F1 Madness

Tag: fia

  • Bahrain Grand Prix Twilight Start Time Confirmed

    Bahrain Grand Prix Twilight Start Time Confirmed

    It was confirmed earlier today by the FIA that the Bahrain Grand Prix will have a 18:00 (17:00 GMT+2) local start time.

    After an announcement last year that the Bahrain Grand Prix will take place under floodlights, work at the Bahrain international circuit got underway to line the circuit with floodlights. Like the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the Bahrain Grand Prix will start at twilight and end at night.

    The FIA also confirmed a 15:00 (13:00 GMT+2) local start time for the Russian Grand Prix in Sochi.

  • Pirelli signs new 3 yr F1 tyre supplying contract

    Pirelli signs new 3 yr F1 tyre supplying contract

    Pirelli will remain the official Formula One tyre supplier until 2016 after signing a new 3 year contract with the FIA.

    Pirelli’s future in the sport had been in doubt following a number of incidents during the 2013 season and the expiry of their contract at the end of 2013.

    However, Pirelli have managed to secure their future in the sport along with some of the rule changes around testing which they had requested.

    These changes which are mandatory from 2014 onward, were outlined in a statement released by the FIA. The statement reads as follows:

    “Following a decision by the World Motor Sport Council confirming Pirelli’s status as the single supplier of tyres to the FIA Formula One World Championship, Pirelli and the FIA have renewed their Formula One tyre supply contract. The duration of the agreement is for three years, starting from the 2014 season.

    The world motorsport’s governing body and Pirelli, in collaboration with the teams, have been working together to improve levels of safety and performance in Formula One, resulting in important changes to the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations regarding the testing of tyres, which will enable the Italian company to continue its Formula One single supply arrangements in the best interests of the sport.

    These new rules, mandatory from the 2014 season onwards, can be summarised as follows:

    1) One of the 12 days of official pre-season testing, as prescribed in the 2014 sporting regulations, will be dedicated exclusively to wet tyre testing.

    2) Each team will dedicate one of their eight days of in-season testing, as prescribed in the 2014 sporting regulations, exclusively to tyre testing. This means that during each of the eight days of in-season testing, at least one team – and up to a maximum of two – will be concentrating on tyre testing along with Pirelli’s engineers.

    Pirelli will continue to determine the specification of the tyres and to manage all aspects of their development, in close consultation with the FIA and the teams, and within the parameters set out in the FIA Formula One Sporting & Technical Regulations.

    In addition, Pirelli and the FIA have agreed to discuss a possible partnership on the FIA Action for Road Safety campaign.”

     

     

     

  • FIA introduces new penalty points system for 2014

    FIA introduces new penalty points system for 2014

    The FIA today released an updated version of the 2014 Sporting Regulations which include a new penalty points system.
    According to Article 4.2 of the the new 2014 sporting regulations, any driver who earns 12 penalty points during a 12-month period will be given a one race ban. This means that penalties could be carried over to the next season.
    The new system is aimed at punishing drivers who regularly break rules, while cutting some slack to drivers who commit minor infringements as a result of circumstance.
    According to the new regulations, “In accordance with Article 16.3 [which covers driving standards], the stewards may impose penalty points on a driver’s Superlicence,” states Article 4.2 of the sporting regulations.”If a driver accrues 12 penalty points his licence will be suspended for the following event, following which 12 points will be removed from the licence.

    “Penalty points will remain on a driver’s Superlicence for a period of 12 months after which they will be respectively removed on the 12-month anniversary of their imposition.”

    The FIA also appear to be clamping down on unsafe releases. Drivers will now incur grid or time penalties if their car is released from the garage or a pitstop in a manner deemedto be unsafe. Unsafe releases during practice sessions could result in a grid penalty for that race.If the unsafe release occurs during a race, the driver will get a 10-place grid penalty for the next race. He could however also be penalised during the current race if he can continue racing after the incident. If this were to be the case, he could incur drive-throughs and 10-second penalties.

    There will also be engine penalties. Five out of six separate engine elements may be replaced. These are the internal combustion engine, the motor generator unit-kinetic, the motor generator unit-heat, the energy store, the turbocharger and the control electronics. Should any of these elements fail, they may be replaced up to a maximum of five times. A sixth replacement would result in a 10 place grid penalty. Thereafter, sixth elements would only incur a 5 place grid penalty.
    As for the power unit … should the power unit need replacing at any time, the driver will have to start from the pits.
    They’ve also upped the anti on gear box penalties. Gear boxes will now need to last for six subsequent races.
    As for drivers at the back of the grid incurring penalties … drivers who incur a grid-penalty and are unable to drop the necessary places, e.g. he qualifies 20th, awarded a five-place drop – he would start 22nd and have to drop the remaining three places at the next races.
    What do you think of these penalty rules changes? Let us know in the comments section below.
  • Lotus F1 Team has a laugh with 18 new rules for 2014

    Lotus F1 Team has a laugh with 18 new rules for 2014

    The Lotus F1 Team is taking the FIA’s announcement detailing new regulations for next season in their stride.

    A good few teams and drivers have voiced their disapproval of the changes, specifically the controversial double points rule which Sebastian Vettel slammed as being “absurd”.

    The Lotus team however, posted a link on their website, Twitter account and Facebook pages detailing 18 new rules for the 2014 season which are bound to give F1 fans a good laugh.

    The rules range from “anyone with a dog named Roscoe” starting at the back of the grid to championship points deciders being determined by Rock, Paper, Scissors or Cage Fight.

    We particularly love the rule that any team with more than four members who’ve been Technical Directors, will have to design their cars using nothing but LEGO.

    Below is the full set of 18 rules, as published by the Lotus F1 Team.

    Lotus rule changes

     

     

     

  • FIA accepting applications for a 12th F1 team

    FIA accepting applications for a 12th F1 team

    The FIA has called for potential new teams to express their interest in participating in Formula 1 “at a competitive level” in 2015 or 2016.

    The sport’s governing body has opened up a selection process for a new team to join the grid, potentially as early as the start of the 2015 F1 season.Interested applicants have until Friday 3 January 2014 to register a formal expression of interest.

    Following the demise of HRT at the end of the 2012 season, we saw only 11 teams take part in this year’s championship.

    Super Aguri, 2007We’ve not seen a new team in the sport since the start of 2010, when Lotus Racing (Caterham), Virgin (Marussia) and Hispania (HRT) joined the F1 grid. Aside from them, only two other teams – Toyota and Super Aguri – have joined the sport since 2002.

    A statement on the FIA’s official website read:

    “The FIA has decided to open a new selection process to identify a candidate team to participate at a competitive level in the FIA Formula One World Championship from the start of the 2015 or the 2016 season up to 2020 inclusive. The overall long-term interests of the Championship will determine which candidates are selected.”

    The FIA also published the requirements for applying as well as the applicable application selection criteria.

    Applicants will be judged on:

    (a) the technical ability and resources of the team;
    (b) the ability of the team to raise and maintain sufficient funding to allow participation in the Championship at a competitive level;
    (c) the team’s experience and human resources;
    (d) the FIA’s assessment of the value that the candidate may bring to the Champions
    Information on the candidate’s relevant experience, including technical and racing experience as well as facilities, equipment and engineering resources are also be required. Full Curriculum Vitae of directors and shareholders also need to be submitted and there is a total application fee of $130,000.

    While the FIA plans to announce any new team on 28th February 2014, they have stated that in the event that “no candidate is deemed suitable by the FIA and the commercial rights holder, no additional team will be selected”.
    Photo Credit: By Alan from Doncaster, UK (P1060288) [CC-BY-SA-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

  • FIA announces major changes to 2014 regulations

    FIA announces major changes to 2014 regulations

    The FIA has announced some major changes to the regulations of the sport including Double points at the final race of the season; Permanent driver numbers; A 5 second penalty for minor infringements and a cost cap in 2015.

    Double Points to be awarded at Final Race

    In a rather controversial move, the FIA announced that double drivers’ and constructor’s points will be awarded at the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi. The change means that 50 points will be allocated to the winner of the final round of 2014, rather than the usual 25.

    The FIA have stated that the change was immediately applicable and would “maximise focus on the championship until the end of the campaign”.

    There is little doubt that this could most certainly carry the championship through to the final round – if this change had been implemented in previous years, Kimi Raikkonen would have been champion in 2003 instead of Michael Schumacher, and Felipe Massa would have beaten Lewis Hamilton in 2008. Fernando Alonso would have been the 2012 champion instead of Sebastian Vettel.

    Permanent Driver Numbers

    In a less controversial move, a unanimous agreement was given during a meeting of the F1 Strategy Group and the Formula One Commission in Paris on Monday, to introduce permanent driver numbers.

    “Drivers will be asked to choose their race number, between 2 and 99, for the duration of their career in the FIA Formula One World Championship,” said the FIA statement. “Number 1 will be reserved for the current World Champion, should he choose to use it.”

    Should more than one driver chose the same number, priority will be given to the driver who finished highest in the previous year’s championship.

    Five Second Penalty

    The principle of a five-second penalty for minor infringements was also accepted for the 2014 season. Teams will still meet to discuss how it should be applied before the penalty system is implemented at the start of the season.

    Global Cost Cap for 2015

    The principle of a global cost cap has been adopted and the limit will be applied from January 2015.

    A working group will be established within the coming days comprising of the FIA, representatives of the Commercial Rights Holder and Team representatives. The objective of this working group will be to have regulations approved by the end of June 2014.

    Pirelli December tyre test

    The FIA has also approved the Pirelli tyre test which will be staged next week in Bahrain. Six teams have agreed to take part – Red Bull, Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren, Force India and Toro Rosso.

    Immediate Effect

    The FIA stated that these “changes are immediately applicable, given the mandate assigned to the FIA President at the last World Motor Sport Council meeting, held on 4 December in Paris”.

     

     

     

     

  • Doubt over Fernando Alonso’s fitness for Austin GP

    Doubt over Fernando Alonso’s fitness for Austin GP

    There is a possibility that Fernando Alonso will not travel to the US for the Austin Grand Prix this coming weekend.

    Alonso needs to undergo another medical check today before being cleared to fly on Tuesday following the high G-force knock he took during the race in Abu Dhabi.

    Despite passing medical tests following the race, and Ferrari reporting that he was fit to race in Austin, the 28G impact suffered means he will need to undergo another test today before a final decision can be made.

    Highly respected correspondent for Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport, Pino Allievi, said that Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo “is not even remotely” contemplating the prospect of Alonso sitting out the race.

    However, following the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Alonso had reported some back pain and his manager, Luis Garcia Abad tweeted a rather alarming photo of Alonso strapped to a spinal board, covered in shock foil blankets during the post-race hospital check. Ferrari were not very happy about the picture being tweeted according to Allievi despite Alonso stating at the Thursday press conference that the relationship between himself and Ferrari “was perfect, is perfect, and will be perfect”.

    Even if Alonso does travel to Austin on Tuesday, he would still need to pass the FIA’s own medical checks on Thursday before finally being cleared to race.

    Allievi has also said that if Alonso should fail his medical check today, Ferrari would most likely draft in Jules Bianchi, who races with Marussia but is part of the Ferrari young driver programme. Marussia are bound by contract to release Bianchi, should the call come from Ferrari. Their second choice reportedly, is Pedro de la Rosa.

    Word however from Spain and Maranello are that Alonso should be cleared fit to race.

    We will keep you posted as news becomes available.

    Photo credit: Photo tweeted by Alonso’s manager, Luis Garcia Abad on Twitter.

     

  • Raikkonen excluded from qualifying – will start at the back of the grid

    Raikkonen excluded from qualifying – will start at the back of the grid

    Kimi Raikkonen has been excluded from the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix qualifying following a floor deflection test failure. He will now start the race from the back of the grid.

    The stewards summoned the Lotus team earlier after considering telemetry data and video footage, so that the team could argue their case following the floor deflection test which was performed on his Lotus E21 as well as Hulkenberg’s Sauber.

    The left hand side of the floor of Raikkonen’s Lotus was found to deflect more than the permitted 5mm vertically when the testing load was applied to it.

    Lotus investigated and found that the issue was caused by the broken floor which had broken due to kerb damage but the stewards have not accepted their explanation.

    The statement issued by the FIA said: “The stewards heard the explanation of the team that the relevant part broke upon contact with a kerb.

    “However, the stewards did not accept that the incident referred to constituted an accident, or excused failing the relevant test.”

    So it would seem that since the stewards have previously accepted the same explanation for Grosjean in Hungary, they are not willing to let it go a second time. Perhaps Lotus should have taken steps to ensure that the same thing did not happen again.

    Raikkonen will now start from the back of the grid.

     

     

  • FIA Concorde Agreement signed and in force

    FIA Concorde Agreement signed and in force

    The FIA has announced that it has finally put pen to paper on a new Concorde Agreement with the Formula 1 Group.

    The agreement reached by the FIA and the Formula 1 Group in July 2013, setting out the framework for implementation of the Concorde Agreement for the period 2013 – 2020, has now come into force, following the approval of the respective governing bodies of the signatory parties.

    Here is the agreement as published by the FIA:

    This agreement provides the FIA with significantly improved financial means to pursue its regulatory missions and to reflect the enhanced role undertaken by the FIA in the Motor Sport.  The parties have agreed a strong and stable sporting governance framework which includes the Formula 1 Group, the FIA and the participating teams.  The agreement lays down solid foundations for the further development of the FIA Formula One World Championship.

    Now that the agreement is operative, the parties will move towards the conclusion of a multi-party Concorde agreement.

    FIA President Jean Todt said: “We can be proud of this agreement, which establishes a more effective framework for the governance of the FIA Formula One World Championship.  The FIA looks forward to continuing to fulfill its historic role as the guarantor of both regulation and safety in F1 for many years to come.”

    Bernie Ecclestone, CEO of the Formula 1 Group, added: “I am very pleased that the agreement between the FIA and the Formula 1 Group has been concluded”.

  • Russian GP misses FIA application deadline

    Russian GP misses FIA application deadline

    Russian GP organisers have missed the deadline set by the FIA to apply to host a Formula One race next season, according to the Russian Automobile Federation (RAF).

    Although construction work is still underway at the Sochi International Circuit, private email correspondence between the FIA and the RAF stated that the Russian GP organisers had until the 31st of July to submit their application.

    The email read: “We kindly ask you to submit your requests for all events as soon as possible, and no later than 31 July 2013, except in the case of force majeure.”

    In order for the Russian GP race to now go ahead, they will have to prove that exceptional circumstances are to blame for their missing the deadline.

    It seems that a dispute exists between the RAF and Russian GP promoters over who will be liable to pay for certain costs such as the training of the 700-800 track marshals and circuit staff that are required to host the race.

    The RAF said in a statement that as soon as the dispute is resolved, they will submit their application under force majeure as has been made provision for by the FIA.

    The issue is likely to be resolved and the Russian Grand Pix is likely to go ahead as planned – especially considering the very public signing of the contract by President Vladimir Putin and Bernie Ecclestone.