Some suggested objectives

We have prepared a first draft of the 2008 rules with the following objectives:



# the rate of increase in performance of the cars should not exceed the rate of improvement in measures to protect the public, marshals and competitors;

# the rules and the means of enforcing them should be clear so that everyone competes on the same basis;

# the rules and methods of enforcement must be sufficiently flexible to deal with unforeseen technical innovation;

# costs should be contained in order to (i) decrease the likelihood of a manufacturer leaving after poor results (ii) enable a private team to be competitive without the support of a major manufacturer and (iii) reduce the performance deficit of the less well-funded teams;

# expensive technology which is invisible to the public and known only to a tiny band of specialist engineers should be eliminated where possible;

# expensive materials or designs should not be used as a substitute for good engineering;

# driver aids should be eliminated as far as possible. In particular the use of electronic devices should not be allowed to replace driver skills;

# downforce should be drastically reduced and “mechanical” grip increased substantially for closer racing.



This, then, has been our approach to 2008. Criticism, constructive or otherwise, is welcome. All comments received during the July consultation period will be carefully considered when the FIA technical department finalises its proposals, which it will do in consultation with those teams and race organisers which have indicated their intention to participate in the Formula One World Championship from 2008 onwards. We will also take full account of the results of the FIA/AMD survey of public opinion. Once finalised and approved by the World Motor Sport Council and FIA General Assembly, the rules must be published before the end of 2005 as required by the Concorde Agreement. Thereafter the 2008 technical regulations cannot be changed without the agreement of everyone concerned.



Changes for 2009 will still require two years’ notice (ie publication before 31.12.2006). Thereafter notice of changes which affect the design of the car (sporting or technical) will be announced no later than 30 June to come into force for the next-but- one season (ie a change for 2010 will be announced before 30.6.2008).



Summary of the main changes proposed for 2008



ENGINES

# All components of the engine will be controlled by an Electronic Control Unit (ECU) which has been manufactured by an FIA designated supplier to an agreed specification

# The ECU may only be used with FIA approved software and may only be connected to the control system wiring loom, sensors and actuators as specified by the FIA

# All control sensors, actuators and FIA monitoring sensors will be specified and homologated by the FIA

# The control system wiring loom connectivity will be specified by the FIA

# A 3 litre V10 engine will remain an option for teams unable to obtain a 2.4 litre V8, but subject to similar strict performance limitations as in 2006 and 2007



Reasons

# to eliminate the use of driver aids such as traction control

# as teams will not be able to develop their own ECUs, expenditure on electronics will be considerably reduced

# to allow the FIA to check testing mileage and other elements

# to keep engine costs low for the smaller independent teams



GEARBOXES

# All cars will be fitted with gear ratios, final drive ratios and differentials which have been manufactured by an FIA designated supplier to an agreed specification

# Gear changing will only be permitted by the use of a manually operated mechanical linkage to the gearbox

# Clutches will only be operated via a foot pedal connected mechanically to a release mechanism



Reasons

# to restore control over the clutch and gear changing to the driver

# the use of standard gearbox internals will result in a very significant reduction in expenditure



BODYWORK

# Downforce will be reduced to approximately 10% of current levels

# Drag will be maintained at current levels

# Overall car width will be increased

# By stipulating maximum and minimum dimensions cars will be “cleaned up” with devices such as barge boards, flip ups, winglets and other small add on parts removed

# Total advertising area on the car to remain unchanged



Reasons

# to reduce the reliance upon downforce as a means of improving performance

# by increasing mechanical grip the likelihood of one car being able to follow another closely in corners, and hence be in an attacking position at the end of the following straight, will be increased

# eliminating winglets, bargeboards, etc, will reduce costs as well as the danger of debris on the circuits

# drag should remain unchanged in order to ensure straight line speeds do not increase significantly



WHEELS AND TYRES

# Tyres will be supplied by one manufacturer appointed by the FIA after an invitation to tender. Such an appointment will be conditional upon :

# a suitable supplier being available ;

# a suitable system to ensure tyre testing is carried out in an equitable manner ;

# no team being disadvantaged by the appointment of a single supplier (detailed regulations will be written to ensure this would not be the case) ;

# there being no legal impediments during the process of appointing a supplier

# Slick tyres will be introduced for use in dry weather

# Lower profile tyres will be introduced

# Significantly larger wheels with minimum and maximum sizes stipulated for front and rear will be permitted

# Tyre blankets and other heating devices will be prohibited

# All tyre regulations will reside in the Technical Regulations



Reasons

# a single supplier would allow a bigger safety margin

# the absence of competitive tyre testing would reduce costs

# as relatively small differences in tyre compound and construction can have a significant effect on lap times, a single tyre supplier would simply ensure that no team would be adversely affected by being contracted to the “wrong” supplier

# slick tyres would be re-introduced as a part of the low- downforce and high-mechanical-grip package

# lower profile tyres would be introduced in order to give the wheels and tyres a more modern look and also permit more freedom on brakes and suspension

# a ban on tyre heating devices would eliminate this significant but unnecessary expenditure



CHASSIS

# The minimum height of the centre of gravity of the chassis will be specified

# The minimum weight for a chassis will be specified

# Energy of all impact tests will be increased

# Loads for all static tests will be increased

# Side intrusion test requirements will be increased

# Ballast will be reduced to minimal levels



Reasons

# to ensure that weight is distributed throughout the chassis

# the centre of gravity requirement should result in less pure ballast being used, the minimum weight will have to be achieved by the construction of a stronger chassis

# by raising the impact test speeds, the static load criteria on structures such as roll hoops and increasing the penetration resistance, drivers will be even better protected than they are at present



BRAKES

# All cars will be fitted with brake discs, pads and callipers which have been manufactured by an FIA designated supplier to an agreed specification



Reason

# to reduce the cost of continual development of new materials and designs, the FIA specified products will be designed to work on all types of track and last an entire Grand Prix weekend



DATA ACQUISITION AND TELEMETRY

# With specific exceptions, any data acquisition system, telemetry system or associated sensors additional to those associated with the ECU will be physically separate and completely isolated from the control electronics

# Pit to car telemetry will be prohibited



Reasons

# to ensure that any data acquisition system used by a team cannot interfere with the FIA specified ECU and sensors

# to ensure teams are unable to send messages to a car and potentially affect its performance



MATERIALS

# Limitations, similar to those within the 2006 engine regulations, will be imposed on all parts of the car



Reason

# costs will be reduced as research into exotic materials will be unnecessary



STARTER

# All cars will be equipped with a driver operated starter which is capable of starting the car without outside assistance a minimum number of times



Reasons

# to simplify the operation of starting a car, at present it is massively complex

# to give the driver a chance of starting a car unaided in the event of it stopping on the track

# to reduce the number of personnel needed at an Event and hence reduce costs



NOTICE OF CHANGE

# Notice periods for changing the rules will be related to the effect (if any) of a change on the design of a car rather than an artificial distinction between “sporting” and “technical” regulations. There will no longer be a distinction between changes to the engine, transmission or chassis.



Reason

# to ensure that changes may be made to the regulations in a timely and more realistic way



SPARE CARS

# Spare cars will be prohibited, i.e. no team may have more than two built-up cars available at an Event at any one time. Spare chassis will be permitted but precisely what constitutes a car in this context will be clearly defined



Reason

# by taking one car less to races teams will be able to save considerable sums of money as, apart from the cost of the car itself, fewer personnel will be needed



TESTING

# Testing will be limited to 30000km per team between 1st January and 31st December, subject to a single tyre supplier being appointed



Reason

# To reduce the enormous amounts of money currently being spent on testing



CAR ACQUISITION

# Teams will be free to buy a complete car or any part of a car from another constructor

# How constructor’s points are to be allocated will be clearly defined after further discussion



Reason

# to enable a team to buy a complete car, or any part of a car, from another constructor. As a result teams will be able to save considerable sums of money on the design and development of their cars.



cliffs: 2007 might be the last F1 season.

 

There is already a series being run with similar rules and it seems to be quite popular with over-weight inbred Kentuckians.



Seriously, what are they thinking? Formula One is supposed to be the pinnacle of automotive design, now my grandma's Cadillac will have more tech on it than an 08 F1 car. I do the like the "mechanical grip over aerodynamic grip idea". Other than that, damn, just change the name to NASCAR2 and get it over with.....

 

i agree. the only good rule that is being changed is allowing slicks. the mechanical over aero grip is nice because it will allow for drafting/more passing.

 

thanks for posting this Eric. Some people "moto GP fans" think F1 is boaring. I love it but i really think it could be spiced up a bit....having 1 set of tires sure didnt do it for me.

there is still 1 very large diffrence in F1 vs other sports like CART. Pure talent. Still the best cars on the best trakes no mater how detuned they are. If they were all in bone stock miatas it would still be a geat race!



If you guys think the rule changes for F1 are big have you checked out next years WRC cars!!

 

[quote name='TylerTRD' date='Jun 16 2005, 07:29 PM']If you guys think the rule changes for F1 are big have you checked out next years WRC cars!!


[/quote]

well the big issue is that most forms of racing have ALOT of mandated parts. f1 is one of the few sports where the teams can spend almost as much as they want to and set up the cars more to their liking opposed to what the rules tell them they can use.

 

interesting about the whole ECU, sensors and harness standards. Unrelated to F1 racing, my buddy was talking about the Factory5 racing series, and all those guys put their ECU's in a pot and the day of the race a lottery is used to pick each person ECU. I guess that keeps the teams from making changes to their ECU to have an unfair advantage.

 

Looks like we're heading back to 80's dorifto style F1 . I think these changes are pretty good, it's not really racing if it's done by a computer, and none of the new rules really are going to restrict the cars in terms of squeezing the most out of them - with the exception of aerodynamics - but as has been said this is a contributing factor to the lack of passing so it's a worthy sacrifice IMO.



Mark

 

Might as well get it over with and mandate spruce framerails while they're at it, since they obviously want to live in some bygone era. If you want to see priceless vintage racecars run, go to Goodwood, not F1. And manually actuated mechanical trasmission linkage? M3 owners get the SMG, but Webber has to push the clutch? Come on. What's next, Powerglides?

 

Mechanical linkage for transmissions? WTF?!



Will Ferrari and Porsche now offer NEW F1 style shifters strongly resembling the standard manual transmission?? LOL. I'd love to see people pay more for that feature...



I do feel that more passing would be fantastic, but look at how competitive this season has been...will these rules really make it more competitive?!

 

[quote name='Dysfnctnl85' date='Jun 17 2005, 10:14 PM']Mechanical linkage for transmissions? WTF?!



Will Ferrari and Porsche now offer NEW F1 style shifters strongly resembling the standard manual transmission?? LOL. I'd love to see people pay more for that feature...



I do feel that more passing would be fantastic, but look at how competitive this season has been...will these rules really make it more competitive?!


[/quote]

It's been competetive in so far as nobody is running away with it, but the excitement factor is still lacking a bit.



And if Ferrari et al were to supply a "manual" sequential I would definitely pick it over the solenoid controlled version - a few nanoseconds between changes is bearable for the sake of a positive gearchange.



EDIT: and silverseven, FWIW Webber and co. still won't have to use the clutch - at least certainly not on upshifts.



Mark