Tuesday, December 20, 2005
2006 Regulations Changes
Below are the changes to the rules and regulations of the 2006 F1 season, courtesy of formula1.com...
Qualifying
For 2006, the single-lap system used in recent years is replaced by a new 3-part, knockout format, with multiple cars on track throughout the qualifying hour, which is split into two 15-min sessions and one 20-min session, with 5-minute breaks in between.
Part One(15-min): All 20 cars can run as many laps as they wish on any fuel load, the five slowest cars from this session will drop out and form grid positions 16th to 20th
Part Two(15-min): The remaining 15 cars can run as many laps as they wish on any fuel load, the five slowest from this lot will drop out and form 11th to 15th positions on the grid
Part Three(20-min): The final 10 cars will fight it out for the top ten grid positions, cars may run as many laps as they wish in their race fuel load, with the option to replenish their race fuel level after qualifying. Cars would be weighed to determine the amount of fuel consumed for qualifying, and only this amount may be added back to the cars after qualifying
Any driver deemed to have impeded other drivers' timed run is liable to having his lap times cancelled by race stewards
Engines
For 2006, engines are reduced in size from the previous 3-litre V10s to 2.4-litre V8s. The aim is to reduce cost and improve safety. With similar engine speeds, the change is expected to cut peak power around 200bhp, which translates to roughly a 5-second increment to lap times at most circuits. The FIA may allow smaller teams who do not have access to competitive V8s to run modified V10s with rev limits, to ensure performance is comparable to that of a V8
Tyres
Tyre changes will be allowed in the race again after a year's absence, rationale being the reduced engine size are expected to offset any performance gains from changing tyres during the race
Weekend Schedule
Saturday morning now features a single 1-hr practice session, as opposed to two 45-minute sessions, it will run from 1100 to 1200 local time. Qualifying will be held 2 hrs later at 1400 local time
Qualifying
For 2006, the single-lap system used in recent years is replaced by a new 3-part, knockout format, with multiple cars on track throughout the qualifying hour, which is split into two 15-min sessions and one 20-min session, with 5-minute breaks in between.
Part One(15-min): All 20 cars can run as many laps as they wish on any fuel load, the five slowest cars from this session will drop out and form grid positions 16th to 20th
Part Two(15-min): The remaining 15 cars can run as many laps as they wish on any fuel load, the five slowest from this lot will drop out and form 11th to 15th positions on the grid
Part Three(20-min): The final 10 cars will fight it out for the top ten grid positions, cars may run as many laps as they wish in their race fuel load, with the option to replenish their race fuel level after qualifying. Cars would be weighed to determine the amount of fuel consumed for qualifying, and only this amount may be added back to the cars after qualifying
Any driver deemed to have impeded other drivers' timed run is liable to having his lap times cancelled by race stewards
Engines
For 2006, engines are reduced in size from the previous 3-litre V10s to 2.4-litre V8s. The aim is to reduce cost and improve safety. With similar engine speeds, the change is expected to cut peak power around 200bhp, which translates to roughly a 5-second increment to lap times at most circuits. The FIA may allow smaller teams who do not have access to competitive V8s to run modified V10s with rev limits, to ensure performance is comparable to that of a V8
Tyres
Tyre changes will be allowed in the race again after a year's absence, rationale being the reduced engine size are expected to offset any performance gains from changing tyres during the race
Weekend Schedule
Saturday morning now features a single 1-hr practice session, as opposed to two 45-minute sessions, it will run from 1100 to 1200 local time. Qualifying will be held 2 hrs later at 1400 local time
