Preview of the 2008 Season (Part 1)

February 29, 2008

As the season start in OZ is only a couple of weeks away, I thought I would do a preview of the season ahead. This is Part 1 which covers the changes to Races and the regulations. Part 2 will be published in a couple of days and will cover driver changes and where the teams appear to stand prior to the start of the season.

Races

There are 18 races this season compared to 17 last year. There are new races in Valencia, Spain (the European Grand Prix) and Singapore (the Singapore Grand Prix). The Singapore Grand Prix will be the first night race. The USA Grand Prix has been dropped from the schedule and the Turkish Grand Prix has been moved earlier in the year and will now be held in May instead of August. The only country with 2 Grand Prix this year is Spain with the Spanish Grand Prix at Catalunya and the European Grand Prix at Valencia. Italy and Germany no longer have 2 races.

Rules

The following are the main rule changes:

Technical Regulations, Article 5; Sporting Regulations, Article 28.5: As in 2007, only homologated engines may be used in the 2008 championship. For the new season, the homologation perimeter has been widened to include all elements included in Articles 5.4 and 5.17 of the Technical Regulations. Items included in Article 5.17 can be changed without penalty, but only with components of an identical design. The duration of the engine homologation period is likely to be five years, and competitors will now be able to make their first engine change during the season without a grid penalty being imposed. However, this change may only be made in the event of a genuine failure.

Technical Regulations, Article 8.2.1: The introduction of All components of the engine and gearbox, including clutch, differential and all associated actuators must be controlled by an Electronic Control Unit (ECU) which has been manufactured by an FIA designated supplier to a specification determined by the FIA. The ECU may only be used with FIA approved software and may only be connected to the control system wiring loom, sensors and actuators in an manner specified by the FIA. The introduction of the Microsoft-MES SECU eliminates a number of control systems, including traction control and EBS (engine braking system).

Technical Regulations, Article 13.1.1: The new head protection was introduced to reduce the risk of driver injury in the event of one car passing over another, following an incident at the 2007 Australian Grand Prix.

Technical Regulations, Article 15.1: The materials restrictions in force from 2008 means that the cars must be built from a list of approved materials.

Technical Regulations, Article 19.4.5: A minimum of 5.75 percent (m/m) of the fuel must comprise oxygenates derived from biological sources. The percentage that each component is considered to originate from a biological source is calculated from the relative proportion of the molecular weight contributed by the biological starting material. The introduction of a small percentage of bio-fuels anticipates 2010 road car norms.

Sporting Regulations, Article 28.6: There has been an expansion of the “Long Life” principle. In addition to the two race requirement for engines, Gearboxes must now last 4 races.

Sporting Regulations, Article 22.1: There has been a change to the mileage testing limits. In 2008, there is an exemption for evaluations of young drivers who have not driven in Formula 1 for 24 months, and have not tested more than 4 days in the same period. These evaluations will not be counted against the testing mileage limit. The teams will be limited to 350km for these evaluations of young drivers.

Sporting Regulations, Article 28.1: This regulation means the disappearance of spare cars from the team garages. This is a logical move towards greater cost-efficiency in an era of nearly flawless reliability up and down the pit-lane. Teams will likely take one less chassis to the races than in previous years (in most cases, a total of three in 2008, compared to four previously).

Sporting Regulations, Article 29.1: Refueling will no longer be allowed between the end of qualifying and the race.

Sporting Regulations, Article 33: Changes to qualifying to a 20/15/10 minute format will eliminate the fuel burning laps at the start of the third and final round.

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