History of Formula One Regulations - 2000 To 2010: Excess Gives Way To Sustainability

2000 To 2010: Excess Gives Way To Sustainability

See also: 2000 Formula One season, 2001 Formula One season, 2002 Formula One season, 2003 Formula One season, 2004 Formula One season, 2005 Formula One season, 2006 Formula One season, 2007 Formula One season, 2008 Formula One season, 2009 Formula One season, and 2010 Formula One season

By the end of the 1990s safety standards had risen dramatically for the second time in 20 years. The deaths of marshals in both 2000 and 2001 after being struck by tyres after accidents at the Italian and Australian Grand Prix respectively showed that the sport will never be completely safe. However on the whole the sport was in much better shape safety wise than it had been before. Save for the introduction of HANS (head and neck safety) system in 2003 there have been no major safety improvements in the sport since the turn of the millennium.

Most of the changes that the FIA have implemented to the regulations in the nine seasons since the year 2000 have been aimed at trimming speed off the cars and, later in the decade, at reducing the costs involved in Formula One. These have risen by a factor of between three and four for the top teams like Ferrari and McLaren. This sudden increase in budgets has largely been down to the influx of big spending car manufacturers setting up teams in the sport since Mercedes paved the way by buying 40% of the Mclaren team.

As of 2008, with the global credit crunch threatening to turn into a full blown global recession, many of the car manufacturers (whose sales have been hit hard by the economic crisis) can no longer afford the huge amounts of money they are investing in the sport. The gravity of the situation was realised when Honda suddenly withdrew its participation at the end of the 2008 season, later confirming to have sold the team, specifically blaming the world economic crisis. With the possibility of other manufacturers being faced with a similar decision to make, they along with the FIA agreed changes to the rules over the next two seasons (at least) to bring about dramatic cost savings in an effort to save the sport from collapsing under the weight of its own costs.

2000

Engines other than V10, normally aspirated, no larger than 3000cc, are banned. No additional regulation changes.

2001

Traction control allowed again as FIA admit they are unable to police whether teams are using the system effectively, use of beryllium alloys in chassis or engine construction banned. Larger cockpit entry template and survival cell.

2002

Team orders banned after Rubens Barrichello hands victory to Michael Schumacher at final corner of the Austrian Grand Prix.

2003

Bi directional telemetry banned HANS (head and neck safety) system mandatory, change to point scoring system, points now being awarded down to 8th place, actual points scored now to run 10,8,6,5,4,3,2,1 from 1st to 8th place, testing allowed on a Friday of a race meeting in exchange for a reduction of testing mileage allowed outside of the Grand Prix calendar to make it more affordable for smaller teams, changes to qualifying session with only one flying lap now allowed for grid position with the 107% rule no longer applied, cars may not be refueled between final qualifying and the race start.

2004

Engines required to last a whole race meeting, any engine change to result in 10 place grid penalty, minimum weight set at 605 kg during qualifying and at no less than 600 kg at all other times (including driver and fuel), pit lane speed limited to 100 km/h at all times, each driver must select his wet and dry weather tyre compounds before the start of the race, minimum size of engine cover and rear wing end plates set to maximise advertising space, multi element rear wings banned and two element wings mandated, launch control banned for the second time, fully automatic transmission banned.

2005

Rear diffuser size reduced to limit downforce, all engines now required to last two race weekends, qualifying format changed to two aggregate times from Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning to count towards grid positions (this format lasted until the European GP when qualifying reverted to a driver's fastest single lap to count from Saturday afternoon qualifying), further changes to dimensions of front and rear wings and nose of car to make overtaking easier, restriction on tyre changes during qualifying and the race itself, if a driver stalls on the grid after the parade lap the other cars will now complete a second lap whilst the stalled vehicle is removed, in the event of a red flag the two-hour race clock will no longer freeze between race sessions.

2006

Only 14 sets of tyres allowed all weekend (seven dry, four wets and three extreme wets), in race tyre changing permitted again, qualifying format changed to three 15 minute shoot outs where the slowest cars are eliminated in the first two sessions leaving the 10 quickest to start with a clean slate and to go for pole position, the final session was reduced from 20 minutes to 15 minutes from the French Grand Prix onwards, Saturday free practice increased from 45 minutes to an hour in length. Engine capacity limited to 2400 cc and number of cylinders allowed reduced to eight in an attempt to reduce horsepower (although teams were allowed to run a rev restricted V10 for an interim period if no engine under the new regulations was available to them), restriction in the use of non ferrous materials in engine construction along with limiting the number of valves per cylinder to four, all engines must be of a 'V' configuration and at an angle of 90 degrees,

2007

Tuned mass damper system banned, rev limit of 19,000 rpm introduced, rear wing structure strengthened to prevent flexing, increased strength required from rear crash structure, single tyre supplier (Bridgestone) after withdrawal of Michelin, revised tyre regulations mean drivers must use both hard and soft compound tyre during the course of race (soft compound tyres are identified by a white stripe in one of the front tyre grooves), engine development frozen until the end of 2008 to cut costs, further restrictions to regulations means no teams may run a 3rd car on Friday, both sessions on Friday extended to 90 minutes in length, engine changes on first day of practice no longer subject to grid place penalty, pit lane restrictions during any period the safety car is on the track, annual testing limited to 30,000 km to reduce costs.

2008

Traction control banned for the second and final time by means of all teams using a standard electronic control unit (ECU) to eliminate the possibility of teams concealing the technology within their own engine management systems, strict limits placed on the amount of CFD and wind tunnel testing allowed each year.

2009

Banning of almost all aerodynamic devices other than front and rear wing, slick tyres allowed once more (keeping to narrow track dimensions), limit of eight race/qualifying engines for the whole season (every new engine above this eight results in 10-place grid penalty), reduction of rear wing width from 1000 mm to 750 mm and in increase in height from 800 mm to 950 mm, reduction in the ground clearance of front wing from 150 mm to 50 mm and an increase in width from 1400 mm to 1800 mm, rear diffuser to be longer and higher, variable front aerodynamic devices permitted (with limited in car control by driver) and the introduction of KERS (kinetic energy recovery system) to store some of the energy generated under braking and convert it into a temporary horsepower increase of around 80 bhp that can be used 6.6 seconds per lap by the drivers for overtaking.

2010

Drastic cost-cutting measures are introduced. In-race refueling ban returns, as a result fuel can be added to any F1 car after qualifying, but Q3 drivers must start the race with the tyres they set their fastest Q3 time with. The same 8 engine limit is maintained despite the increase to 19 races over the course of the season (with a rev limiter set at 18,000 rpm to assist in this), front tyre width reduced, a ban on testing during the season as well as an agreement with teams about reducing the number of staff employed. 3 new teams mean 7 drivers are now dropped from Q1 and Q2. Scoring system changed to allow the first ten cars to receive points: 25, 18, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, 1. Backmarkers no longer able to unlap themselves behind the Safety Car. Teams unanimously agree not to use KERS for the 2010 season in order to allow all teams time to be able to develop and perfect their own systems.