FIA announces raft of extra new rules for 2015

2015 F1 season

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The FIA has updated the sporting regulations for 2015 with a raft of further revisions to the rules for the upcoming season.

Among the alterations to the rules are a provision for teams to use current cars at demonstration runs, new restrictions on teams removing fuel from their cars before the race, and alterations to the Safety Car procedure.

New rules for 2015

Using current cars at demonstration events

Teams will now be able to use their current cars at two demonstration events per year, however they must take place between the final race of the season and the end of the year. That will prevent teams from using their current cars at events which take place during the season, such as the Goodwood Festival of Speed:

At the sole discretion of the FIA, and with the full knowledge of all competitors, each competitor will also be permitted to carry out two Demonstration Events (DE) with the above cars which will not be considered TCC [Testing of Current Cars]. A DE shall be defined as an event in which a competitor participates purely for demonstration purposes and may only be carried between the end of the last Event of the Championship and the end of the calendar year. No such demonstration may exceed 15km in length and only tyres manufactured specifically for this purpose by the appointed supplier may be used.
Article 22.1

Reconnaissance laps and formation laps

Drivers may now perform reconnaissance laps if they are starting the race from the pit lane:

With the exception of the reconnaissance lap permitted by Article 28.2(b), any driver that is required to start the race from the pit lane may not drive his car from his team’s designated garage area until the 15 minute signal has been given and must stop in a line in the fast lane.
Article 23.7

Drivers who drop out of position during the formation lap must regain it before the first Safety Car line, or face a ten-second stop-go time penalty:

A penalty under Article 16.3(d) will be imposed on any driver who fails to enter the pit lane if he has not re-established the original starting order before he reaches the first safety car line.
Article 38.8

Unsafe release

If a car is released from the pits in an unsafe manner or condition the driver will receive a ten-second stop-go penalty. They will receive a further penalty if the driver keeps going even if he is aware of the unsafe release:

c) If a car is deemed to have been released in an unsafe condition during a race a penalty under Article 16.3(d) will be imposed on the driver concerned.

d) An additional penalty will be imposed on any driver who, in the opinion of the stewards, continues to drive a car knowing it to have been released in an unsafe condition.
Article 23.12

Parc ferme

If a team changes a part under parc ferme conditions the replacement must now be “similar in design” to the original:

It must be clear that any replacement part a team wishes to fit is similar in design, mass, inertia and function to the original.
Article 34.2

During the German Grand Prix weekend last year Lewis Hamilton swapped his brakes under parc ferme conditions and changed from one manufacturer to another.

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Adjusting fuel levels

Teams are now forbidden from taking fuel out of the car on the grid, as well as adding to it:

Fuel may not be added to nor removed from a car after it has left the pit lane to start the first reconnaissance lap permitted under Article 38.1.
Article 29.1 (b)

18-car qualifying

The rules now state how qualifying will work if there are fewer than 22 cars:

If 24 cars are eligible seven will be excluded after Q1 and Q2, if 22 cars are eligible six cars will be excluded after Q1 and Q2, and so on if fewer cars are eligible.
Article 33.1

Safety Car procedure

Drivers who fail to stay above the minimum time in Safety Car conditions will receive a five-second pit stop penalty, a ten-second pit stop penalty, a drive-through penalty or a ten-second stop-go penalty.

The stewards may impose either of the penalties under Article 16.3a), b), c) or d) on any driver who fails to stay above the minimum time as required by the above.
Article 40.7

The Safety Car will no longer wait for lapped cars who have been allowed to regain the lead lap to catch the rear of the field before resuming the race:

Having overtaken the cars on the lead lap and the safety car these cars should then proceed around the track at an appropriate speed, without overtaking, and make every effort to take up position at the back of the line of cars behind the safety car. Whilst they are overtaking, and in order to ensure this may be carried out safely, the cars on the lead lap must always stay on the racing line unless deviating from it is unavoidable. Unless the clerk of the course considers the presence of the safety car is still necessary, once the last lapped car has passed the leader the safety car will return to the pits at the end of the following lap.
Article 40.12

Race suspensions

If a race is suspended drivers will always return to the pits – the option for them to assemble on the grid has been removed. They must remain in the fast lane of the pits during the suspension or they will be given a drive-through penalty.

When the signal is given overtaking is forbidden, the pit exit will be closed and all cars must proceed slowly into the pit lane. The first car to arrive in the pit lane should proceed directly to the pit exit staying in the fast lane, all the other cars should form up in a line behind the first car.
Article 42.2

If a race reaches the two-hour limit the chequered flag will now be shown on the lap after two-hour mark is reached, not on the same lap it is reached:

However, should two hours elapse before the scheduled race distance is completed, the leader will be shown the chequered flag when he crosses the control line (the Line) at the end of the lap following the lap during which the two hour period ended.
Article 5.3

There have also been detail changes to definitions in the restrictions on wind tunnel testing.

Previously announced changes: Virtual Safety Car and ten-second penalties

The regulations on how the new Virtual Safety Car system will work, which were issued last month, are unchanged in the latest version of the rules:

The stewards now have the option of giving drivers a ten-second pit stop penalty. This works in the same way as the five-second pit stop penalty which was introduced last year – the driver is held in the pits for the specified amount of time during one of their routine pit stops, or the time is added on at the end of the race.

The stewards still have the option of issuing a ten-second stop-go penalty, where the drivers must come into the pits, stop for ten seconds and leave without changing tyres or having any other work on their car.

Any drivers whose team personnel or equipment is still on the grid after the 15-second signal is given must now start the race from the pits.

There is also a change to the new power unit penalties which were introduced last year. The grid drops will no longer roll over from one race to the next if they cannot be applied in full – instead the driver will be given a penalty to serve in the race.

2015 F1 season

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Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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86 comments on “FIA announces raft of extra new rules for 2015”

  1. With double points scrapped as well we could be looking at one of the more sensible set of sporting regs I’ve seen for a while.

    1. Don’t worry they at least added some grey area, opinion and intrigue into the unsafe release wording.

      1. I dont like the formation lap penalty. 99% of the time, if someone loses place on the formation lap its because of a problem. Slapping a penalty is just adding insult to injury IMHO.

    2. Don’t forget the utterly ridiculous rule-set concerning new recruits. Now they can only be ‘fed’ from certain designated series, determined by the FIA and also how much they think it is worth towards a super-license. Altough i agree there could be a bit more stringent rules concerning the superlicense, i think we should still trust the teams to line up qualified drivers. (ok, maybe not the fastest.. but the richest, but still half-decent.) According to the current system J.Palmer deserves an F1-seat, and Verstappen doesn’t. Something i disagree with. Also the designated series and their ‘worth’ really makes F1 a farce. It just means you buy your way into F1 at a lower series.

      We also still have the absurd situation with the FIA allowing in-season upgrades for all bar one team.

      And im sure i am forgetting another handful of absolutely idiotic rules. .. thinking about it.. how about those rules about defending, or rather how it has become forbidden to really defend your spot, even with all the overtaking-aids they added like Kers and DRS, still a driver must just sit still and see how someone swooshes by because otherwise he gets penalized for ‘weaving’.

      Anyway, it still could be among the ‘most sensible rulesets’ … considering the absurd rules we seen in past seasons.. though as long as i remember F1 had weird rules that usually raise debates.. i came to believe they do it on purpose to generate publicity.

  2. The Safety Car will no longer wait for lapped cars who have been allowed to regain the lead lap to catch the rear of the field before resuming the race.

    *Does a happy dance*

    1. @craig-o I don’t get why people complain about this rule so much. Sure it makes the safety car period go on for much longer, but we don’t get a situation like Brazil 2010 or Monaco 2011 where so many lapped cars are separating the lead cars, there is no chance of any overtakes at the restart. In Brazil 2010, I believe there was something like 7 seconds between Webber in 2nd and Alonso in 3rd, and a further 6 or 7 secs to Hamilton in 4th.

      1. @mashiat2 It’s a bit different to that though, as what you are comparing is one extreme to the other (no cars unlapped, to all cars unlapped and rejoined to the back). A middle ground is what has been added, cars will unlap but do not need to rejoin. Chances are, they will end up getting about 30 seconds down the road or something like that, instead of being intermingled with the group. So instead of it taking an extra 4 or so laps, it will take only a couple of extra laps. I think it’s much better this way personally.

        1. @philereid The key part of the wording is ‘at an appropriate speed’ – I take it delta times for unlapping cars have now been deleted? Thus, they can pretty much get most of the way back to the pack in the remaining lap and a bit, before the SC then comes in.

      2. I don’t get why lapped cars should not seperate the lead cars. It’s not like they were brought into those positions due to the safety car. They were actually there during the race prior to the race car period. The pursuing cars already have the benefit of getting closer to the lead car due to the safety car. Why is there a need to remove lapped cars and increase that benefit even further?
        A safety car period is not for equalizing the field. It’s for safety reasons after which the race should ultimately be resumed as it was.

        1. ColdFly F1 (@)
          9th January 2015, 14:24

          @kroonracing – exactly!!!

        2. I think it just keeps things cleaner at the re-start. If you kept the lapped cars in the mix, they would all immediately be under blue flags and have to let the following lead-cars through anyway, which would probably make for a pretty chaotic scene.

        3. Hear Hear! Safety Cars for Safety and controlling pace, not for manipulating the race!

          In fact, it doesn’t even look safe now. We’ve all seen some closed calls, lapped drivers unlapping themselves while lead drivers try to squeeze in every last bit of tyre & brake warming weaving behind safety car. Unlapping under safety car is a practice that needs to stop. Sadly, it won’t happen until a title contender gets taken out behind safety car.

          A Safety Car should be out if it’s dangerous for cars to be side by side. If it’s dangerous, then no unlapping! If its not dangerous, pull the Safety Car in and let them race!

      3. ColdFly F1 (@)
        9th January 2015, 14:27

        I don’t get why people complain about this rule

        it makes the safety car period go on for much longer

        Your honour, I rest my case!

    2. The thing I don’t like about the SC lapped car rule either originally or now is that its going to kill good battles for position.

      Now as before they could overtake if you had a great scrap going on for the final point or something & the leader lapped the car in 11th but didn’t get by the guy in 10th before the SC came out you then had that fight for position separated by a about lap with no chance at all for the guy in 11th to have a shot at the guy in 10th.

      When the lapped cars were allowed to overtake it at least kept battles through the field going & allowed drivers who had fallen a lap back through no fault of there own (Webber at Nurburgring 2013 for example) a chance to fight back & grab some points which as in that example led for some exciting racing/overtaking in what was an otherwise uneventful race.

      I’d rather they get the lapped cars out the way & give them a lap back than either keep them in the way or only let them get 30 seconds up the road where there the slower cars are going to get in the way of the lead cars again much sooner & where there not going to have much of a shot to catch the back of the field & continue there battles.

      1. I agree with this. For all the slating the lap cars rule got, it was designed for the 9th and 10th cars rather than the top points positions.

        People go on about the lack of TV coverage down the field but then forget about parity in the rules.

        Lapped cars may overtake, ok we don’t like it but its more fair throughout. Anyway, it’s gone now. Happy?

    3. Yes, a great rule change. I hated that rule. We’d be waiting, literally 5-10 minutes for cars to un-lap themselves.

    4. They should have gone a step further and got rid of the ‘lapped cars may pass the Safety Car’ rule. That would have shortened the Safety Car period even further. Now we’re going to have some cars left a huge amount of time behind the rest of the pack with no one near them to race with.

      Still it’s pretty much a moot point now they’ve priced most of the backmarkers out of the sport.

      1. This. I understand that a discussion was held about idea of simply letting the lapped cars drop to the back of the line and crediting them a lap, but it was dropped since it was deemed unfair. Those cars would be running a shorter distance than the others, which would let them save fuel. Granted, they’re already lapped (so they already run less distance than the leaders), and we’ve already seen at least Caterham underfuel the car in races, counting on a shorter distance due to being lapped. But that was the argument, at least.

        For my money, I hope the Virtual Safety Car thing will work out, making trundling around behind the safety car and bunching up the field a thing of the past. It works fine in endurance racing (most recently in the ongoing Dubai 24 hour race, they ran a full-course 60 kph mode instead of a safety car). Leave it to F1 to complicate it, though, with delta times and stuff… but hopefully, they’ll make it work.

      2. “Now we’re going to have some cars left a huge amount of time behind the rest of the pack with no one near them to race with.”

        Not only that but suppose something like this wil happen:
        – The last 2 drivers (P18 and P17 or any two other positions) are in a battle for position
        – The leader catches them ad overtakes the driver in last position (P18), he is now a lap down
        – Something happens thats triggers the SC
        – Now the driver in P18 is allowed to unlap himself
        – The next lap the SC comes in and they start racing again
        – Now the driver in P18 is half a lap down on the driver in P17 instead of being on his tail and battling for position

        Get rid of the SC (it only advertisiment for Mercedes anyway) and introduce the FCY (Full Course Yellow) like they have in WEC.
        Fair for everyone, noone looses and noone wins anything from it

  3. It is a shame they can’t use the current cars at Goodwood, I would really like to see how dull they sound back to back with the really exciting older cars there.

    It was fascinating in Austin last year that there was a significant part of the crowd who were thoroughly fed up, as they had attended on the basis of having seen and heard a 2013 Red Bull at a demonstration in the city center, then when they visited the race they were very surprised that what they saw was a very long way from what they had expected.

    1. Of course, nobody complains if they run an 80’s Turbo car at Goodwood, because they were one of the ‘rose-tinted turbos’.

      Seriously, the noise isn’t a problem. If you go to watch motor racing specifically because of the noise, there are plenty of cheaper options for you.

      1. Indeed, the rose-tinted turbos! Oh how I’d love to (not) hear them again!

        Well said…

      2. @optimaximal

        The 80’s turbos at least sound reasonably impressive though. It is great for you that the noise is not a problem. For me, there certainly are ‘cheaper options’, mine is no longer attending F1 races which in a way it is handy, I am saving around £3000 per year by not attending the f1 races that I used to. Hopefully with the engine changes being discussed for 2016/17, those of us for whom the sound IS important will have something impressive to listen to again.

        1. Hopefully with the engine changes being discussed for 2016/17, those of us for whom the sound IS important will have something impressive to listen to again.

          As long as the manufacturers are happy with them, I would be interested to see these changes happen. The lack of sound has taken something away from the experience of watching F1 live.

      3. Exactly. In 2014 I heard the V6s, some V8s and some V10s all at Silverstone. The V6s in person sounded fantastic. The V8 is just a loud noise, not that great a sound whilst the V10 was good just like the V6. A different sound of course, but a nice one.

        The V6s make a good sound, they just need to work on the broadcasting so armchair fans can realise

    2. It’s funny how the same people who claim F1 is going downhill because of gimmicks, are (usually) the same people who complain about the lack of noise.

      Noise is wasted energy that could be used to make the car go faster.

      If you’ve got to listen to the race with earplugs to keep from permanently damaging your hearing (of course, the V6;’s will damage your hearing in about a minute, whereas the V8’s only need about 15 seconds) , what’s the actual point again? It’s a gimmick.

      1. It is true that perhaps it is mostly ‘purists’ who are unhappy with lack of noise, DRS, clown-tyres etc etc. I like current F1 on TV though, a lot, it is just not worth going to see it live anymore.

        1. ColdFly F1 (@)
          9th January 2015, 14:35

          @paulguitar, quite the opposite! I bet you that it will be mostly the ‘gimmick seekers’ who miss the noise (but luckily they can still visit WWF fights and Monster Truck racing).

          1. @coldfly

            I can’t think of anything I am less interested in that Monster Trucks. I am afraid I don’t know what a ‘WWF fight’ is.

            I am thoroughly confused to to what makes you think those that miss the noise are likely to be ‘gimmick-seekers’. My experience from talking to people at the races is that most of the people who really miss the noise are long-term fans, many of whom have been attending races for many years. On the whole, these people thoroughly disapprove of DRS, silly tyres, fuel saving and the like.

          2. ColdFly F1 (@)
            9th January 2015, 17:40

            @paulguitar, no need to be confused.
            Unfortunately there is not a lot of hard data, but clearly many opinions.

            Keith did a poll on this site and 47% said the sound was (very) good versus 30% considering it (very) poor. And that was at the height of all commotion.

            I for one had already been at a live event in 2014 when the poll was done, and most people I spoke to agreed (no need for the stupid ear plugs, and finally we can hear the braking and tyres ‘working’).

            .
            PS: WWF=World Wrestling Federation that fake wrestling circus. (kudos for you that you’ve never heard of that)

          3. @coldfly Or grab that disc and listen to a wee bit of heavy metal (actually even progressive rock would work if the volume is cranked up sufficiently :p).

          4. @paulguitar @coldfly About noise I found it less interesting on tv but much more live. I went to Spa last year with my wife and we were really very pleased with that growling, and being able to hear speaker comments aswell as sharing thoughts about race developments was quite appreciable.

        2. The Blade Runner (@)
          9th January 2015, 15:19

          I was at Hungary last year and seriously beg to differ!

          1. @thebladerunner

            Perhaps we (all of us) seek out or remember the opinions of those with whom we share views?

            I think it is called ‘confirmation bias’, it is a very interesting subject.

    3. Perhaps you went to a different Austin grand prix to me as everyone around me had an amazing time and I did not hear 1 person complain about the sound in the three days I was there and the miles I walked round the circuit.

      1. @Matthew Coyne

        Pleased you enjoyed your weekend……..:)

  4. So if Safety Car can come in the lap after the last lapped car passes the lead car (and therefore the SC), who becomes the SC or controls the race on the restart? Will the lapped cars simply be told to start racing at the start finish line again or will one of them restart the race as if they’re going at “appropriate” speed they might not be too far away from the lead car especially on a slow track like Monaco.

    1. > message “lapped cars can now unlap themselves” is given
      > lapped cars pass other cars & SC and quickly create quite a bit of distance between them and the rest of the pack
      > next lap SC comes in

      Evidently the lead car will control the restart. The unlapped cars will be far out in front.

  5. If 24 cars are eligible seven will be excluded after Q1 and Q2, if 22 cars are eligible six cars will be excluded after Q1 and Q2, and so on if fewer cars are eligible.

    Well that’s entirely cleared that up now. So if, for example, 21 cars are eligible then 5.5 cars will be excluded after Q1 and Q2!

    1. @jerseyf1 clearly it’s based on the teams entered, which I believe are currently defined in the rules as two-car teams (there are no rules for one or three-car teams, hence all the confusion about how the contracts regarding running extra cars would be handled).

      Don’t forget that Marussia had JB’s car scrutinised and officially entered for the Russian GP, they just didn’t run it.

      1. Pat Ruadh (@fullcoursecaution)
        9th January 2015, 12:56

        They should abandon the 3 session format now that it has dropped to 18 cars.
        A simple 2 session format with a longer Q1 would be sufficient.

        1. @fullcoursecaution 20 mins and 20 mins? 30 and 15? Knocking 8 out and 10 remaining? Or 10 out and 8 remaining? :) They could also save some tyres too, or maybe not..

          1. Pat Ruadh (@fullcoursecaution)
            9th January 2015, 16:41

            @fastiesty 40 and 15? boot 8 and keep 10? Thats probably how I would do it, though with 18 competative cars the traffic argument is far less relevant…

            What about this radical idea? A whole magical HOUR of qualifying, with all 18 cars involved :)

            I actually like the split session format, though it seems a bit silly IMO to run 18 cars just to drop 4, and then do it all again…

          2. @fullcoursecaution 1 whole hour?! OMG. Mind blown. How did they do this back in the day?! ;)

            I do like the split session as well, actually. Eventually they got there. But you are right – and usually it’s obvious who will drop out, barring any errors. Usually, the two slowest teams (Lotus, Sauber), followed by the same again (Toro Rosso, Force India). But, usually there is a driver leapfrogging into Q3, even if aided by better Q performance from lower weight. I’d go with 30 and 20, 10 minutes to change over (1 hour).

          3. The FIA have 45 mins (18, 15, 12) and 10/15? break (5/5 or 7.5/7.5), so they’d probably try and keep the same (so, 30 and 15, break between and after for weighing).

  6. Fuel may not be added to nor removed from a car after it has left the pit lane to start the first reconnaissance lap permitted under Article 38.1.

    The only reason I can think of for modifying this is that teams previously ran over-fuelled to the grid and could then adjust starting fuel load based on actual consumption during the reconnaissance lap by removing fuel to get their ideal start weight? With this option gone I assume teams will still slightly over-fuel and will then simply burn off excess by running the engine on the grid rather than removing it?

    1. I suspect it is more to do with preventing cars starting “light” to gain position and then blocking and fuel conserving. @jerseyf1

      1. No, that’s just a tactic, and not a particularly dangerous or problematic one.

        I suspect it is more to do with having less crap on the grid, especially fuelling equipment.

  7. What speed will they be doing under the VSC?

    1. I think the drivers are given a delta time to drive through each sector at, I think they should have a button the push similar to the pit limiter so all cars go exactly the same speed and they limiter is switched off automatically by a signal from race control so all cars ‘re-start at exactly the same time and all gaps and advantages are kept in place too, so if you are 20 seconds in the lead you keep that lead instead of the field being bunched up and loosing any advantage that’s been built up. But that’s too sensible for the FiA LoL

      1. @thebullwhipper Agreed, Pit limiter for a few sections is equal, also equal would be making sure every driver had driven with it an equal amount of times, once the situation has been cleared up, before allowing full racing once more.

  8. Really disappointed current cars cannot be used for demo events. That’s just petty.

    1. Because you know the teams would send an entire contingent of ‘engineers’ to support the car. They also would record and analyse every bit of data they got from running said car.

      Ergo unfair advantage…

    2. Stuart Becktell (@)
      9th January 2015, 17:52

      Most people can’t really tell the difference between an Indy Car and an F1 car, I’m sure running a 2014 car with 2015 body work on it will be fine for most.

  9. Why… Why can’t we have a regulation that states all cars must be completely full of fuel prior to an engine start command (to take place as close to the start of the formation lap as possible), and add to that the removal of fuel flow limits?

    On the whole, they usually do worse with the changes, but really, that one rule change would liven up the sport even more about as naturally as any rule could.

    1. @spdoyle17 As with any silly rule brought in to try to get the teams to do what they don’t want to do, it would probably end up adding to cost without changing a thing. The teams would manufacture, transport and fit a range of different fuel cells so that they can still be fuelled to the level which best fits their strategy for each circuit.

      1. I believe the fuel cells are a standard part for all cars. They are specified by the FIA in the regs and are all identical

        1. Has that changed since Virgin turned up in 2010 with a fuel tank that was too small?

    2. @spdoyle17 The fuel-flow limit is more important than the amount of fuel in the tank. It’s what prevents them turning up the wick on the engines and generating stupid amounts of horsepower, because turbo-charged cars are inherently more fuel-efficient.

      Everyone is still blatantly ignoring the fact that the current Power Units are generating as much (if not more) power as the old V8 units whilst using 33% LESS FUEL… This is an amazing technical achievement.

      1. I don’t deny any of your points, however I look at it this way: Force them to start a race with 100L, (the mandatory sample can be taken during supervised fueling), scrap the flow limit, and leave more control up to the drivers. They’ll be able to press more, Bernie will get more volume from the engines, we’ll see more retirements and on the whole, (perhaps with stricter aero limits like single-element wings), more overtaking.

        Maybe I’m just hoping to combine the mid-80’s with current tech, though.

        1. @spdoyle17

          You’re missing the point about the fuel flow limit. The power output of engine is (in principle) limited by how quickly you can cram air and fuel into the combustion chamber. With NA engines that limit was principally determined by air – air entered the engine basically through just a large hole, so adding more fuel didn’t have any benefit without the air to burn it with.

          Now we have turbos again. The amount of air you can stuff in with a turbo is much much higher – compared to the fuel flow effectively unlimited. If you remove the limit on fuel flow, you can produce absolutely monstrous power levels – levels that are unsafe.

          These engines are already producing massive amounts of power and torque. There was a cap on power in the old formula due the design of the engines. With the new formula that cap has simply been made explicit. With less aero than in previous years, wanting more power and torque yes again is simply silly.

          1. Yes of all the rules i think the fuel flow is the most sensible for these turbo cars.

            without it they would be running 1500+ (probably closer to 1800)hp quali engines that they used to in the 80’s. more commonly referred to as grenades.

  10. Glad they didn’t include the FP3 in the parc fermé rule, that would have been fairly stupid.

    1. @hunocsi The parc fermé rule was changed for 2014 to ‘after FP3’ – it caused issues for teams that had PU issues in FP3. It now seems they’ve moved it back to the start of qualifying again.

      Free Practice has never been operated under PF rules and it would be absolutely mental to do so…

      1. It didn’t actually happen, but the start of parc fermé was indeed going to be moved to the beginning of FP3 for the 2015 season. Glad they reconsidered…

  11. If a car is released from the pits in an unsafe manner or condition the driver will receive a ten-second stop-go penalty. They will receive a further penalty if the driver keeps going even if he is aware of the unsafe release.
    Is this a specific scenario that I’m not getting? Because in my mind this sounds like overkill. Ok, you’ve been released by the crew in an unsafe manner, you drop the clutch and move 2m before you break to let the car in the fastlane go through. Is that a 10 sec stop’n’go? If you misjudge the timing and exit your pit-box while making the car behind you break (thus completing the full unsafe release) is that 10 sec + another penalty? What about the circuits where the pitlane is wide enough for two cars?

    1. @gicu I believe this form of ‘unsafe release’ refers to a loose wheel or wayard piece of bodywork. The driver should stop as soon as he realises (or the team notify him) something is wrong (ideally in the pitlane, where he can be recovered and the problem resolved), rather than continue around the track hoping that the offending item stays attached to the car.

      1. Right, that makes sense, should have remember this scenario, although they could have been more specific. Thanks for the enlightenment. It specifies that it’s a rule designed for the race only. What’s the rule if this happens in qualifying? (less likely, of course)

    2. I think what they are doing is adding a mandatory penalty for an unsafe release. This would be either because another car is there, or because there is something wrong with the car.

      The wording seems to be such that the definition of an unsafe release does not change. Hence if it would have been penalised as an unsafe release last year, it is this year, but there is a mandatory 10s stop-go penalty.

      The second part seems to be that if the car is unsafe (e.g. loose wheel) and you continue, you will receive a further penalty.

      It may also apply if you are released into the path of another car, notice, but take no steps to correct this (e.g. drop behind them).

  12. Fuel may not be added to nor removed from a car after it has left the pit lane to start the first reconnaissance lap permitted under Article 38.1.
    Article 29.1 (b)

    That, I guess, means that there will be precisely zero recon laps during that 15-minute window of getting the car from the pits to the grid. What a senseless rule, really…

    1. The regulations already banned the teams from adding fuel to the cars during a reconnaissance lap, so preventing the teams from removing fuel from the car won’t have any impact on that.

  13. The new race suspension rule is bizarre, what’s the problem with aligning the cars of the grid?

    1. ColdFly F1 (@)
      9th January 2015, 14:44

      @paeschli – maybe to have the cars closer to the Rolex wearing oldies in the hospitality boxes, and out of sight for the 1000’s of fans in the main grand stands ;-)

    2. @paeschli – I guess that’d have to due with the engineering crews getting all their equipment to the grid once again, and having to get it out of there yet again before the race resumes. This way the procedures are quicker and easier. But maybe it has to do with something else entirely, this is just what sprung to my mind.

    3. Yeah, easier for the engineers and co. I don’t think this was an option back in the days when we’d have too many cars to fit in the pitlane. I think it’s a bit more of a natural idea to have them come in the pit line when a racetrack is red-flagged, and it eliminates any issues when an accident is on the start/finish straight. I also just like how it’s neater and it stops the randomess and confusion that some drivers can get about where to park when they stop on the grid.

  14. Whilst they are overtaking, and in order to ensure this may be carried out safely, the cars on the lead lap must always stay on the racing line unless deviating from it is unavoidable

    Does this mean no more weaving behind the safety car?

    1. Only while the lapped cars are overtaking. So, 1 lap at most. Then they get one more lap behind the Safety Car during which they can weave as much as they want. Tyre temps shouldn’t be a problem.

    2. That’s a very good question. I would imagine they can still weave as long as they’re still roughly on the racing line.

  15. Stuart Becktell (@)
    9th January 2015, 17:48

    “d) An additional penalty will be imposed on any driver who, in the opinion of the stewards, continues to drive a car knowing it to have been released in an unsafe condition.”

    So if a car gets released in front of another car in an unsafe way, and the driver continues to drive, they will get two penalties, one for the initial unsafe release and then this one, since the driver is still driving the car? I’m assuming this is supposed to mean that a driver will be penalized if they continue to drive a car that is missing a wheel or something else n the car, but it doesn’t seem to be very clear.

  16. Given what we know about the way in which teams will (perhaps rightly) try to wriggle through any possible laxness in the wording of rules, it’s odd to see phrases like “and so on” still making it into the regs. Granted, the rules about the number of cars in each qualifying session are probably less controversial than some, but it’s still asking for some lawyer to pick it apart. Hooray!

  17. Does anyone know where to download the full regulations for 2015?

  18. Thanks the informations, good article!:)

  19. It seems that the race could be extended by one lap… If the 2-hour limit is reached on the last lap under the new time limit rule in Article 5.3 (say lap 57 of 57), then the leader would only see the flag at the end of the following lap, lap 58.

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