Team orders and why they�re banned

Since the start of the 2003, Formula One rules have prohibited teams from interfering with the race order between their two drivers. This rather bizarre rule came into being as a result of the outcry against the Ferrari team at Austria in 2002 when their number two driver, Rubens Barrichello, had led all the way, with team leader Michael Schumacher in second. In the last few metres of the last lap, Barrichello lifted off and surrendered the win to Schumacher because he had been instructed to do so by the team over the radio.
The Formula One governing body felt that this action made something of a mockery of the sport, and created the ruling. But realistically, how can such a ban ever be imposed? Although teams are no longer allowed to scramble their radio signals, making it possible for the race director to listen in to team communications at any time, sporting rules cannot legislate for pre-arranged orders or �unfortunately� slow pit stops for the driver assigned to finish behind his team mate. The most effective way of ensuring no team orders is by having the front-running teams extremely closely matched so that any given team can no longer have the luxury of deciding which of their drivers it wants to win.

Famous F1 cheats of the past

Back in the early 1980s, when the weight limit of a Formula One car was 580kg, those teams that hadn�t yet been able to get hold of the newfangled turbo engines were faced with a real problem. Outgunned by around 150 horsepower, they had to find a way to compete. Their solution was ingenious � but on the cusp of illegal. They built their cars up to 60kg under the weight limit but installed huge water tanks that took advantage of a rule that allowed replenishable fluids to be added after the race. They claimed the water tanks were for water-cooled brakes, ran the race with them empty, then filled �em up after the race � bringing the cars up to the regulation weight.
After this loophole was closed, a later refinement of a similar principle allowed a team to run significantly underweight for most of the race and then make a late refuelling stop. As well as fuel, lead pellets were injected into the tank to bring the weight up to the required post-race level.
Moveable aerodynamic devices were banned from Formula One in the late 1960s, but in 1978, Brabham turned up at the Swedish Grand Prix with its �fan car�. A huge fan at the back sucked the car into the ground. The fan was a moveable aerodynamic device, but its designer argued that the primary function of the fan was for engine cooling and any aerodynamic benefits were incidental. The fan car won its one and only race but was subsequently banned.

Getting around the Rules in Formula One

The days of trying a blatant cheat and hoping to get away with it are largely gone from Formula One. The rule book is too tight, the checks too thorough, and the penalties too draconian for that to work. The more common approach now is to get past the intent of the rules but not their wording. A great example of a team doing this involved the regulation banning traction control (which, by the way, was legally re-introduced in Spain 2001). With traction control, power delivered to the wheels is reduced when the electronics sense the onset of wheelspin. That�s what the rule banned. But what about changing the torque curve of the engine when the electronics predicted wheelspin was about to occur? The actual difference in the timing between predicting the spin and sensing it was perhaps one-hundredth of a second. But under the accepted terms, one system was traction control and therefore banned; the other one wasn�t and was allowed.
The traction control ban is set to reappear for 2004. This time, as well as more sophisticated policing devices and a different wording of the regulation, there is to be a psychological war on cheating the rule too! If anyone can supply information to the FIA that leads to a successful discovery of a transgression, the informant receives $1 million from the FIA and his identity is kept a secret. In this way, a mechanic or engineer could grass on his own team but still go on working there!

Running checks after the race

Those cars finishing the race are normally checked for technical compliance immediately afterwards.
The cars are weighed � as is the driver. That is why you see the drivers standing on a weighbridge holding their helmets as soon as they�ve stepped out of the car. Fuel samples may be taken, tyre checks made, and engines may be sealed.
All the same measurements that were taken in scrutineering are taken again (see the section �Scrutineering� earlier in this chapter for what these measurements are). Sometimes the battering a car receives over the bumps of a track or the kerbs will be enough to, say, bring that front wing-height down just below the minimum allowed. This happened to David Coulthard�s car at the 2000 Brazilian Grand Prix, and he was disqualified from second place. It is up to the teams to anticipate such factors in ensuring their car stays legal throughout the event. Teams have in the past challenged such rulings but the appeal process means that the FIA is both judge and jury. Often appealing against a sentence has resulted in a larger sentence being issued. Teams therefore usually shy away from appealing.

Keeping an open eye

The checking doesn�t stop just because scrutineering has been completed. Random tests occur throughout the weekend. Fuel samples may be taken at any time, and if the fuel doesn�t match the chemical fingerprint submitted by the team at the beginning of the weekend it�s deemed illegal. Weight checks are also commonplace to ensure that the cars (including driver) aren�t below the regulation 605kg. A strict eye is kept on the teams� use of their allocated tyres to ensure they don�t use more than the regulation 12 sets throughout the race weekend.

Occasionally, the FIA seals a team�s engine. Sealing an engine involves putting a tamper-proof seal on it that would break if any attempt were made to change or modify it. A technical inspector (similar to a scrutineer, but technical inspectors travel and do much a more detailed analysis of the cars than can be done at a race meeting) will then usually visit the factory where the engine is held, strip it down, and inspect it for compliance � in particular whether it is within the maximum capacity of 3 litres. The FIA can seal an engine at any time and they don�t reveal why they�ve sealed an engine. One can only speculate.

Once the cars have finished qualifying, they are kept in parc ferme (an area where the cars are held under supervision to ensure they cannot be worked on by the teams) overnight and held there until shortly before the race is due to start. No work other than minor matters such as checking of tyre pressures can be carried out on the cars prior to the race. Anything else the team may want to work on requires the permission of the appropriate FIA representative.

Scrutineering

On the Thursday leading up to each race, the cars are checked at the track for compliance to the regulations. FIA-approved scrutineers � people with a technical background in racing who check the cars at events� perform these tests. The checks are safety and performance related. The safety checks include tests on the wheels, steering, and suspension attachments as well as whether the regulatory safety features are all present and correctly installed. The performance checks also include measurement of the bodywork, position of the cockpit, width measurement, front and rear wing height, shapes and widths, underbody contours, the presence of the regulatory plank on the car�s underside (the plank keeps ride height at a critical minimum to limit downforce). All these things are strictly legislated in the technical rule book. You may expect all these features to have been checked at the first race each season. But if the checks weren�t repeated each race, you can be sure that some � or hey, maybe even all � of the teams would take advantage.

Understanding crash tests

Before a new design is even taken to a race, it must pass very stringent crash tests. The following sections explain what these tests include.

Frontal impact
The frontal impact involves a head-on collision at 30 mph (45 kph) into a thick steel plate set in concrete. In such an impact, the nosebox in front of the pedals is allowed only a small amount of deformation, and there must be no chassis damage beyond the nosebox. The average deceleration must not exceed 25g (25 times the force of gravity), and forces in excess of 60g are not permitted to last more than three milliseconds. This is a severe test of energy dissipation. The speed is low compared to likely impact speeds on the track, but the steel plate has zero give in it unlike metal barriers that the car would hit at the track. The absolute head-on nature also means less dissipation of impact energy than in a typical real-life impact.

Rear impact
Once the frontal test has been passed (explained in the preceding section), the same chassis then has to withstand a rear impact. This time the car remains stationary while a sled weighing the same as a fully-fuelled Formula One car is rammed into the back at 30 mph. Structural damage cannot extend beyond the rear axle line.

Roll-over test
When strictly controlled lateral (from the side), longitudinal (from in front and behind), and vertical (from above) loadings (usually measured as weight per square area) are imposed on the roll-over hoop, the hoop must not deform by more than 50mm. Any structural failure has to be limited to the top 100mm of the structure. The cars are not actually rolled over. The loadings of such an occurrence are simply simulated by the FIA�s apparatus.

Side impact test
The cars incorporate impact structures at the side of the cockpit. These must withstand pre-specified impacts and leave the internal cockpit undeformed. Specifically, a weight of 780kg travelling at 10 metres per second is impacted on the car 300mm above the �reference plane� (a strip on the car�s underside used for referencing measures) and 500mm forward of the rear edge of the cockpit. The average deceleration cannot be more than 20g, the energy absorption must be between 15 and 35 per cent of the total and a force of 80kN can be exceeded for no more than three milliseconds.

Steering column test
The steering wheel is impacted with a pre-determined force. An 8kg hemispherical weight of 165mm diameter impacts the steering wheel at seven metres per second on the same axis as the steering column. Afterwards there can be no deformation of the wheel � only of the steering column. The wheel�s quickrelease mechanism must still function perfectly.

Static load tests
A series of tests are conducted whereby a steady pressure � as opposed to a sudden impact � is applied to key parts of the car to ensure the necessary strength. These squeeze tests include cockpit sides, the rear of the chassis around the fuel cell, the gearbox, and the nosebox. For the cockpit sides a transverse load of 25kN is applied and no failure of the structure is allowed. This is then repeated at loads 20 per cent reduced each time. Deflections greater than 3mm cannot exceed 120 per cent of that obtained at 80 per cent of the first squeeze test. For the fuel tank floor a vertical load of 12.5kN is applied and the same process of repeat squeezes follow, with the same stipulation on deflections. For the cockpit rim 10kN is applied and there is a deflection limit of 20mm. For the nosebox and the rear structure a 40kN force is applied for 30 seconds and there can be no failure.

F1 Rules and where your can find them

In years gone by, you could purchase a book containing the rules and regulations, but the pace of modern Formula One development requires that the rules be updated so frequently that a book would soon be out of date. The book is not therefore sold to the public anymore. Now you can find the sporting and technical regulations for Formula One on the FIA�s website (www.fia.com).

The technical regulations alone stretch to over 15,000 words � and then there are the accompanying drawings. It makes good reading � if you�re an insomniac.
FIA technical delegates as well as a race director attend each race. Together, these people ensure that the sporting and technical regulations are met. The Race Director � currently a man named Charlie Whiting � has overall control of the implementation of the rules, and he is the one who chairs the pre-race driver briefings in which queries and points of contention are resolved. As a former Formula One mechanic, Whiting is very familiar with the way that teams try to outsmart the regulations in order to gain a competitive advantage.

Defining a Formula One car

The technical regulations in effect determine what a Formula One car is � in very, very specific detail. These regulations go way beyond general definitions and principles; they stipulate dimensions so tightly that the layout of the cars is largely dictated by the rule book and not the designers. The technical regulations also to a large extent define engine and transmission specifications, as well as specs of brakes, suspension, tyres, and fuel. Some of the old-school ex-designers say that they left the sport precisely because the rule book and not designers determine what a Formula One car is. The regulations, they claim, took away their creativity. Others say that, because the parameters are so tightly defined, finding an advantage is that much more difficult and requires that much more skill. Take your pick between these two perspectives.
The technical regulations also stipulate specific performance criteria the cars must meet. Before they�re allowed to compete, each design of car has to pass severe crash tests that involve impact into solid objects and roll-over crashes, as well as static load tests. The severity of these tests is well beyond those required by law for roadgoing cars.
Why does the governing body control these things so tightly? Usually for reasons of cost containment or safety. Having more-open technical rules would pave the way for technology that only top teams could afford or lead to cars that were inherently less safe.

The basic ground rules of F1

The sporting regulations are the framework of rules used for running Grands Prix.
They define basic ground rules such as:

• The length of a Grand Prix must be the least number of laps that exceeds 305km (189.5 miles).
• What happens if a race has to be stopped.
  
• Whether a Grand Prix happens regardless of rain. (It does.)
• The points system: (currently 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 points for the first eight places in the race).
• Driving etiquette, such as the one-move rule, and transgressions, such as jumping the start, passing under yellow no-overtaking flags and ignoring blue flags (which instruct a lapped car to move aside).
• Tyre allocation. Currently a maximum of 12 sets per weekend for each car.
• Penalties. Anything from a small fine up to exclusion from the world championship depending upon the seriousness of the offence.

Mosley and Ecclestone

Although Max Mosley (president of the FIA) and Bernie Ecclestone (president of FOCA), represent two sides that are regularly in dispute, the disagreements tend to be about the specific tactics that will meet the agreed strategy. Both sides � the sport�s governing body and the teams � understand that the goal is to do what is in the interests of the sport. Seen in this light, the fact that Ecclestone, president of FOCA, is also vice-president of the FIA may not seem so strange!
Mosley and Ecclestone go back together a long way. When Ecclestone bought the Brabham Formula One team in 1971 Max Mosley was one of his fellow team owners. Ecclestone had the commercial sense and Mosley � a trained lawyer � the legal brain to transform Formula One from a minority-interest sport into a multi-billion dollar enterprise over the next two decades. They were co-founders of FOCA, the body representing the teams and one which fell into serious conflict with the sport�s governing body, the FIA, in the early 1980s. Mosley was instrumental in the conception of the Concorde Agreement between the two sides.
In 1991, Mosley, no longer a team owner, was elected as president of the FIA. He then gave up his role in FOCA. Ecclestone, by this time, had ceased to be a team owner although he continued to represent the team owners� interests. To this day, the two men work closely together behind the scenes to ensure that Formula One heads in whichever direction they agree is best.

The Concorde Agreement

The Concorde agreement is the charter by which Formula One is governed. The agreement is between the sport�s governing body (the FIA) on one side and the participating teams (represented by FOCA) on the other. It is called the Concorde agreement because it was conceived at the FIA�s Paris headquarters in the Place de la Concorde.
Think of the Concorde agreement as the Geneva Convention which covers terms of conflict during wartime. And think of Formula One as a permanent civil and international war. The teams fight each other at every level and, in doing so, occasionally fight the governing body too. Teams accept the fact that they need to be governed because they�re too self-interested and competitive to govern the sport themselves. But that doesn�t mean they have to like it.

The FIA

The FIA represents 150 national motor clubs from 117 countries. Formula One is the jewel in the FIA crown, but it also governs motorsport of all forms within its member countries. (The USA is not a member country and has formed its own governing bodies.) As its name implies, the Federation was founded in France because that�s where the sport was invented. Today it has bases in Paris, Geneva, and London. There is no legal reason why the FIA should be the only international motorsport governing body in the countries it represents. It is simply the one that has prevailed and through which all the contracts with teams, manufacturers, circuits, and race promoters have been worked. Its status and constitutional security has also been enhanced because European law recognises the FIA as the body that can assess vehicle and circuit safety. Even if a rival governing body were to set up, it would still need to accede to the FIA � at least in Europe � in getting cars and tracks certified as safe.
Every five years, the motor clubs vote for the presidency of the FIA. The current president, Max Mosley, was first voted to the position in 1991 and has been successfully re-elected twice since. He is the son of pre-war British fascist leader Oswald Mosley, although there is probably less significance in this fact than meets the eye!

FIA, The Rule Makers

Formula One is governed by the Federation Internationale de l�Automobile (FIA), the worldwide motorsport governing body. For almost as long as the sport has existed, the FIA has provided the rule book. It can � and frequently does � act independently of the teams in changing this book to serve what it judges to be in the sport�s best interests. The FIA controls only the sporting and technical aspects of the sport; European law prevents it from having any commercial control of the sport.
A body representing the teams, called the Formula One Constructors Association (FOCA), works with the FIA in helping to formulate the rules. Although FOCA doesn�t have any statutory power in making the rules, it does hold the commercial rights to Formula One. Essentially this means it negotiates the terms of the revenues and shares the resultant purse between its management and its member teams.
These two bodies have a long and bloody history together and used to fight each other as hard as the teams fought on the track. In latter years, however, they�ve cooperated, aided no end by Max Mosley � formerly a leading light in FOCA � getting himself elected as president of the FIA in 1991. With Mosley, a former Formula One team owner himself, in charge of the FIA, the poacher has turned gamekeeper. Another benefit of the arrangement is that Mosley, as a former team owner, should be able to appreciate the difficulties and pressures of the teams.