Murray Walker: "There are a lot of IFs in Formula One In fact, If is Formula One backwards!"
[Note: This information is based on that previously found in earlier Car Wars products, and then updated for GURPS: Autoduel second edition. Where the information in Autoduel II conflicted with my Survival Guide: UK, my Survival Guide took precedence.]
I would like to respectfully dedicate this to Murray Walker, Martin Brundle, James Allen, Tony Jardine, Jim Rosenthal, Louise Goodman and the rest of the ITV F1 coverage team - great job guys!
Formula One Combat Racing. Where the cream of the top drivers in the world get together to race at speeds of over two hundred miles an hour, while also attempting to smash the opposition with whatever weapons they have at hand.
All the glamour, all the action, all the thrills - sit back in your seat and come with us to a media circus's madhouse!
Because of the length of this file, it has been split down into three sections:
- Part One: Background and History
This gives all the non-gaming rules concerning the sport of F1, including how it is organised, the teams, the races and more.
- Part Two: Gaming Rules
This gives most of the necessary gaming rules for F1, including car construction, combat notes, teams and seasons, sample vehicles and more.
- Part Three: Gaming the Race
Which includes designing the track, and the actual mechanics of gaming an F1 race, with rules for tyre and brake wear, weather and more.
- Part Four: Gaming the Race II
With playtest rules for actually gaming the entire race. Bring a calculator...
When the world started unravelling in the early part of the 21st Century, F1 didn't die. Instead it retreated to Europe. This wasn't a big problem as the non-European Grand Prix's could be easily cut out of the circuit, and for a while there were actually two British Grand Prix's - Silverstone and Brands Hatch - for the first time ever.
However, when the grain blight hit, the Grand Prix stopped. For while getting oil wasn't really a problem for corporations with as many contacts as the F1 teams, food was a different matter, and if it wasn't available, no amount of money was going to change that. Thus from 2017 to 2019, F1 didn't happen as a sport, although from 2012 the sport was limited to European countries only.
But when the world started to get it's act back together, so did the F1 world. It was slow at first as the sponsors tried to get the money and glamour back, but by 2023 it had appeared to work and the crowds were returning. By 2025, most of the world was back within the F1 circuit, with only a few exceptions - including France - and most of the teams were back too.
However as soon as the crowds started returning, they started leaving again as combat and death sports became popular. For the next 10 seasons the FIA tried to do something about this situation without having to resort to combat and blood shed, after all, driver and spectator safety was always paramount.
Still, by 2034, the FIA couldn't stop the lack of interest in F1, and came to the decision that the 2035 season was going to be the start of F1 Combat Racing.
And it was a complete disaster.
Because the FIA had no experience with combat events, their regulations didn't take much into account, and F1 teams are masters of exploiting loop holes. The first race in Montreal, Canada was notably for the fact that the Arrow team won the event. Most of the top teams stuck mainly to racing cars with armour bolted on. A couple went down the heavy guns route, but the Arrow team brought in dropped weapons, and when the leaders came around to lap them, a combination of mines, spikes and oil destroyed them and indirectly a lot of the field as well. There were 6 driver fatalities (out of 17 starting), and a further 4 critically injured. Almost no one survived unhurt.
However the crowd loved it, and the sport was back on schedule. With help from a few leading organisations (such as the LEADA, the RAC and the AADA), the season was gotten back on track and by the end of the year a firm set of rules and regulations had been written, which have changed little since then.
After the incredible low scoring season, F1 was back, changed to be sure, but back and back for good.
MW: "Anything happens in Grand Prix racing and it usually does."
F1 is a very gentlemanly sport in comparison to other combat events. With F1, the idea is to win the race, usually by crossing the finishing line. Combat is obviously allowed, but the idea is not to kill the other drivers, just incapacitate the car. Formula One drivers are generally a fairly close knit group of individuals, and whilst that doesn't mean that they always get along with each other, it does mean that they have been racing each other for a while and wish to keep it that way. There is nothing in the FIA regulations that state that you cannot shoot to kill, but it is something that just isn't done if possible, although accidents and stray shots to happen.
Drivers with reputations about killing when there is no need will soon find that their contracts aren't renewed at the end of the season, no one else picks up the contract, and most of the other drivers are suddenly gunning for them.
MW: "I don't make mistakes. I make prophecies which immediately turn out to be wrong."
In the latter half of the 20th Century it was said that Formula One was watched by 25% of the world, 16 times a year, more than any other sport in existence. Today, that figure is not so high as other combat events, Private Wars and the like take that slot, but it still accounts for a lot of people watching.
With this high turn out comes glamour and sponsors. All the celebrities like to be seen at one time or another at an F1 circuit, talking to the drivers, and with the celebrities come the sponsors. More than any other sport, even today, the F1 world generates more media attention and more money. Designer labels are everywhere, every billboard is selling something, and the drivers and their cars are covered in sponsorship labels and badges.
But the sport has it's own personalities as well mainly in the shape of the media presenters and commentators. Drivers come and go, the commentators talk on.
British commentators have a reputation for sprouting rubbish in the heat of the moment, but the ITV sports channel's coverage is still world wide viewing by millions.
It would appear that while the British aren't good at many sports, in F1 they have found something they can do, and won't let go without a fight.
Probably the most famous F1 commentator of all time, is Murray Walker, or more accurately known as 'Muddy Talker'. Murray begun commentating since the first British Grand Prix in 1950, and went on until 2017, when he was 89. Sadly he died during the interval of F1, although if cloning technology had been available, he would still have been with us. Murray's enthusiasm was matched solely by his ability to get the facts wrong, his brain never working as fast as his mouth. Murray also had the reputation for being the kiss of death for some drivers. Just as he would make a prediction for a winner, or make a compliment about a driver, the target would inevitable do something to blow that completely.
Martin Brundle, an ex-F1 driver himself, teamed with Murray in 1997, and together they made the ideal partnership, Martin's dry wit and sardonic nature, especially when correcting Murray is legendary, and when Murray died, Martin continued the work, and today continues to comment for the ITV network, currently on his second clone.
As you can probably guess, I have included some of the better quotes from the pair in this document - MW is Murray Walker, MB is Martin Brundle.
Britain is the home of Formula One racing, and has been since Silverstone was built in the late 1940s and hosted the first world Grand Prix in 1950. The area around Silverstone is generally considered the 'Silicon Valley of F1', and this is where the majority of the teams are based, although with some notable exceptions, such as Ferrari. Again, this is something that has always been (in 1999 for example, 7 of the 11 F1 teams were stationed here), and with the teams come testing grounds, manufacturing plants, and more.
MB: "There's two rules in Formula One: 'Don't go against [the FIA] too often', and ' See rule one'."
The FIA is the governing body of F1 racing. It always has been, and probably always will. Originally a French based organisation, it moved to the UK in 2016, just after France closed it's borders and become an isolationist country. Having always had an British head for the F1 division anyway, and because most teams are based in the UK, this was seen as a natural move.
The FIA defines almost everything about the F1 car and the sport. It is they who decide how wide and long a car must be, where the wheels must be situated, the layout of the vehicle, engine size, weights - you name it, there is a technical specification for it somewhere. While this makes most F1 cars look similar, there is still scope for teams to get better cars than others. In the late 20th Century, these regulations were seen as very restrictive and didn't prompt much innovation, and when it did (such as the '76/'77 six wheeled Tyrell cars), that innovation was swiftly banned.
However the FIA has seen the need to adapt, and when combat sports were introduced and Formula One didn't adapt, the spectators, the sponsors and more importantly, the money, started to go away.
So, in 2035, the FIA introduced F1 Combat Racing in an attempt to liven things up, with that season being a spectacular entrance back. Since then, the FIA have managed to get things back under control with rules for most things again, but this time with enough scope to keep the interest and innovation.
Despite all it's changes and regulations to get the sport firmly rooted in the 21st Century, some of the specifications that the FIA lay down are still very much rooted in the past century, and F1 is not the ultimate sport that it could be, and it never will.
The FIA don't just tell the teams what they can put in their cars and how they should be built, they also test them rather rigidly, and any deformity has to be corrected and re-tested until it conforms to the standards. Nearly all parts of a car are tested and scrutinised by the FIA.
It's not just the cars that the FIA govern, it's also the circuits that are raced on, and constant changes have to be made to make the tracks more safe for the drivers. For a circuit to be FIA approved (and thus to be able to host F1 races), there are a lot of considerations that have to be taken into account. For a start the track has to be a mixture of straights and curves, and the curves have to have the correct safety barriers around them, along with gravel traps to help a car shed its speed. Then there has to be adequate pit space and facilities, spectators have to have decent and protected grandstands (although spectators are generally allowed anywhere around the circuit, neither the FIA or the circuit owner will take any responsibility for damages or injuries causes), medical centres have to reach a certain high standard (although mainly stabilisation is the point of the hospital - major injuries are allowed to be shipped elsewhere), and lastly there has to be a place for commentators and broadcasting facilities. If all these requirements are met, then the circuit will be considered for hosting an F1 race. Of course, what happens to the circuit before and after the race is of no concern to the FIA and it can be used to host any other type of race or event that it chooses. Provided it meets the requirements at the time of the race, it will be deemed okay to use.
It should be noted that the FIA is not affiliated with the AADA or it's derivatives in any way, shape or form.
MW: "He [Jackie Stewart] will not produce a winner, but if he can produce second, it will be the next best thing."
F1 teams are fairly unique in the sporting business. They are all large corporate sponsored affairs, having a budget ranging from a mere £13 million to £50 million and above per year, at a minimum, and it is the rare team that can afford to run on this. Sponsors used to be mainly tobacco companies, but now they are mainly computer and weapon firms, although any company can be a sponsor for the right deals.
An F1 team has a difficult and expensive task ahead of it. According to FIA regulations, every team has to design its own car, you cannot pick an old model from someone else's team and just modify it, although you can redesign your own last years car. Every team has to use a FIA approved engine supplier, or design their own, and this takes time and money. This is one of the reasons that you cannot find 'stock' F1 cars.
It is probably no wonder that industrial espionage amongst teams has gotten to an all time high.
But this is just the beginning.
A team has to produce a minimum of three cars per season, one for each driver, and a spare. Drivers have to be picked and paid (generally at a minimum price of £5 million each year), and the car maintenance hasn't even started yet.
After every race, almost 90% of a car is either scraped or rebuilt. Each engine is rebuilt and sent back to the supplier for a tune up, most internal components wear out after a race and have to be scraped, and this is expensive.
Still, teams do manage, and the results can be spectacular.
By FIA regulations, there is usually only space for 12 teams (24 cars) on the start grid, but these days, not many people can afford to run an F1 team, so there are usually plenty of spaces on the grid waiting to be filled.
There are a few F1 teams that are regulars on the starting grids with enough funding to come back every year, but there are generally more that come and go depending on sponsorship. The six oldest teams include:
McLaren
An old team, dating back from 1966, and one that continues to lead the way in design and technology in the F1 race, although that doesn't mean that the cars they produce are any better than the rest of the pack. Currently number one in the constructors championship, they drive silver and black cars.
Ferrari:
One of the oldest teams in F1, and one of the top three that seem to outpace everyone on the track. Ferrari have had a long and glamorous career since starting F1 back in 1950. They are one of the few teams to have their base in Italy. Their colours are red, and their current standing is second in the constructors championship, although they are very close to McLaren. Ferrari are also one of the few teams that sometimes actually have standing orders for their drivers, where one is very much the preferred driver, and the other the backup who must defer to the first driver wherever possible.
Jordan:
The yellow Jordan team has become a real contender in the F1 word since it's introduction in 1991. It has managed to firmly establish itself as one of the top three teams, and has a reputation as being a fun and glamorous team, always wanting to associate itself with the top female models.
British American Racing:
Born in 1999 by the buying of the old Tyrell team, the BAR team started off by getting on the wrong side of the FIA with their car colours, and since then have been in a state of flux with their results. Their main problems always seem to be reliability as they have some good cars, good drives, but something always goes wrong. This may be due to the fact that they are always trying to find loop holes in the FIA regulations and are consistently designing some incredibly innovative cars.
Ford:
Born out of the old Stewart team, Ford have made their come back into F1 with, again, mixed results. They seem to be notable for the team that no one seems to notice as they always do about average, being in the middle of the pack.
Arrows:
Arrows has always been one the lagging teams in F1. Never having as much money as most of the other teams, they were usually always at the back of the pack, being lapped by almost everyone else. They have had some fortune (notably in 1997 when Damon Hill give them an astonishing race at Hungaroring circuit, Hungary), and in 2035 they shone and won their first grand prix when their judicious use of dropped weapons eliminated the opposition. Since then though, with the regulations banning those sort of tactics, Arrows are again back at the back of the pack, not having the money to get elsewhere. There colours are Orange and black, having gone through the complete orange livery.
MW: "That's not four tenths of a second, look at it - it's Michael Schumacher!"
Not everyone can turn up and drive an F1 car. They might have the potential, but there are plenty of tests that they have to go through before they are allowed to sit in the cockpit.
Every driver must have experience with racing, and they must get an FIA approved 'superlicense', which is gotten after a rigorous driving test. And a sum of around £50,000. To get the license approved means that the driver will already have considerably racing experience, and you generally find that most F1 drivers have already been champions in some racing sport, mainly Indy or Combat Formula 3000. Drivers who have made their way up from some down and out unapproved (read non-AADA [or other non-renowned organisation] sanctioned) circuit will rarely even be considered. This is a professional sport, and the FIA want professional drivers from professional backgrounds, no matter how good they are.
Once the license has been approved, the driver is available, and it is then down to the teams to decide whether or not they want the newbie. More often than not, the driver will be selected to act as a test driver for the teams, or will be a floater, someone who is available but won't be used unless something happens to one of the teams drivers.
Each team generally has three drivers - the two racing drivers, and a test driver. Some teams only go for the two and ignore the test driver. With the relatively lack of serious injuries and deaths in F1 when compared with other sports, the amount of newbie drivers is limited as a lot of potential drivers tend to stay in their other races where at least they have a contract. Still, the amount of floaters is usually around 50 or so.
While a driver is expected to be good, they are also paid an awful lot of money to do their job, and have to sign contracts, usually for one season, but some teams make their drivers sign for two or more. Typical driver salaries are around the £5 million mark a year, new F1 drivers will expect to get a lot less, while very experienced drivers a lot more. (For comparison, in 1999, Damon Hill, the 1996 world champion got a salary of £5 million pounds for Jordan, whilst Michael Schumacher got a reported £20 million pounds working for Ferrari!).
Drivers do not have to be members of the AADA or its derivatives, but it certainly doesn't hurt.
Drivers come from all walks of life, and from all nationalities. Whilst the British seem to do well in the Grand Prix, they do not dominate it like England does for the base of the sport. Nearly all countries have had at some point F1 drivers, although the Middle East aren't represented very much, nor, funnily enough, is North America. The Americans, it would seem, much prefer Indy car racing to F1. The Europeans as a whole dominate the scene regularly.
While drivers are mainly male, there have been - and probably will continue to be - women drivers. The sport doesn't discriminate against them, it would just appear that women don't seem as interested in joining up.
MW: "...and that just shows you how important the car is in Formula One racing."
The 2049 Formula One Combat Racing car will be almost instantly recognisable to fans of the late 20th Century F1 racing. This is due to the fact that that car was almost the pinnacle of aerodynamics, and there really isn't much more than can be done in that direction. It has been said that the aerodynamics of the car account for about 80% of the cars performance, and over the years it has been refined to be that point.
There are some differences though, the cockpit is now enclosed and encased in an armoured shell and the body is back to being slightly wider, although this is mainly so that the extra equipment like weapons and the like can be installed.
With the relaxing of certain technical regulations though, some cars do have some external differences. Turrets and gun ports are the most obvious, but innovations have again lead teams to experiment, and so the odd 6 wheeled car can be seen from time to time as can other designs. For the most part though, the 'classic' '98,'99 and '00 look is the way that most teams go. It does work after all.
However, underneath the carbon frame is where things have really changed. Whilst an F1 car was always an electronic haven, now it has gotten even more so. Technology never stops developing, and so control systems, new materials, better engines and everything that can be improved or changed has been.
FIA regulations still hold though, and so the modern F1 car is still not the ultimate racing machine that could be built. Drivers still have to control most parts of the car manually even though computers could do a better job, and a driver still has to physically control the vehicle, and not let some electronic gizmo do it for him.
The thing about a Formula One car is that while there are a lot of vehicles that have faster top speeds and can be much quicker on the straights in terms of raw speed, there is no car that can rival the acceleration or braking of the F1 car - and thus get to that speed so quickly - and that is what counts in the race and why an F1 cars weight is so low. Handling is also at a premium and no other vehicle can generate the down force necessary to keep a vehicle on the road at the speeds that they vehicles go at.
MW: "And Coulthard is now on the inside, AND HE'S GOING THROUGH!"
MB: "That's a replay, Murray."
The F1 season never really ends, so technically it never really starts either. All year round the teams are designing their cars, refining their technology, getting sponsors and budgets, and testing, testing, testing.
However, the start of the season proper could be when the teams are supposed to submit their applications to the FIA. This has to be done by the 1st December (or the nearest Monday in December if the 1st falls on a weekend) on the previous year to the season, and the FIA also have to have issued all regulations and changed by this date. Team applications that are late may be considered by the FIA, but after the end January, no additional teams may enter the season.
Whilst as many cars as desired are allowed for testing, only a total of three cars are allowed for qualifying and racing in any one event.
All cars that are to be used for each race must be submitted to the FIA three days before the event, and once the cars have been submitted, they cannot be changed, so if the teams decides that the cars are the wrong ones, then that's tough.
The FIA also reserve the right to spot check any vehicles that are to be included in the race at any time, but the checks (if carried out), will not interfere with a teams entry into the race or qualifying.
Determing car number:
The driver/car numbers are determined solely on the drivers championship points number. The driver who has the amount of points (and therefore the world champion) is number 1. The second highest total is number 2, and so on. Driver numbers are never worked out any other way. This is different to the way it was originally worked out, but with the teams changing every season, it was deemed a fairer way. New teams are added to the end numbers based on the date of their application.
Determining pit order:
Similarly, pit order is worked by who won the constructors championship. The team with the highest amount of points gets the first position in the pits, second place gets the second position in the pits, and so on. New teams are assigned unused pit garages depending on the date of their team application.
MB: "You can pass anywhere in the world if you're rude enough and determined enough."
| Date | Country | Circuit | Laps and distance | Total |
|---|
| Beginning of March | Canada | Montreal | 69 laps at 2.748 miles each | 189.612 miles |
| +2 weeks | USA | Indianapolis Motor Speedway | 76 laps at 2.500 miles each | 190.000 miles |
| +2 weeks | Brazil | Interlagos | 72 laps at 2.660 miles each | 191.520 miles |
| +2 weeks | Argentina | Buenos Aires | 72 laps a 2.646 miles each | 190.512 miles |
| +3 weeks | Australia | Melbourne | 58 laps at 3.274 miles each | 189.892 miles |
| +2 weeks | China | Zhuhai | 44 laps at 4.320 miles | 190.080 miles |
| +2 weeks | Malaysia | Sepang | 56 laps at 3.438 miles each | 192.528 miles |
| +2 weeks | Britain | Silverstone | 60 laps at 3.194 miles each | 191.164 miles |
| +2 weeks | Spain | Barcelona | 65 laps at 2.937 miles each | 190.905 miles |
| +2 weeks | Monaco | Monte Carlo | 78 laps at 2.092 miles each | 163.176 miles |
| +2 weeks | Austria | A1 Ring | 71 laps at 2.684 miles each | 190.564 miles |
| +1 week | Germany | Hockenheim | 45 laps at 4.239 miles each | 190.755 miles |
| +2 weeks | Hungary | Hungaroring | 77 laps at 2.465 miles each | 189.805 miles |
| +2 weeks | Belgium | Spa-Francorchamps | 44 laps at 4.350 miles each | 191.400 miles |
| +2 weeks | Italy | Monza | 53 laps at 3.585 miles each | 190.005 miles |
| +2 weeks | Luxembourg | Nürburgring | 67 laps at 2.831 miles each | 189.677 miles |
| +1 week | San Marino | Imola | 62 laps at 3.063 miles each | 189.906 miles |
| +4 weeks | Japan | Suzuka | 52 laps at 3.644 miles each | 189.488 miles |
The day before the race, Saturday, all the teams have to qualify for their start positions on the grid for the actual race. For one hour (60 minutes), usually starting at around 12 noon, local time, the track is open for the teams.
When a team goes out is completely upto them, but each car is allowed a total of 12 laps around the track, and whilst the lap out of the pits is counted as one of those laps, the time that driver takes is not. Aborting a lap and heading into the pits is not counted though.
The object is for a car and driver to get around the track in the fastest possible time. Multiple cars are allowed on the track at one time (and usually the end of the time period is when the track gets busy), but cars not on their fast laps are not allowed to slow down fast lap cars. Those that do are eligible for fines and the loss of their fastest lap, or a position at the back of the grid. No combat of any sort is allowed either.
ALL MOVEMENT AROUND A TRACK IS IN ONE DIRECTION ONLY!
Obviously this depends on the particular circuit as whether travel is clockwise or anti-clockwise, but cars are not allowed to travel around the wrong way around a track (this is an automatic disqualification from the race, even if done in qualifying) unless the car has spun off the road and is turning around. Then it may do so provided it does not endanger any other vehicle on the track. Head on rams are strictly forbidden!
Teams are allowed access to the times of the all the cars and can study where their opponents move and how, and so the first people out are very much the ones which everyone else studies.
If a car is crashed, then the driver is allowed to get the spare car out.
Once the hour is up, only cars that have started their fast lap are allowed to continue, and once they have finished, no other cars are allowed on the track.
Then the grid positions are determined from these times. The fastest time is in pole position, the second fastest goes in second place, and so on. Cars that do not have a time that is within 107% of the fastest car are generally not allowed to compete in the main race, also special compensation is sometimes given provided all teams agree.
MB: "That didn't work. That didn't work Michael. You hit the wrong part of him my friend. I don't think that will cause Villeneuve a problem."
On the Sunday following the qualifying, at 2 pm (local time), the race will begin. There is the initial parade where the drivers are driven around the track in front of the crowd, and then half an hour before the race proper, the cars are driven to their grid positions, and everyone gets ready.
45 seconds before the race, all crew leave the track, and then at zero hour, all the cars do one circuit of the lap as their parade lap. This doesn't count as a lap of the race, so no combat, collisions or overtaking is allowed. The cars then make their way back to the start grid and wait.
If a car stalls, then it can stay on the grid if it can be restarted, or else it must be pushed to pit lane, and it may start there (obeying all pit regulations) when the race begins. If it cannot be started within the first minute of the race, it must retire.
Once all cars are parked, the overhead lights come on, one at a time. When all five are lit, the lights go out, and the race is on!
If a car stalls then it may stay where it is until it is restarted. If it cannot be restarted, then it must be pushed to the pits and retired.
For the most part, the race is a normal motor race, where the cars are jostling for position, trying to overtake and trying to win, but their are some special rules.
- No combat is allowed until the cars have finished one lap. Once a car has finished it's first lap, it can fire and become a target of all other cars that have finished a lap.
- No dropped weapons of any sort are allowed.
- Ramming is allowed (with the exception of head on rams), but is usually seen as a sign of desperation.
- Drivers that have been lapped are not allowed to attack their lappers, or vice versa. This stops the lower end teams winning by superior firepower alone.
- Drivers may yield to another car, and in this case all combat is stopped and the yieldee must decelerate to let the other car pass.
If a car refuses to yield after declaring it, it is subject to a 10 second stop/go penalty.
- lapped cars must yield to cars that are lapping them. They are allowed to hold up a lapper by one lap of the track, and if they still haven't yielded, then they will incur a 10 second stop/go penalty.
- A car may fly off a corner into the grass, but if a car does so by deliberate intent and passes another car, they get a 10 second stop/go penalty.
The race ends proper when the first six drivers have crossed the finish line. Once all six drivers have crossed the line, any combat by drivers has to stop, regardless of their lap position, and the race is over. Drivers below the top six don't even have to cross the finish line if their desire, and all final positions are as the moment of the sixth car crossing the line.
Obviously once a car has crossed the finish line it is not allowed to be fired upon at all, and any continuing combat must cease. Nor may it fire. Any breaking of this rule results in disqualification of the offending driver.
At any time a car may go into the pits to refuel, rearm or replace body parts, but a few rules must be observed:
- Pit mechanics must come out into the pit lane on the lap before the car comes in, so all teams will know when a car is about to do something. This is a termed a scheduled pit stop. Unscheduled pit stops are allowed (usually as a result of combat damage when the driver just pulls into the pits), but the pit crew must come out as soon as the decision for a pit stop is made in this case. There is no penalty for an unscheduled pit stop save the time taken for the pit crew to get ready for it.
- Once in the pit lane, a car must slow down to 60 mph by the time they have reached the pit line. Failure to do so will incur a team fine of $250 * 1 mph above the speed limit the car is at, and a 10 second stop/go penalty.
- A car is not allowed to overtake in the pits. To do so incurs a 10 second stop/go penalty.
- No combat is allowed in the pits. This is automatic disqualification for the whole team (not just the offending car), and usually also disqualification from the rest of the season, with all points being withdrawn.
There is no limit to the amount of times a car may enter the pits, no limit to the amount of work that can be done to a car, no limit on fuel, ammo or armour. There is a limit to the tyres issued though, and that is 32 per car (of any variety). There is no bonus for six wheeled vehicles. Armour is replaced in easily removed sections, and the pit stop crew amount to around twenty people, so when the car enters the pits it is literally swarmed with mechanics who get to work instantly.
Because the pit lane is behind the start/finish line, it does count as a lap if the car pulls into the pits. A car doesn't have to specifically cross the start/finish line to make a lap.
The pit crew of an F1 team are all professionals. Whilst they are all cross trained, they all have their own job to do, and when the car pulls into the pits, they get on with it straight away. They practise, practise, practise, and splitting up a decent team is not done lightly. In the late 20th Century, a lot of races were won by how quickly a pit stop could be taken, and an F1 team cannot function without it's pit crew.
MW: "Remember what you were saying about Tuero and speeding in the pit-lane? He's got a penalty!"
MB: "Oh well. He may as well learn them the hard way on the first day."
Whenever a team gets a stop/go penalty, they must take it within three laps of it being issued. What this means is that the offending car must drive back into the pits (observing all normal pit rules) and stop at the cars garage. Then it must stay stationary for 10 seconds. During this time no work is allowed on the car - no refuelling, no rearming - it is not allowed to be touched at all. Once the time is up, the car may leave. If it requires pit work, then it must complete one circuit of the track and come into the pits again.
If the car misses its lap allowance for the stop/go penalty, then the team is fined $10,000 per additional lap (or fraction) that the car stays on the track.
MB: "I've seen the safety car crash. That's when you know it's getting bad!"
F1 is all about safety, to the drivers, spectators and other members of the team. As such there are rules about no combat in the pit lane, and so on. However the rules are a bit more lax than they were in the 20th Century. For a start, weather - which never really stopped a race unless it was a full blown storm - has even less effect on a race now. Track debris stays and is just another hazard to be avoided.
But if a car stalls on the start grid, or if a car crashes and stays on the track with a driver in it, then steps are taken. The first is that yellow flags are waved two corners before the event. This means that from those waving flags to after the incident, no overtaking or combat is allowed and drivers watch out for the incident. Drivers have lights in their car to notify them of these flags, so any non-compliance will result in a 10 second stop/go penalty. Once the situation is deemed safe, the flags are stopped being waved.
If the track is almost blocked by the incident, then the safety car is brought out. It will come out from the pit lane, and all cars must slow behind it. It will generally move at around 120 mph to really slow the cars down. Once the safety car is out, then no overtaking or combat of any sort is allowed, and all cars must stay behind the car and if they can, get into their proper order. During this time, cars are allowed to enter the pits, but when they rejoin, they will automatically be last in order.
A lap before the safety car goes in due to the event being cleared, the lights on the car will go out, and the car will make it's way back to the pit lane. Once in, the speed restriction is lifted, but cars are not allowed to overtake or initiate combat until the start line is passed. Then the race is on again!
Note that any combat or threatening action against the safety car is an immediate disqualification for the offending car and driver.
An F1 driver has some regulations about how they can drive their car. For example, a car with only three wheels has to make a pit stop to either replace the tyre, or if the wheel is destroyed, the car must retire.
A driver has obligations to the race as well. If the cars engine goes or develops mechanical faults, the car must be driven to the side of the track, or coasted to the pits if possible.
Failure to be safe will cost a team a $25,000 fine.
At the end of the day, there are only two statistics that count - driver points and constructor points. At the end of the season, it is only these points that will count towards the championships.
MW: "Well, he's world champion, and we only get one of those a year."
Driver points are awarded at the end of the race to the first six drivers and their cars that cross the finishing line. The shape of the driver or the car is not important, and the driver doesn't actually have to be in their car (they are pushing it), but as long as they finish, they will be awarded points. Drivers can be awarded points posthumously.
Points awarded are as follows:
| Position | Points |
|---|
| 1st | 10 points |
| 2nd | 6 points |
| 3rd | 4 points |
| 4th | 3 points |
| 5th | 2 points |
| 6th | 1 point |
Constructor points are simply the total of all points that the team has scored, making a maximum of 16 points in one race if the teams drivers come first and second.
At the end of the last race, all points totals are compared. The driver with the highest points total is deemed Formula One Combat Racing World Champion, whilst the team with the highest constructors points is termed winner of the Constructors Championship.
At the end of the day, these are the only statistics that actually count.
Whilst not being as important as the driver points, there are some other statistics that are constantly branded around for the drivers, and these include:
Driver
name | Nationality | Team | Races
entered |
Races
completed | Pole
positions | Kills |
|---|
Obviously some of these will change depending on what team the driver is in, but this is effectively the drivers F1 record.
MW: "Mansell is slowing it down, taking is easy. Oh no he isn't! It's a lap record."
Each racing circuit also has some statistics that come with it. These include the length of the a single circuit, the amount of laps per race, the fastest lap time and the driver (and team) and date that is was achieved, and all previous years pole positions since the circuit was open for F1 racing.
Note that for a fastest lap, the car must have successfully completed an entire lap (from start/finish line to start/finish line), and the driver and car must still be in one piece at the end of the lap. Only actual race laps count, although fastest qualifying laps are also sometimes recorded to compare with at different seasons.
