FIA Changes Rules To Cut Costs
The FIA has announced more cost-cutting rule changes to try to make Formula One more affordable in an attempt to stop the number of competing teams from falling any further. They are also trying to level the playing field and increase competition among more teams because — after Ferrari won 15 of 17 races last season — the all important TV ratings slumped and some of the major sponsors started to leave.
After two F1 teams folded in 2002 the FIA proposed various measures to reduce costs but they were all rejected by the teams. Then the FIA asked the teams to come up with some suggestions of their own but despite several meetings they could not agree on anything. So now the FIA has imposed some major new rules for next season and beyond.
One major change is that all electronic communication between the cars and the pits will be banned. Not only does this mean an end to the two-way telemetry which enabled the teams to monitor and even make some changes to the cars as they raced but even radio communication between the teams and their drivers will be stopped.
This will make a huge difference in the way the teams run their races as all communications to the driver will have to be on the pit boards which they must try to read as they drive past the pits. Drivers will no longer be able to request setup changes before they make their pit stops and spur-of-the-moment mid-race strategy changes will be much harder to implement.
Although not specifically mentioned this will also make it harder for teams to tell one of their drivers to move aside for their team mate.
Another change is that teams will only be allowed two cars per race so a driver who wrecks his primary car will no longer be able to switch to the backup car.
A harder rule change to police will be the elimination of traction control, launch control and automatic gearboxes. These technologies were only allowed a couple of seasons ago after the FIA admitted that they did not have the time or the expertise to ensure that teams were not using them. The FIA has not announced exactly when this will take effect in 2003 but it is set in stone for the 2004 season.
Other changes for 2003 include making testing voluntary, changes to the qualifying process and a new point-scoring system which gives points to the top eight finishers instead of just the top six. The FIA believes that by making testing voluntary the teams could eventually save between $200 million and $300 million. Testing costs are currently the largest single expense in the sport.
Proposed rule changes for the 2004 season include requiring the use of standard braking systems, standard rear wings and common components. Car manufacturers will also be required to supply engines to all other teams that want to purchase them.
It will be interesting to see how much these new rules actually level the playing field as the top teams will still have much larger budgets than the smaller teams and nothing could make some of the smaller teams competitive.
One likely result will be more cars breaking down as the teams will no longer be able to monitor their cars and warn drivers to make changes to prevent engine failures.
Posted: Wednesday, January 15th, 2003
