for a physical "safety car". Or did I misunderstand the rule?
Click to expand...

Misunderstood, what you're describing is a red flag.

How it's gonna work is that they'll follow behind the SC as they do now but instead of the SC just pulling into the pits it'll stop them all on the line then get out out of the way quickly and away we go.

Can't red flag at every incident cos it takes 15min to get the cars started again, this rule is purely a gimmick to make the races more interesting
 
satanboy said:
Where does the safety car come into the equation? Call it stop race...everyone stops on the grid after this is called (no overtaking) and restarts. No need for a physical "safety car". Or did I misunderstand the rule?
Click to expand...

The way I understand it the safety car goes out and leads until the track is clear, once race control approves the SC takes the cars to the start/ finish where they line up again, SC drives off and a five lights restart.
 
Polish said:
The way I understand it the safety car goes out and leads until the track is clear, once race control approves the SC takes the cars to the start/ finish where they line up again, SC drives off and a five lights restart.
Click to expand...

Yup...this is what I thought...makes no sense.
 
satanboy said:
Yup...this is what I thought...makes no sense.
Click to expand...

Indeed odd, wastes time and gives chance to further crashes as they rescramble.

But does add some excitement for viewers and compromises any lead for frontrunners plus the advantage for the leader as he gets best headstart using the harmonica effect on a rolling restart.
 
What I don't get is why the FIA instead of working with the teams and technology they rather curb it.
 
@vinodh

Do you have a link to the 2015 regulations ? I'd like to read up in more detail.
 
Polish said:
What I don't get is why the FIA instead of working with the teams and technology they rather curb it.
Click to expand...

They spend way too much time coming up with these things to attract casual viewers. They need to go back to basics.
 
It looks like technology is always a few steps ahead with FIA curtailing it, having said, maybe the developments are too fast and advanced for viewers ?
 
Polish said:
@vinodh

Do you have a link to the 2015 regulations ? I'd like to read up in more detail.
Click to expand...

This page has all the current rules and regs: http://www.formula1.com/inside_f1/rules_and_regulations/sporting_regulations/12877/fia.html

Just click on the links on the right hand side for each section. You get the option of a summarised version or a detailed version,

The rules I pasted earlier came from here: http://www.formula1.com/inside_f1/rules_and_regulations/sporting_regulations/12877/fia.html
 
Last edited:
Here' some new rules for 2015 as proposed by Pitpass.com:

As the sport further attempt to improve its 'green' credentials, it is being proposed that when a car returns to the pits, each team member will take it in turn to charge their mobile phone or lap top from the residual charge in the car's battery.

Ferrari will be banned from using flo-vis on Grand Prix weekend Fridays, a saving of around £587,000 each race.

All drivers will be restricted to only five different helmet designs per season.

All cars can only have a max of three logos and one paint colour - McLaren having introduced the idea a year early.

Team personnel are to bring their own packed lunches for race weekends and all tea-bags are to be used twice.


My suggestions:

Since the last race of the year is now double points, all of next years races will be double points.

A button to be added to the steering wheels of all cars that when pressed, will reduce the engine power of the car in front by 25%, if the gap is within 3 seconds.

A driver will get an extra button press if he is German, has won 4 world championships, drives for Red Bull Racing and calls other drivers a "cucumber"

Parc Ferme rules apply from the start of first practice of the first race of the season. No further setup changes are allowed for the rest of the season. Unless it's done secretly with Pirelli or your team's former team principal is the current President of the FIA

One engine for the season. If it gets replaced, then you get a 40 place grid penalty. Since there are only 22 slots, this must therefore be seen as a very serious penalty.

Causing a collision will be penalised with a drive through penalty and if you have incurred more than 3 for the season, then you will be forced to go to NASCAR.
 
vinodh said:
Here' some new rules for 2015 as proposed by Pitpass.com:

As the sport further attempt to improve its 'green' credentials, it is being proposed that when a car returns to the pits, each team member will take it in turn to charge their mobile phone or lap top from the residual charge in the car's battery.

Ferrari will be banned from using flo-vis on Grand Prix weekend Fridays, a saving of around £587,000 each race.

All drivers will be restricted to only five different helmet designs per season.

All cars can only have a max of three logos and one paint colour - McLaren having introduced the idea a year early.

Team personnel are to bring their own packed lunches for race weekends and all tea-bags are to be used twice.


My suggestions:

Since the last race of the year is now double points, all of next years races will be double points.

A button to be added to the steering wheels of all cars that when pressed, will reduce the engine power of the car in front by 25%, if the gap is within 3 seconds.

A driver will get an extra button press if he is German, has won 4 world championships, drives for Red Bull Racing and calls other drivers a "cucumber"

Parc Ferme rules apply from the start of first practice of the first race of the season. No further setup changes are allowed for the rest of the season. Unless it's done secretly with Pirelli or your team's former team principal is the current President of the FIA

One engine for the season. If it gets replaced, then you get a 40 place grid penalty. Since there are only 22 slots, this must therefore be seen as a very serious penalty.

Causing a collision will be penalised with a drive through penalty and if you have incurred more than 3 for the season, then you will be forced to go to NASCAR.
Click to expand...

This :D:D:D
 
Ecclestone indictment raises question over F1 "bribe"

The bribery case against Bernie Ecclestone is still motoring on in Germany not that the wider world would know about it. The media appears to have gradually become tried of the seemingly endless stream of bankers and bureaucrats who are giving evidence. As is often the case in these kind of trials, the big news recently broke away from the court room and it comes from the indictment against Ecclestone according to an article in American business magazine Forbes by Christian Sylt.

Surprisingly the indictment seems to call into question whether Ecclestone really did pay a bribe as he has been charged with doing. Prosecutors have accused Ecclestone and his Bambino family trust of paying a £26m ($44m) bribe to steer the sale of F1 in 2006 to the private equity firm CVC but close inspection of the 256-page indictment reveals what appears to be a key hurdle to their case.

Ecclestone admits paying Gerhard Gribkowsky, the former chief risk officer of German bank BayernLB which owned a 47.2% stake in F1's parent company SLEC. However, he denies that it was a bribe and says he paid Gribkowsky to stop him making unfounded allegations about his tax affairs.

The show-stopping revelation in the indictment is that Gribkowsky did not actually have the power to steer the sale of F1 to CVC which raises the question of what would have been the point in Ecclestone bribing him. The decision to sell was made by a majority of BayernLB board members and Ecclestone has not been charged with bribing them.

BayernLB was paid £478m ($814m) for its stake which valued F1 at £1.2bn ($2bn) and was double CVC's initial offer. The indictment reveals that Ecclestone knew Gribkowsky could not get the BayernLB board to accept the initial lower offer. "The Accused knew that BayernLB was not ready to sell its shares for offers of between £235m ($400m) and £294m ($500m), so the resulting sale price from an enterprise value of £600m ($1bn) ,as CVC brought into play, would not meet the expectations of the bank. The Accused knew that a sale at this price would fall through since he reckoned that even Dr Gribkowsky could not negotiate this price with BayernLB."

The indictment adds that Ecclestone was aware of this because "BayernLB did not agree to offers in the order of between £235m ($400m) and £294m ($500m) which were made between April and July 2005."

According to the indictment, Ecclestone encouraged CVC to pay more as he "reckoned from the start that BayernLB would not turn down an offer based on an enterprise value of £1.2bn ($2bn) for 100% of SLEC." This is exactly what happened as BayernLB snapped up the £478m offer for its stake and numerous executives from the bank have testified that they did not believe it was undervalued.

If the F1 stake could not have been sold at the lower price, because the BayernLB board would not have accepted it, then it directly follows that Gribkowsky did not have the power to steer the sale to CVC. If Gribkowsky did not have the power to steer the sale to CVC then how could Ecclestone have bribed him to do this? To guarantee that BayernLB sold its F1 stake to CVC Ecclestone would have had to bribe the board of the bank but there is no suggestion that this is what he did.

Given that the most Gribkowsky could do is try to convince the BayernLB board to agree to sell it seems that a charge of attempted bribery would better suit the prosecutors' evidence against Ecclestone. Of course he has not been charged with attempted bribery but with bribery itself though time will tell whether this sticks.
Click to expand...

www.pitpass.com

Methinks the prosecution case is falling apart a bit.
 
GP2 leader Palmer in talks for 2015 F1 race seat

GP2 championship leader Jolyon Palmer says he is in discussions with an F1 team about a race seat for 2015.

Palmer, 23, has been in top form for DAMS this season and leads Felipe Nasr by 33 points, with two victories and five podium finishes to his name. The Brit saw his championship lead cut by Nasr in Austria but heads to his home race in Silverstone looking to put his title challenge back on track.

Though he admits there is a chance of a step up to F1 Palmer insists he will not allow it to distract him from his goal of winning the GP2 championship.

"Things are progressing," Palmer told Sky Sports News. "So far this season things have been almost perfect for me minus the little blip in Austria, but really everything is coming together well. There are some Formula 1 talks progressing, but not much I can say at the moment.
Click to expand...

http://en.espnf1.com
 
Formula E 'the future' of motorsport - Heidfeld

Former F1 driver Nick Heidfeld says he offered his services to Formula E because he thinks it has the tools to eventually overtake F1 as the premier motorsport series in the world.

Formula E's inaugural season begins at Beijing's Olympic Stadium in September 2014, with the electronically-powered series including teams formed by the likes of Richard Branson and actor Leonardo Di Caprio. The revolutionary series hopes to make an impact on the future of the electric motor vehicle and Heidfeld believes growing environmental awareness across the world makes Formula E an exciting series to be part of.

"I cannot look into the future but of course with the technology behind it, if you tried to look into the future, Formula E looks like the place to be and the place to go," Heidfeld told ESPNF1 at the Formula E launch in London. "Everybody you speak to, even sponsors, seem to be very interested in that because it's a lot more environmentally friendly. This is also why I like it, because it can turn into something big.

"When I started karting and motor racing when I was young, the environmental effect of racing as a child was not on my mind and I think for the general public it was the same as well. Now that has changed. Obviously I like both! I want to be friendly to the environment and race and here I can combine the two and I think that is the future."

But Alain Prost, who has also created his own team in the series, is more wary of predicting how big Formula E can become.
Click to expand...

http://en.espnf1.com
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X