Changes to F1 for next year

[vat_man]

Well, the big F1 Commission meeting was held yesterday, and the upshot of it all is:

- NO weight penalties or driver swapping
- qualifying is now two sessions, a one hour session on Friday and another on Saturday - but wait! The cars get ONE lap in each session, with Friday's running order determined by the championship positions (with the leader running last) and the order on Saturday determined by times from Friday
- points are now awarded down to 8th place, as follows
1st - 10 points
2nd - 8
3rd - 6
4th - 5
5th - 4
6th - 3
7th - 2
8th - 1
- teams orders are apparently banned (good luck!)
- each team can run two different types of dry tyres at each event

I think the changes are positive (particularly the tyre changes). Qualifying looks a bit gimmicky, but will make good television - I don't see how it will make a difference if the teams have a significant advantage - we've seen Ferraris finish second from the pit lane before in the last few years.
The points changes are interesting - particularly from a team order point of view. With only a two point gap between a win and second, a DNF could change things very quickly - wasn't the change from 9 to 10 points for a win brought in to encourage drivers to go for a win?

 

[GilesGuthrie]

The single lap qualifying took me by surprise, I must say.

Although I did predict the bespoke tyres thing, which the Autosport article curiously downplayed.

And the 8th place points system is a good improvement, that must have been a big-team concession to the smaller teams - perhaps some form of block-voting going on? One wonders if that was the real reason Max was in Japan...

Spa off the calendar? Bad news... That was usually good for a wet race every other year.

 

[pedrodaman]

It's about time they put a stop to team orders It will make for for interesting racing

Let's just hope that :mclaren: and :bmw: give:ferrari: a run for their money

 

[Pupik]

NO %&$#* @#&*%# @&$*% Spa...oh joy!

I'm still awaiting the official press release from the FIA that states...

"Oops. We made a typo."

But it's not likely. Sure, and why don't we have another round at some emasculated circuit to fill the void? Remember Aida? A two-heat event at the Hungaroring? How about dusting off Nivelles-Baulers or (ugh!) Zolder? (I can't believe I typed Zolder...) No wait, the US GP West at Caesar's Palace! (Oops! been there, did that.)

This was the first year ever that every team scored points, and then have to change the scoring system. It's a nice offering to Sauber, Jordan, and Renault, but it will likely not change the standings much at all on top. And decreasing the gap between 1st and 2nd from 4 to 2 points is only going to encourage MS and RB to sawp for positon, because the difference won't be as great.

Just my 2 points...now a 7th place finish!