The deadline for teams to submit their application for the 2010 FIA
Formula One World Championship is rapidly approaching, and it's time to
find out what the consequences would be of the new capped and non-capped
regulations, and to see what they really mean for a Formula One team.
First we will have a closer look at the Cost Cap Regulations; after that
we will look at the Sporting and Technical Regulations.
All team applications must be entered during the period May 22-29 2009
and must include:
- Whether a team wishes to compete under the regular or cost cap regulations.
- If a Cost Regulated Team (CRT) wants to use another currency then the UK Pound, they must state which currency they wish to use in their application.
- A CRT team must provide a detailed budget to the Costs Commission within 30 days of its application.
- An entry fee of 309,000 Euro must be paid before November 1 2009 .
New teams no longer have to pay a 48 million Euro deposit to the FOM organization.
Applications after May 29 will only be considered if a place is
available. No more than 26 cars or 13 teams (each team must enter the
championship with two cars) will be admitted to the championship.
Cost Cap Regulations
All cost cap regulations apply to the teams who have indicated in their
2010 application they will participate under the terms of these rules.
The main objective of the rules is to keep the expenditure of these
teams below a fixed maximum level. The FIA has delegated a special
commission, the Costs Commission, to monitor and enforce the cost cap.
The valuation of a team's capital assets - or the use thereof - will be
determined according to the methodology set out in the Handbook. The
valuation of goods or services supplied to the CRT teams, by reference
to their fair market value, will also be determined according to the
methodology set out in the Handbook. If a CRT team provides goods or
services to another CRT team, the relevant costs may be deducted from
the team's expenditure. In the first year of participation as a CRT
team, the FIA states, there are further "transitional provisions" and
these are also described in the cost cap regulations.
The cost cap itself is set to a (provisional) ?40 million in 2010. The
level of the cost cap for future seasons will be set by the WMSC. If a
team wishes to account in another currency than (UK Pound) Sterling,
they must inform the Costs Commission at the same time the team submits
its application for the championship. In that case the cost cap budget
will be calculated at the mid market exchange rate of the selected
currency on the date the FIA publishes the cost cap. No changes in
currency can be made after that. The cost cap will include all costs
except expenses for marketing and hospitality, test and race driver
salaries (including young driver programmes), or any fines or penalties
imposed by the FIA. In the first year of the cost cap regulations
(2010), the expenses for engines are also excluded.
When the cost cap is exceeded, or a CRT team has breached any of the
cost cap regulations, the Costs Commission will report this to the WMSC,
and the WMSC will determine an appropriate penalty. If a team exceeds
the cost cap, the WMSC can also in addition to any penalty, decrease the
team's budget of the next season by the same amount the cost cap was
exceeded in the year in question.
The FIA will install a "Cost Cap Technical Working Group", consisting .
The of one senior representative from each CRT team, and will be .
The chaired by a FIA representative CCTWG will study technical issues .
The regarding the cost cap regulations, and will advise the Costs .
The Commission about these kind of issues .
Each CRT team must provide the Costs Commission with a detailed
budget for the forthcoming year before December 15, and a list of
external consultants, subcontractors, agency staff and key employees it
anticipates being engaged in the CRT's participation in the championship
before December 15. Substantial additional ongoing reporting will be
required as well.
It is the responsibility of the CRT team to ensure that all members of
the team will comply with the regulations. Penalties will be given to
teams when they fail to comply with these rules, or if they fail to
supply any information requested by the Costs Commission.
The 2010 Sporting regulations
There has been some confusion about it, but the regulations now firmly
state that the championship will be awarded to the driver who has scored
the highest number of points, and not to the driver with the highest
number of wins - the system favoured by Bernie Ecclestone .
Track and wind tunnel testing
Cost Regulated Teams can carry out more than 15,000 km of track testing,
are allowed to test in wind tunnels using scale models exceeding 60% of
the full sized car, and can use wind tunnel speeds exceeding 50 meters
per second (180 km/h), non-capped teams are not allowed to do this. CRT
teams can also test during the season, whereas regular teams cannot.
Engines and gearboxes
There is no engine or gearbox limit for CRT teams, while other teams
can use a maximum of eight engines per driver per year, and must use
the same gearbox for four consecutive races. The penalties for using
additional engines or gearboxes are the same as in 2009.
Refuelling
Refuelling during a race is forbidden for all teams.
Qualifying Practice
Because of the increased number of cars admitted to the competition,
during Q1 all but the last (slowest) eight cars go to Q2, during Q2
all but the last eight cars go to Q3. This procedure is based upon a
championship entry of 26 cars. If 24 cars are entered seven will be
excluded after Q1 and Q2 and if 22 cars are entered only six cars will
be excluded after Q1 and Q2. The rules regarding qualifying itself, are
the same for all teams.
Rule changes
A new article was added to Appendix 5 of the regulations, which
describes how rule changes can be proposed, are accepted or are refused:
The TWG (Technical Working Group) and the SWG (Sporting Working
Group) will be consulted on any proposal for change to the Technical
Regulations or Sporting Regulations which did not originate in either
Group and their comments, if any, will be made available to the World
Motor Sport Council when such proposal is discussed.
The 2010 Technical regulations
All competitors who have agreed to enter the competition under the cost
cap rules will have additional technical freedoms as specifically stated
in these regulations.
Driver-adjustable bodywork
The angle of movement for the moveable front wing flaps is six degrees
for the regular teams. They may only be moved by the driver, and
must be controlled by the electronics of the car, with a maximum of
two adjustments per lap, except when the car is in the pit lane. The
movement of the flaps may not exceed the bodywork dimension regulations.
The CRT teams can adjust the wing by a maximum of ten degrees, and the
above limit of a maximum of two adjustments per lap, does not apply to
the CRT teams.
Minimum weight
The weight of the car must be 620 kilogram (was 605 kg in 2009) at all
times during a race event; no substance may be added to the car, and
parts which are replaced during the race, should have the same weight as
the original part. The use of ballast will be permitted. These rules are
the same for all teams, including the CRT teams.
Engines and kinetic energy recovering systems (KERS)
As before, the engine must be a four-stroke engine with reciprocating
pistons, the capacity must not exceed 2400 cc. Engines must have
two inlet and two exhaust valves per cylinder and supercharging is
forbidden. For the regular teams the crankshaft rotational speed may not
exceed 18,000 rpm, but this limit does not apply to the CRT teams.
KERS rules for the regular teams: the maximum power, in or out, may not
exceed 60 kW, the energy released from the KERS may not exceed 400 kJ
per lap. For CRT teams, the power 'in' is unrestricted, the power 'out'
is restricted to 120 kW, and the maximum energy released per lap is 800
kJ, both twice as much as the regular teams.
For all teams, the release of the KERS power must remain under the
complete control of the driver at all times, and the power of the stored
energy may not be increased during a pit stop. All KERS devices must be
situated between the front face of the engine and the driver's back,
viewed in a lateral projection. There is a new rule added to the use
of KERS system, whereby the system may not be operated if the car is
traveling above 300 km/h; this applies to all teams.
Transmission
No transmission system may permit more than two wheels to be driven.
This does not apply to the CRT teams. The KERS system must connect at
any point in the rear wheel drive train before the differential, but
again, the restriction "only the rear wheel drive train" will not apply
to the CRT teams. Note that the FIA is thinking about a future dual KERS
system rather than an AWD scheme. The second KERS unit will derive its
power from the front brakes, and therefore a connection other then to
the rear wheels is allowed for CRT teams.
Wheels and tyres
The fitting of (any) heat retaining devices or pre-heating the tyres
is prohibited for all teams. This applies to all types of tyres, dry,
intermediate or wet-weather tyres. Tyres may only be filled with air or
nitrogen, CO2 will no longer be allowed as a tyre gas. This applies to
all teams.
Fuel mixture
New in 2010 is the use of bio-components in the fuel mixture. A minimum
of 5.75% of the fuel should consist of bio-components. The regulations
give a precise description of the permitted bio-components. Which
bio-components are permitted to use in F1 also depends on "evidence
indicating that the supplier is genuinely developing these compounds for
use in commercial fuels". This is probably done to prevent suppliers
from using expensive or exotic fuel-additives, and claim or pretend
these additives are bio-components.
Great, but what does it all mean?
If we take a closer look at the Cost Cap Regulations, it becomes very
clear that the FIA has total control, and intends to keep total control.
Although teams do have something to say about the regulations and can
make proposals regarding these regulations, in the end, the Costs
Commission Code (containing the financial regulations) is written by the
FIA, the FIA appoints the members of the Costs Commission, the WMSC can
at any time alter the cost cap regulations, and teams can only appeal to
decisions made by the Costs Commission and the WMSC at the FIA Court of
Appeal, and their decision is final.
There is another thing the opposing teams won't like: the FIA wants to
know everything about the financial position of a team, they want to
know for instance exactly what Ferrari pays for the services of Stefano
Domenicali, the money that is involved in sponsor contracts, production
costs of the chassis, payments to sub-contractors, how many employees
they have and what their salary is, how much they have spend on their
new Computational Fluid Dynamics computer system, and dozens of other
things that are still considered to be "secrets of the trade". No one
likes it if someone else (the FIA) is snooping around in their private
business, and the teams are no exception.
The FIA therefore has to be very discreet with all the confidential
information they retrieve from the teams, and they'd better keep all
this information under lock and key. If any of this information would
leak to other teams, the press or the public, the FIA will be in big
trouble.
Sporting regulations
The ability for the CRT teams to do in-season testing is without a doubt
a major advantage: while the CRT teams can test new aero parts on track,
the regular teams can only use the wind tunnel (with the 60% scale
restriction) or their CFD computer system to test new parts. Most of the
present teams have very expensive full-scale wind tunnels, but are not
allowed to use them under the present rules, and will also not allowed
to use them if they opt for the non-capped regulations in 2010 .
The use of eight engines per season and one gearbox for four consecutive
races is also a handicap: if the engine or gearbox of a CRT team brakes
down, they can replace it without getting a penalty, regular teams will
be penalized and put back 10 places on the start grid for replacing an
engine and five places for replacing the gearbox.
The FIA says the refueling ban should "save the costs of transporting
refuelling equipment, and should be an incentive for engine suppliers
to build engines with an improved fuel economy". Maybe I'm wrong, but
if the FIA wants engines with a better fuel economy, they could also
have achieved that by limiting the amount of fuel that is available for
a race, this has been done in the past, now teams have to build a car
with an enlarged fuel tank , and will have to spend money on a new car
design.
Technical regulations
The minimum weight of the car has been increased to 620 kg, 15 kg more
than this year, this applies to all teams, and this will be helpful for
teams running their car with KERS, as they will have some more room to
play around with the ballast. For the same reason the added weight is
also helpful for heavier divers.
It still isn't really clear what the exact benefits of the movable front
wing flaps are, until now, I have never heard a driver tell that he
adjusted the front wing and as a result of that was able to pass the guy
in front of him. But with the 10% angle adjustment for the CRT teams,
the chances that this will happen will definitely increase. Although
the CRT teams are not limited to two adjustments per lap, the system
can only be operated manually, a driver has to push a button every time
he wants to use the system, and therefore it remains to be seen if
the unlimited number of adjustments and increased angle will give any
advantage.
The KERS system is still not mandatory in 2010, but the advantage for
CRT teams who want to use the system is very clear, as they will be
twice as powerful as the version for the regular teams. All teams will
still face the dilemma of the added weight versus the advantages of the
extra power the system offers. CRT teams will probably use KERS, and if
they use it the right way, the extra power could give them an advantage
of 0,5 to 1 second per lap and also give them more opportunities to
overtake. We have already seen teams using the KERS system this year,
also use it as a replacement for the banned electronic launch control,
and a driver using it could easily gain two or three places compared to
a non-KERS propelled start.
Without any engine rpm restriction for CRT teams, 1000 or 2000 rpm extra
will be very helpful in overtaking, especially on long straights. But
running engines at 19,000-20,000 rpm could also increase the risk of an
engine failure, and as we all know, you're not going to finish a race
with a broken engine. More rpm's also means some extra fuel consumption
and thus a heavier fuel load.
Having reviewed all the 2010 regulations, and the technical advantages
the FIA gives to the Cost Regulated Teams, it becomes clear the FIA has
made it as unattractive as they possibly could for a team to operate
under the regular rules. The advantages for a CRT team could result in a
time difference of two seconds per lap, and regular teams would end up
at the back of the field and wouldn't stand a chance to win a race.
Most of the existing teams, especially the manufacturer teams, are not
happy with the new regulations, but the differences in the regulations
and the advantages they give to CRT teams, will force any right-minded
team to compete under the CRT regulations. And that is exactly what the
FIA wants, whether the teams like it or not.
