History of Formula One Regulations - 1990s: Complacency Proves Costly

1990s: Complacency Proves Costly

See also: 1990 Formula One season, 1991 Formula One season, 1992 Formula One season, 1993 Formula One season, 1994 Formula One season, 1995 Formula One season, 1996 Formula One season, 1997 Formula One season, 1998 Formula One season, and 1999 Formula One season

Despite several near misses (particularly during the turbo era) Formula One had managed to go almost 12 whole years without a single fatality at a race meeting. The strength of the carbon fibre chassis being used and the fortunate escapes of many drivers involved in high speed accidents during this period made many people inside the sport believe that death was a thing of the past in Formula One. This attitude was made to look foolish when the FIA hastily banned virtually all of the performance enhancing electronic technology that the teams had become dependent on for the start of the 1994 season. This made many of that year's cars nervy and edgy to drive. With more horsepower than 1993 but with less in car stability some observers at the time (most notably Ayrton Senna) stated that they believed 1994 would "be a season with lots of accidents".

Near fatal accidents to JJ Lehto (pre season), Jean Alesi (in season testing) and Rubens Barrichello (Friday practice at San Marino) were to both prove Senna right and be just a precursor to the deaths on successive days of Roland Ratzenberger and the triple World Champion Brazilian himself at the San Marino Grand Prix. The sweeping changes that the FIA implemented post Imola proved to be almost as rash as the ones at the end of 1993 and nearly claimed the life of Pedro Lamy in a testing accident. The cause of the accident was put down as rear wing failure as a result of the FIA rushing through new rules including one reducing the size of the rear diffuser which reduced the number of anchoring points the attached rear wing assembly could use. To its credit the FIA learned from the mistakes of 1994 and much more consideration and forward thinking was put into changes made to the rules from there onwards. By the close of the decade a measure of the impact on the sport that the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix had had was that for the first time in its history, safety had become Formula One's number one concern.

1990

Large mirrors and quick release steering wheel made mandatory, all marshals and medical staff must practice driver extrication exercises.

1991

Front wing narrowed from 150 cm (59 in) to 140 cm (55 in). Rear overhang reduced from 60 cm (24 in) to 50 cm (20 in). More stringent testing of survival cell by FIA including seat belts, fuel tanks and rollbar. Points scoring system overhauled, win now secures 10 points and all results to count instead of best 11 scores.

1992

Yet more exhaustive testing of survival cell including rear impact testing, height of kerbing lowered, minimum width of pit lane increased to 12 m (39 ft), pit lane entry chicane mandatory, safety car introduced.

1993

Rear tyre width reduced from 18 inches to 15 inches to reduce the grip and so the speed of the cars, overall car width reduced to 200 cm. Rear wing height reduced from 100 cm to 90 cm, distance of front end plates from flat bottom increased from 25 to 40 mm (0.98 to 1.6 in), head rest area increased from 80 to 400 cm2 (12 to 62 sq in). Continuously variable transmission (CVT) banned before ever appearing at a race. End of race crowd control measures implemented, 50 km/h speed lane restriction during free practice. Fuel used restricted to that available to the general public.

1994

Ban on electronic driver aids such as active suspension, traction control, launch control, ABS, and (without ever appearing in a race) 4 wheel steering at the beginning of the season, mid race refueling allowed for the first time since 1983, post Imola sweeping changes introduced to slow cars down, starting from the Monaco race onwards, a pit lane speed limit is put in place; between the Spanish Grand Prix and the German Grand Prix, additional changes are phased in and include a reduction in the height of the rear wing of 10 cm, an increase in the height of the front wing, no front wing trailing assemblies to extend behind front wheel, a 10 mm wooden plank fitted to the under tray (permitted to be worn by no more than 1 mm by the race end), a ban on high rear wing assemblies extending ahead of the rear axle line to sidestep the wing height restrictions, depressurising the engine airbox to reduce power, minimum headrest thickness 75 mm (3.0 in) introduced, more stringent fire extinguisher regulations and driver helmet criteria implemented,a pit lane speed restriction of 80 km/h (50 mph) in practice and 120 km/h (75 mph) in race conditions introduced, also the parade lap was to be completed behind safety car (abandoned from Imola onwards), pit spectator area to be fire shielded, 27 corners identified as very high risk and as a result changes to circuit layouts implemented to remove or modify these parts of the track. After Imola, pit lane speed limit is implemented.

1995

A reduction in engine capacity from 3,500 to 3,000 cc (214 to 183 cu in) to further slow cars, longer cockpit openings to reduce chance of drivers head hitting it in the event of an accident, survival cell side impact tests introduced, obligatory automatic neutral selection when engine stops, increase in length chassis must extend beyond drivers feet from 15 to 30 cm (5.9 to 12 in), frontal impact test speed increased from 11 m/s to 12 m/s, kerbs made smoother, pit wall debris shield installed, 3 inch safety straps mandatory, super licence criteria and fuel restrictions made more stringent (i.e. special racing fuels - previously an exotic mixture of benzenes and toluenes, are banned; only those with similar characteristics to everyday unleaded petrol are permitted).

1996

Increased cockpit protection around the driver's head. Front wing end plates to be no more than 10 mm thick to reduce damage to tyres of another car in the event of collision, all harness release levers must point downwards, to qualify for a race all cars must now be within 107% of pole time, car numbers now allocated on the basis of previous seasons performance, Friday qualifying abandoned but number of free practice sessions increased from two to three and number of laps allocated each day increased from 23 to 30, standardisation of all FIA safety cars and medical cars, more fire drills for marshals, starting procedure improved, data storage unit to be mounted within survival cell.

1997

Test tracks now require FIA approval and supervision, kerbing standardised, bolted tyre wall construction obligatory, cars to carry FIA ADR (accident data recorder) to analyse success of implemented safety measures, FIA approval required for all chief medical officers and medical centres, safety car made more powerful and may now be used for wet weather starts, accident intervention plan revised.

1998

Narrow track era begins in Formula One, width of car reduced from 2 metres to 1.8 metres with teams now running rubber with grooves in (4 on the rear and 3 on the front) to reduce the speed of the cars, asymmetric braking banned, X-wings banned, single fuel bladder mandatory, refueling connector must be covered, cockpit dimensions increased, side impact test now to use 100% more energy, tyre barrier effectiveness increased, pit lane must now have 100 m of straight running before first pit garage, increased use of pit lane lights alongside flags.

1999

Number of grooves on front tyres increased from three to four, flexible wings banned, pit lane shielding standardised, some run off areas to have asphalt instead of sand traps, at least four medical intervention cars and an FIA doctor car required, ADR required to be in operation during testing, wheels must be tethered to car to reduce the risk of launched components during an accident, rear and lateral headrest assembly made one piece and quick release, engine oil breathers must vent into engine air intake, extractable driver's seat madatory, frontal impact test speed increased to 13 m/s.