Formula 1 FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
If you have a Formula 1 related question that you would like to know the answer to, send it to me and I will try to find out the answer and publish it here. Of course, if you have a question and an answer that you would like to share and you have always wanted to see your name in print (well almost), send them both in and I will credit you with the FAQ.
- How Are Points Allocated In A Formula 1 Race?
- Where Can I Buy Tickets To Formula 1 Events?
- Which TV Network Will Be Carrying Formula 1 This Year In The United States?
- What Are The Qualification Rules For A Formula 1 Race?
- What Was The 107% Rule?
- What Is A Timed Race?
- What Is An Official Race?
- What Is The Safety Car And What Does It Do? In Which Cases Is It Used And Why?
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How Are Points Allocated In A Formula 1 Race?
To try to even the field a little after Ferrari ran away with all of the titles in 2002 the FIA introduced a new points scoring system for the 2003 season in which points are awarded to the top 8 finishers in a race as follows:
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Prior to 2003 points were awarded to the top 6 finishers in a race as follows:
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Unlike most other forms of motor racing these are the only points awarded and drivers get no extra points for qualifying on the pole or leading laps during the race.
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Where can I buy tickets to Formula 1 events?
Many people have asked me where they can buy tickets to Formula 1 races and there are many local resources such as travel agents, Web sites for the promoters or owners of the race venue, racing magazines etc. A good place to start is the Web site of the race track that you wish to attend and a full list of these can be found in the F1 Links page.
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Which TV network will be carrying Formula 1 this year in the United States?
Satellite and cable television network Speed Channel will once again be showing the entire FIA Formula 1 World Championship season. They will air coverage of practice and qualifying sessions on the days before the race and will then show the races live.
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What Are The Qualification Rules For A Formula 1 Race?
Qualification takes place in three knockout sessions of 20, 15 and 10 minutes respectively. The slowest five cars in each of the first two sessions are eliminated and they fill the grid from the back. The 10 fastest cars then compete for the 10 remaining grid positions in the final session. (Prior to the withdrawal of Super Aguri, six cars were eliminated in each of the first two sessions.)
Cars making it to the final qualifying session must start the race with whatever fuel is left in the tank and so they have to carry enough fuel for the first part of the race. This means that the quickest times of the day are usually set in the second period when it is usual to run with just enough fuel to complete the qualifying laps.
For 2005 and 2006 the qualification procedure was as follows:
At the start of the 2005 season the FIA moved the two-day qualifying process up a day so that, instead of qualifying on Friday and Saturday, drivers would now be qualifying on Saturday and Sunday with the final session not long before the start of the race itself.
This process was unpopular with both fans and broadcasters and so prior to the European Grand Prix qualifying was changed from two sessions to one. Each car will run a single hot lap on Saturday to qualify for the following day’s race. The cars will go out to qualify in reverse order of their finishing position in the previous race.
For 2003 and 2004 the qualification procedure was as follows:
After Ferrari ran away with all of the titles in 2002 the qualification process was completely revised for the 2003 season.
Qualifying is now a two-day process split over the Friday and Saturday before each race day. Each car gets a single hot lap on an empty track each day with the grid from Friday inverted for Saturday so that the fastest car from the first day of qualifying gets to run last on the second day when the track is presumably at its best.
After the second and final qualification round no further work is allowed on the cars before the race begins apart from checking the tyre pressures and positioning cooling devices to prevent overheating. As cars must now start the race on the same tyres and fuel load as they qualified with most cars will now be qualifying with full fuel cells and will be slower than last year. Lightweight suspension parts and over-revving qualifying engines will also be a thing of the past unless a team wants to risk running the whole race that way.
Like many other changes to be phased in this year the idea of the new qualification rules is to level the playing field for the less affluent teams by making it harder for the better financed teams to take advantage of their larger budgets and resources. While the weak global economy and shrinking viewing figures make some changes inevitable there is still a feeling that this is the first step in the NASCAR-ization of Formula 1 which has always been about maximum technology for those that can afford it and never mind the cost.
The 107% rule was abandoned after the 2002 season and so any car that enters will be able to start no matter how badly they qualify.
Prior to 2003 the qualification procedure was as follows:
Qualifying for a F1 race takes place on the day before the race during a single timed 60 minute session. Each driver is allowed a maximum of 12 laps to post their best time which will decide the grid position for the following days’ race.
In the past when there were more entrants than starting positions the slowest drivers would be eliminated from the grid but in recent years the field has been reduced by rising costs and it got to a point where if you arrived you were guaranteed a place on the grid no matter how slow your qualifying speed was.
This led to the introduction of the 107% rule which eliminates any driver who is outside 107% of the fastest qualifying time - apart from a few times when exemptions have been made for a special case such as bad weather during the qualifying period or the field being too small. In theory this rule should make all of the starters fairly competitive and keep the slowest cars off of the track. In practice, however, there are several teams who can manage a couple of hot laps to get onto the back of the grid but who quickly fade during the race causing hold-ups and accidents as the much faster race leaders struggle to get around them so that they can get on with the race.
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As well as its scheduled distance each Formula 1 race has a maximum allowed running time of 2 hours (this is also true of most CART races but the time limit is extended for longer events). Normally races finish well within this time but if accidents or bad weather cause a race to be run at a slower pace than usual and there is not enough time to run the full number of laps, the race will be declared a timed race and the first time that the race leader crosses the Start/Finish line after the 2 hour limit the race will be over.
As long as the race has reached at least half distance it is an “Official” race and championship points will be awarded as usual.
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A Formula 1 race is “Official” once it has reached half distance. After that, if the race is stopped or shortened due to the 2 hour rule, it will still count for full championship points.
A race which ends before the halfway point will only count for half points towards the championship.
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What Is The Safety Car And What Does It Do? In Which Cases Is It Used And Why?
The safety car, which has been used in F1 for the last few years, is the same as the pace car which is used in most forms of American motorsport.
When there is a hazard on the track which the stewards feel is too serious to just show a local yellow flag around the incident, but which is not serious enough to show a red flag and stop the race entirely, they can declare a full-course yellow (all the corner workers around the track wave their yellow caution flags) and bring out the safety car.
The safety car pulls onto the track in front of the race leader and drives around at a safe pace until the hazard has been removed. As it is an infraction to pass the safety car — or any other car in a caution period — this also keeps all the other cars behind at a safe speed. Any cars between the safety car and the race leader can be waved by and they can catch up with the back of the pack.
Apart from accidents and breakdowns in dangerous places, the safety car is also used in heavy rain when the stewards think it is unsafe to allow the drivers to choose their own speed.
A lot of drivers dislike the safety car as it allows all of the cars in the field to bunch up and can erase a lead which a driver may have taken many laps to create.
In the USA where close racing is the ideal and a large lead is not encouraged the pace car has sometimes been brought out for almost no reason by the organizers just to bunch up the field and create the excitement of the last lap shoot-out that NASCAR is so fond of. “Debris on the track” is the most familiar reason for one of these questionable uses of the pace car.
