2012 F1 Regulation Changes
Discussion
Some interesting changes being made..From James Allen's Blog.
The most interesting thing to come out of the WMSC session was a new rule on racing wheel to wheel, in light of all the penalties and stewards decisions on tight moments this year,
Drivers may no longer move back onto the racing line having moved off it to defend a position.
This is a formalisation of the rule about one move to defend. If a driver makes two moves, he is blocking and that attracts a penalty.
This is an interesting twist on it, as drivers like to stay on the racing line as much as possible, especially late in the race when the build up of debris, rubber marbles and dirt makes driving off-line very slippery.
Already the adjustable DRS wing puts the driver trying to defend his position in a fight at a disadvantage, the car behind getting a boost of around 12km/h. Now if the defending driver is only allowed to move off line and not return back to the line, to force the opponent to use the dirty side, then he'll get hung out to dry and the pass will be straight forward, or he'll judge that resistance is futile and let him through without blocking.
All the measures announced today came from the Sporting Working Group, which comprised team sporting directors and team managers together with Race Director Charlie Whiting, as well as from discussions within the GP Drivers’ Association.
Other measures announced today were:
¢ Cars may no longer take part in pre-season testing without having passed all crash tests (this will lead to one or two teams missing the first test in February)
¢ There will now be a maximum race time of four hours to ensure that a lengthy suspension of a race does not result in a race that could run up to eight hours if left unregulated.
• Before the safety car returns to the pits all lapped cars will be allowed to unlap themselves and then join the back of the pack, ensuring a clean re-start without slower cars impeding those racing for the leading positions.
¢ Cars which were in the pit lane when a race is suspended will now be allowed to re-join the cars on the grid in the position they were in when the race was suspended.
¢ Drivers may no longer leave the track without a justifiable reason, i.e. cutting a chicane on reconnaissance laps or in laps to save time and fuel.
¢ One three-day test will be carried out during the season, formerly there were none. (This was originally planned to be Mugello. Since Ferrari withdrew from FOTA there is no reason for this to change but we will see)
¢ All stewards decisions which are not subject to appeal are now in one place instead of being in various places within the regulations.
¢ All tyres allocated to a driver may now be used on the first day of practice; formerly only three sets were permitted
This is an interesting move which means drivers can get more use out of the harder compound tyres which usually get handed back at the end of the weekend unused. This is at the behest of Pirelli which got sick of transporting tyres it knew would not get used. As engine mileage seems to be pretty comfortable, we should see some more running on Fridays as a result of this move
The most interesting thing to come out of the WMSC session was a new rule on racing wheel to wheel, in light of all the penalties and stewards decisions on tight moments this year,
Drivers may no longer move back onto the racing line having moved off it to defend a position.
This is a formalisation of the rule about one move to defend. If a driver makes two moves, he is blocking and that attracts a penalty.
This is an interesting twist on it, as drivers like to stay on the racing line as much as possible, especially late in the race when the build up of debris, rubber marbles and dirt makes driving off-line very slippery.
Already the adjustable DRS wing puts the driver trying to defend his position in a fight at a disadvantage, the car behind getting a boost of around 12km/h. Now if the defending driver is only allowed to move off line and not return back to the line, to force the opponent to use the dirty side, then he'll get hung out to dry and the pass will be straight forward, or he'll judge that resistance is futile and let him through without blocking.
All the measures announced today came from the Sporting Working Group, which comprised team sporting directors and team managers together with Race Director Charlie Whiting, as well as from discussions within the GP Drivers’ Association.
Other measures announced today were:
¢ Cars may no longer take part in pre-season testing without having passed all crash tests (this will lead to one or two teams missing the first test in February)
¢ There will now be a maximum race time of four hours to ensure that a lengthy suspension of a race does not result in a race that could run up to eight hours if left unregulated.
• Before the safety car returns to the pits all lapped cars will be allowed to unlap themselves and then join the back of the pack, ensuring a clean re-start without slower cars impeding those racing for the leading positions.
¢ Cars which were in the pit lane when a race is suspended will now be allowed to re-join the cars on the grid in the position they were in when the race was suspended.
¢ Drivers may no longer leave the track without a justifiable reason, i.e. cutting a chicane on reconnaissance laps or in laps to save time and fuel.
¢ One three-day test will be carried out during the season, formerly there were none. (This was originally planned to be Mugello. Since Ferrari withdrew from FOTA there is no reason for this to change but we will see)
¢ All stewards decisions which are not subject to appeal are now in one place instead of being in various places within the regulations.
¢ All tyres allocated to a driver may now be used on the first day of practice; formerly only three sets were permitted
This is an interesting move which means drivers can get more use out of the harder compound tyres which usually get handed back at the end of the weekend unused. This is at the behest of Pirelli which got sick of transporting tyres it knew would not get used. As engine mileage seems to be pretty comfortable, we should see some more running on Fridays as a result of this move
Edited by vescaegg on Wednesday 7th December 18:09
Mr_Thyroid said:
vescaegg said:
“Drivers may no longer move back onto the racing line having moved off it to defend a position.â€
Whaaaat? If you leave the racing line you're not allowed back on!!!! Ambiguous is my middle name.vescaegg said:
Before the safety car returns to the pits all lapped cars will be allowed to unlap themselves and then join the back of the pack, ensuring a clean re-start without slower cars impeding those racing for the leading positions.
This one again.They seem to introduce this, get bored waiting to sort the snake out so remove it and then forget the wasted time it generates and reintroduce it every few years. Bizzare change, we know it just adds more laps to the safety car period and winds everyone up.
johnfelstead said:
This one again.
They seem to introduce this, get bored waiting to sort the snake out so remove it and then forget the wasted time it generates and reintroduce it every few years. Bizzare change, we know it just adds more laps to the safety car period and winds everyone up.
But then you don't have a situation where the race leader is followed by 2 HRT's, then the second placed driver, and the second placed driver gets stuck behind the HRT's at the restart. Swings and roundabouts. Every item is a compromise.They seem to introduce this, get bored waiting to sort the snake out so remove it and then forget the wasted time it generates and reintroduce it every few years. Bizzare change, we know it just adds more laps to the safety car period and winds everyone up.
hing in the other threads? TheHeretic said:
johnfelstead said:
This one again.
They seem to introduce this, get bored waiting to sort the snake out so remove it and then forget the wasted time it generates and reintroduce it every few years. Bizzare change, we know it just adds more laps to the safety car period and winds everyone up.
But then you don't have a situation where the race leader is followed by 2 HRT's, then the second placed driver, and the second placed driver gets stuck behind the HRT's at the restart. Swings and roundabouts. Every item is a compromise.They seem to introduce this, get bored waiting to sort the snake out so remove it and then forget the wasted time it generates and reintroduce it every few years. Bizzare change, we know it just adds more laps to the safety car period and winds everyone up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyJNA6qBNPk
The problem I can see with the 'not going back to the racing line for the corner' rule is that it will make some very strange lines when cars may be 2 abreast in a corner, maybe leading to even more collisions? Inside car braking a lot harder, having to take a much tighter line, and how much can they return to the racing line mid corner, etc? Seems like that will just cause a bit more mayhem to me. the 2 move rule works for me. simple.
IIRC The unlapping thing could have let Jenson Button win Monaco this year.
I wish they'd allow more official tests though. COuld even do it the MotoGP way. Where the teams test on the same circuit as they raced on on the Monday/Tuesday after the event. Cuts on travelling as they are all there anyway.
I wish they'd allow more official tests though. COuld even do it the MotoGP way. Where the teams test on the same circuit as they raced on on the Monday/Tuesday after the event. Cuts on travelling as they are all there anyway.
TheHeretic said:
That is going to have some interesting interpretations. I thought the current rules were adequate, to be honest. Forcing a driver to remain on the somewhat dangerous marbles could end up with some interesting braking going into corners. I suppose folks will merely move as far to the marbles to defend, and no further, leaving the overtakenrto go on the marbles.
The drivers will test this out (as it is indeed ambiguous) and the line will be drawn based on the point where a punishment is applied. It will probably take the first collision before a penalty is applied and thus I don't really feel it will change much from the current; where if the following driver has backed out of passing then the leading driver can move back towards or onto the racing line safely and without punishment.Rich_W said:
IIRC The unlapping thing could have let Jenson Button win Monaco this year.
I wish they'd allow more official tests though. COuld even do it the MotoGP way. Where the teams test on the same circuit as they raced on on the Monday/Tuesday after the event. Cuts on travelling as they are all there anyway.
However, the new time limit would have prevented him from winning in Canada.I wish they'd allow more official tests though. COuld even do it the MotoGP way. Where the teams test on the same circuit as they raced on on the Monday/Tuesday after the event. Cuts on travelling as they are all there anyway.
TheHeretic said:
But then you don't have a situation where the race leader is followed by 2 HRT's, then the second placed driver, and the second placed driver gets stuck behind the HRT's at the restart. Swings and roundabouts. Every item is a compromise.
Obvious answer is to force lapped cars to drop to the back of the snake. Use Psychology said:
Obvious answer is to force lapped cars to drop to the back of the snake.
Unfortunately then they've covered 1 less physical lap. Would be worth considering a "we'll write off that lap to let them back" but race results are based in the end on time to finish, followed by distance covered. Perhaps i'll be corrected, but I bet they considered it when they put that rule forward.Forums | General Motorsport | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff