6 of the most short-lived F1 rules

Elimination qualifying

 F1’s qualifying format underwent a major rework in 2006, introducing a new three-part knockout system that has since become one of the highlights of the entire race weekend. But ten years later, on 4^th March 2016, F1 management announced that qualifying would be adjusted for the upcoming season.

Although the three-session format was retained, the system of elimination within each session was revamped. In Q1, drivers would have seven minutes to complete a timed lap, at the end of those seven minutes, the slowest driver would then be eliminated. All well and good so far. Following that, the next slowest driver would be eliminated every 90 seconds until the chequered flag fell, and this is where the chaos commenced.

As drivers and teams struggled to keep up with the quick elimination turnaround, all three parts of the qualifying session ended with no cars on track – the time when traditionally everyone would be out to set one final timed lap. It made for a confusing and anti-climactic session that fizzled out before it had even got underway.

You could argue it was something the teams would have eventually got their heads around with new optimised strategies, but the decision was made almost immediately that elimination qualifying had been a failure, and it was ditched after just one session, never to be seen again.

Aggregate qualifying

F1 qualifying has taken several forms over the years, and the single-lap format existed in various guises from 2003-2005. After several attempts to perfect this system in the wake of multiple instances of gamesmanship, the decision was taken to introduce a new aggregate qualifying format.

As there had been in previous seasons, there were two qualifying sessions during the weekend, but in 2005 the grid would be decided by adding both of each drivers’ times together. You can understand the reasoning here, and it did at least address the issue of drivers purposefully setting slow laps in session one to guarantee a favourable spot in the all-important second session.

But in terms of the show, it didn’t really land. Generally speaking, the first qualifying session would act as a spoiler for what would follow, even with the added twist of second laps being set on race fuel loads, generally speaking the orders would be the same or similar in both sessions.

It was the opposite of exciting, and aggregate qualifying was dropped after six races. The single-lap format was dropped altogether at the end of the season in favour of the current knockout system.

Tyre change ban (2005)

The idea of tyre strategy has been around in F1 since the 1950s. Ferrari were one of the first to try changing tyres during a Grand Prix, but it wasn't until decades later that the act of replacing tyres could be completed quickly enough to be considered a viable method of completing a race distance.

By the turn of the century, mid-race refuelling had also been introduced, so the pressure on tyre changes was reduced, although high-speed wheel guns would still see tyres replaced within a matter of seconds.

That was until 2005, when changing tyres mid-race was banned. Bridgestone was tasked with creating tyre compounds that could last an entire race distance, and drivers would need to manage wear to reach the chequered flag. They’d still make refuelling stops though, so pit stop strategy remained a focus.

It wasn’t so much the strategic element that proved to be the problem here, though, more the demands of running tyres under such high loads for the best part of two hours non-stop. It led to several ‘processions’, where drivers would drive far below the limit in order to nurse their tyres through the Grand Prix.

Ultimately, several high-profile failures, including Kimi Räikkönen’s memorable moment while leading at the Nürburgring, and the issues that surrounded the infamous scenes at Indianapolis, contributed to F1’s U-turn at the end of the season.

Double points

Another case of F1 fixing something that ain’t broke. For context, in prior seasons Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel had enjoyed two of the more dominant championship triumphs in the sport’s history, and it was decided that in order to retain the value of the season’s latter races, the title race needed to be maintained for as long as possible.

The solution was a simple, yet controversial one. In 2014, the final race in Abu Dhabi would award double points. The winner would take home 50 points, the largest haul ever awarded in an F1 World Championship Grand Prix, and potentially turn the championship on its head.

As it was, Lewis Hamilton led his team-mate Nico Rosberg by 17 points heading into that final round, so the championship was still on the line. But attitudes towards what was considered a synthetic gimmick designed to artificially manipulate the competition were overwhelmingly negative, and while Hamilton took a comfortable victory to claim his second title, the double points idea was scrapped in the aftermath.

Radio ban

When team radio began to be broadcast regularly on TV, the world got to understand just how much chatter there was between drivers and their teams during race weekends. And it got rule makers thinking about the perception of the sport, and how much supposed ‘hand holding’ there was for drivers while they were out on track.

The idea was to return to the days when drivers would drive the car ‘unassisted’, but with one substantial flaw. Back in the olden days, drivers were expected to race as fast as possible, working two pedals, a steering wheel and perhaps a gear lever. In 2016, when it was decreed that F1 teams would no longer be able to give drivers advice on performance or car setting adjustments, including complex start procedures, they were doing far more than simply driving as fast as possible.

This wholesale ban was the culmination of a gradual crackdown that began in 2014, when the FIA clarified regulations particularly that drivers ‘must drive the car alone and unaided’. And the results were perhaps predictable.

With engines too complex for their own good, and steering wheels harnessing more processing power than your laptop, it was simply unreasonable to expect drivers to keep track of all the systems and their settings. This led to an increase in the amount of car failures, with drivers often left helpless when a simple switch on their steering wheel would have seen the problem rectified.

It was a bit of a shambles, and ultimately the ruling was relaxed after outcry from drivers, teams and the wider F1 community.

Standing safety car restarts

Finally, we have possibly the most controversial of them all. Ahead of the 2015 season, the FIA confirmed that standing restarts in the wake of a safety car would be introduced. Despite a great deal of negative response, the regulation was confirmed ahead of the new season, and dictated that cars would line up on the grid following a safety car period and resume the race with a standing start procedure.

But not in every scenario. If the safety car had been deployed within two laps of the start, or within five laps of the finish, the race would resume with a traditional rolling restart. The race director also had discretion on its use, if they considered conditions to be ‘unsuitable’.

You can understand the appeal. Standing starts, and the race towards the first corner, are often among the most exciting moments of a Grand Prix, so to have more of that is no bad thing. The trouble is they tend to heighten the chances of an incident that would result in a safety car. The term ‘safety cars breed safety cars’ would take on a whole new meaning, and potentially lead to an unbreakable cycle of incidents and safety cars.

Drivers were also unimpressed by the added jeopardy that such a rule would impose on a race, not to mention the increased chance for a big accident to occur. It’s perhaps of little surprise that this regulation was dropped before the season even started.

Images courtesy of Motorsport Images.