Rule Changes
A number of rules were changed for the 2008–09 season.
- The four qualifying sessions were reduced in length from fifteen minutes to ten minutes each.
- Teams may now utilise a "joker" qualifying lap (from Malaysia onwards). In one of the four qualifying sessions the team may elect to utilise their joker – for the flying lap in that session, the driver is granted the availability of the PowerBoost button for the entire lap.
- The Sprint Race has been increased from 19 minutes plus one lap, to 24 minutes plus one lap, as well as a mandatory pit-stop being added between laps four and eight, brought into effect starting in Malaysia.
- The Sprint Race now only scores the top eight positions: 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
- Only the best 8 race weekends will count towards the championship. Both the Sprint and Feature race points from one event will be dropped by teams that race all 9 events. This is to ensure that teams that will miss Zandvoort due to the lack of cars, will still have a fair chance at the title.
An update to the sporting regulations means that technical details of the fastest lap in any session (practice or qualifying) will be made available to all teams after the session ends. This is to allow slower or weaker teams to learn how they can improve their own lap times, making the "field spread" that much smaller.
Several detailed changes to the Friday "rookie sessions" were released on 1 September 2008:
- The age limit for rookie drivers (driver had to be younger than 25), has been abolished.
- Drivers who have competed in Formula One, GP2, the IndyCar Series, Formula Nippon, or the former Champ Car World Series cannot participate in the rookie session.
- Total track time is increased from 50 minutes to an hour.
- The gap between the two half sessions is increased from 10 to 20 minutes.
Read more about this topic: 2008-09 A1 Grand Prix Season
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