How Is The Race Governed?
Every season, the FIA issues two set of rules before the start of races. The first one set is the Sporting Regulations which covers the manner in which the race weekend runs i.e. the license needed to start the procedure and the other possible sanctions. The latter one is a bit lengthier; these are the Technical Regulations.
So to give you a summarized view of all the important ones, here are the important ones who use should be aware of:-
The Engines- Engines must be turbocharged 1.6 litre V6s with a max. RPM of 15000 and the weight of whole power unit must be a min. of 145kgs. Each car is allowed with a five power units which include the engine, motor generator, unit Kinetic (MGU-K), motor generator unit-heat, the energy store, control electronics, and turbocharger. These five components are allowed to be used in any combination as deemed fit.
A whole new power unit requires a driver to begin from the pitlane while the sixth element will demote ten places from their qualifying position at the next race.
If another element requires a sixth, then a five-place grid penalty will be imposed, but if the seventh of any element is needed, then it is another penalty of tenth place. Every subsequent seventh will lead to a five-place penalty each time.
Gearbox- Every driver must use the very gearbox for six back-to-back events (Saturday and Sunday at race weekends). In case they require an additional box they will be beaten with a five-place grid penalty.
ERS- The Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems were re-introduced in 2011 after the teams commonly agreed to suspend their use in 2010. After re-engineering in the year 2014, the technology was known as Energy Recovery Systems which is composed of two principal elements:the MGU-K and the MGU-H.
Briefly stating, the MGU-K takes wasted energy under braking and converts it into added power which is then collected and made available (in fixed quantities per lap) by a boost button which is controlled by the driver. The MGU-H recovers heat for a related use.
Drag Reduction System- The system was introduced in 2011, which allowed the adjustment of the rear wing from the cockpit to help the driver in overtaking. The rear wing flaps can only be opened at those points on the tracks which are pre-determined. It is used during the practice and qualifying and in the race only when the driver is only a second or less behind the other car in those zones. Braking deactivates the machine. The purpose is to decrease drag for the chasing the car and advance the chances of overtaking. The only time when it cannot be used under any events is two laps after the start (or a safety car restart), under yellow flags and in humid or wet conditions.
Weight- The weight of car along with the driver in it must be a minimum of 690kg at any time during a Grand Prix event. The teams try to build the car as light as possible and then use weights in strategic areas to assure that they satisfy the weight requirements.
Race length- The races are run over the least number of complete laps which pass a distance of 305km (in Monaco this distance is reduced to 260km) and as all the circuits are of varying lengths so are the number of laps on which the race is run over. In addition to this, there is also a maximum time limit of two hours for a race.
Tyres- All the teams are provided by Pirelli with two separate dry-weather compounds for each event. They also get intermediate tyres and full wet tyres. During the dry conditions, both compounds must be used on the race day, which means that the drivers have to pit at least once to change tyres. Every driver is accompanied with a maximum of 12 sets of dry-weather tyres for each event, although this amount can be raised by the FIA to allow teams an extra set of development tyres for Friday practice.
It is run over an hour and is divided into three sessions.
1) In Q1 i.e. the first session all cars may take to the track and complete many or few laps as per their preference. If any car fails to register itself a time within 107% of the fastest time in Q1 it will then not be qualified for the grand prix. At the end of the 20 minutes session there is a recess of 7 minutes and the slowest six cars are eliminated and the times are re-set.
2) Q2 is run according to the same rules over 15 minutes, and at the end of the session additional six cars are eliminated.
3) After these two rounds the last 10 cars are left to battle it out in Q3 round for the top ten grid spots in a session that lasts for ten minutes.
None of the drivers can compete in a Grand Prix if they do not participate in Saturday practice. Each team may have up to four drivers over the season.
Apart from at the final round, points awarded to the top ten finishers are as follows:-
| 1st |
25 |
| 2nd |
18 |
| 3rd |
15 |
| 4th |
12 |
| 5th |
10 |
| 6th |
8 |
| 7th |
6 |
| 8th |
4 |
| 9th |
2 |
| 10th |
1 |
If a race has to be discontinued before the completion of 75% of the distance then half if the actual points are awarded. The drivers score points for themselves as well as for their team, if both drivers from the same team finish in the points, the scores of both of them count towards the constructors' tally.
The incidences that lead the drivers to be penalized include:
1. Blocking a rival driver
2. Causing a crash
3. Speeding in the pit lane or jumping the start
The penalties are given out by the race officials named as stewards.
- Out of all the penalties, the most popular is a drive-through penalty- In this, the driver is expected to cross through the pit lane at the speed limit without stopping. If the stewards impose a drive-through penalty and less than three laps of the race are remaining, then a 20-second penalty will be added to the driver's total race time.
- Another one is the Stop-go which is more time-consuming. In this the drivers are required to halt in their pit box for 10 seconds where no work will be done on the car during that time. If, less than three laps are left then the penalty raises to 30 seconds which will be added to the driver's race time.
- The third one is known as a time penalty, which can be summed to a driver's race time after the chequered flag, usually numbering him down the order.
- The fourth one is a basic reprimand. Three reprimands in the same season heads to a ten-place grid penalty.
- The fifth penalty is a grid-position penalty for the following race - these are normally given after the race following investigations into dangerous driving. The teams can also protest against these penalties.
- The sixth and seventh are the most severe and can eliminate a racer from the results or exclude them from future Grand Prixes.
As the name suggests, the safety car is used to ensure that the passage is safe for the racing cars to race around the track. It is used after an accident that would possibly cause the race to be stopped, but the usage of the safety car enables the race to continue while the problem is administered with.
