2003 rule changes
To make the sport more interesting, substantial rule changes have been introduced for the 2003 season. Most driving aids have been banned and more will be disallowed during the season. Team orders are outlawed and radio traffic between pits and driver must be publicly accessible, to prevent teams to pass orders during the race. The two-way telemetry, only introduced in 2002, which allows the pit crew to change the configuration of the car during the race has also been banned again. The cars will be locked up between the final qualifying and the race, to stop the teams from using qualifying setups and engines. During this time, teams can only work on cars supervised and only to perform urgent repairs.
The qualifying mode has been drastically changed from the previous method, where an hour-long session would be held on Saturday, with each car allowed twelve laps to set their fastest time. As well, since the cars can not be refuelled between qualifying and race, the teams have to rethink their strategies. Lighter fuel loads produce better qualifying results but also mean earlier and possibly more pitstops. To avoid a situation like in the 2002 season, where Michael Schumacher had collected more championship points than the rest of the field together, the points system has been revamped and points are now given to the top eight drivers (10,8,6,5,4,3,2,1) as opposed to the previously used modus that saw the top six drivers being awarded points (10,6,4,3,2,1).
Though initially heavily disputed, the new rules seem to have had some impact on the races so far. Due to the different strategies of the teams, there has been more overtaking on the track and more exciting races.
To cut the immense costs of the sport, further radical rule changes are to be introduced in the next few years. From 2004 on, the same engine must be used for two complete race weekends, from 2005 it will be four and from 2006 eight. Considering the price of approx. $300,000 per engine, this can dramatically cut the cost and save smaller teams like Minardi or Jordan, who do not have the backing of a major manufacturer.
The long-term future of the series is, as of 2003, a subject of considerable speculation. With the gradual phasing out of tobacco sponsorship in the series' core market, Europe, teams have gradually aligned themselves more closely with the major automobile manufacturers. The relations between the teams and Bernie Ecclestone (the entrepreneur who has de-facto control over the series) have deteriorated somewhat over the desire of those teams and the backing manufacturers for more control, as well as some of Ecclestone's proposals to reform the series (such as shifting races to Asia where tobacco promotion is not yet restricted).
All the teams are contracted to 2008, but there is considerable speculation of a mass defection of teams to a new series after that date.
2004
A series of rule changes have been announced for the 2004 season. Engine suppliers will have to sell their engines to other teams at a reasonable price and a Formula One engine will have to last a whole race weekend. In later years, engines will be required to last multiple weekends. In the past, engine manufacturers were free to pick and choose who to supply with engines, and the richer teams sometimes used individual engines for a qualifying session and then discarded them. There is also talk about banning traction control systems, though it remains unclear how the rule is going to be policed.
New circuits in Bahrain and China will make their debut in next year's formula 1 championship. In introducing these new circuits older circuits in Europe, like Silverstone, might be removed from the championship. According to Ecclestone, the move is to increase Formula One's global reach, though the steady tightening of restrictions on tobacco advertising in Europe and elsewhere may also be a factor.
Miscellaneous
External links