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View Full Version : Standing starts among rule changes for 2015 Formula 1 season



bigbadbrother
06-26-2014, 09:56 PM
Adam Cooper

The FIA World Motor Sport Council has passed a package of changes for 2015. The most controversial is the move to standing starts after safety car periods, although these will not take place close to the start or finish of the race.

The ban on tire warmers scheduled for 2015 has been abandoned, while there is a cut back on in-season testing, as teams found that the four sessions planned for this year were too expensive and logistically challenging. There will now be two sessions.

The last date at which the sporting and technical regulations can be changed without unanimous agreement has been changed from June 30 to March 1 each year, starting from 2015.

The full list of changes is as follows:

Changes to 2015 Sporting Regulations

Safety Car Restarts

Safety Car restarts will now be a standing start from the grid. Standing starts will not be carried out if the Safety Car is used within two laps of the start (or restart) of a race or if there are less than five laps of the race remaining.

Power Units

The number of engines permitted by each driver in a season will be four. However, if there are more than 20 races in a season, the number will increase to five.

The penalty for a complete change of Power Unit will be starting from the back of the grid, not the pit lane.

Testing

There will be three preseason tests of four days each in Europe in 2015 (currently teams are able to test outside Europe). This will be reduced to two tests of four days in 2016.

There will be two in-season tests of two days each in Europe (instead of the current four). Two of these four days must be reserved for young drivers.

Car Specification At An Event

The current restrictions to the parc fermé will now apply from the start of P3 instead of the start of qualifying.

Wheels And Tires

The ban on tire blankets will be rescinded for 2015. This will be re-discussed if and when the wheel and tite diameter increases in the future.

Personnel Curfew

The Friday night curfew will be extended from six to seven hours in 2015 and will increase to eight hours in 2016.

Changes to 2015 Technical Regulations

A number of changes have been made, including:

A number of new regulations for the noses to ensure improved safety and to provide more aesthetically pleasing structures.

A number of new regulations concerning skid blocks to ensure that they are made from a lighter material (titanium) and are better contained.

New regulations to ensure that the brake discs rotate at the same speed as the wheels.

A two-stage wheel fastener retaining system is now compulsory.

Aerodynamic Testing

The number of wind tunnel runs will be reduced from 80 hours per week to 65 hours per week.

Wind-on hours are to be reduced from 30 hours per week to 25 hours.

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) usage is to be reduced from 30 Teraflops to 25 Teraflops.

Two periods of tunnel occupancy will be allowed in one day (rather than only one).

Teams will only be able to nominate one wind tunnel in one year.