F1 set for changes in 2014 (practice and penalty changes)

Autosport: http://www.autosport...t.php/id/110017 and http://www.autosport...t.php/id/110018

All good in my view.  

Good news re young drivers/extra 30mins/extra set of tyres. Also like the new penalty system, as as has been said, rather than a drive through for a minor infringement which could cost 10-20+ seconds, it's literally just a 5/10 second penalty in a current pitstop (though is it basically a case of a 5 second minimum stop including the work done on the car, or the tyres etc done and then held for another 5 seconds?)

Yes, all very good news. It will be interesting to see young drivers in the top cars in practice and giving the stewards more scope for awarding suitable penalties is welcome.

I don't really see the point in extending FP1 by 30 minutes. The extra tyres is a good thing, but they aren't going to cover the one hour necessary (+30mins and the current 30mins that teams do nothing with) and so will still be left with a 30minute void

It will be interesting to see how much of this practice time is actually used, with team probably facing headaches enough next year in terms of engine life. Extra running in FP is something that they will try to limit as much as possible imo.

Just spotted that the 2 hour FP1 never made the sporting regulations, so it will remain 90 minutes: http://www.fia.com/s...013-12-18_0.pdf

"32) FREE PRACTICE 

Shame that none of the good ideas ever make it into the rulebook. This would of benefited teams willing to run young drivers, as well as give the fans more to watch, but like similar moves by Pirelli to encourage Friday running it gets completely ignored.

I think F.M. has hit the nail on the head regarding engine life. The race drivers will need all the time in the cars as they can get. Not sure it's too much of a loss.

I think the 5 or 10 second penalties, which can be simply added after the race if the driver doesn't stop again, will definitely be open to abuse.

I can see drivers going off-track to overtake someone who they couldn't otherwise overtake, hoping to get just 5 or 10 seconds penalty. In many cases, it might be worth it to incur the penalty. That's in contrast to a drive-through, which usually causes loss of track position.

I think the 5 or 10 second penalties, which can be simply added after the race if the driver doesn't stop again, will definitely be open to abuse.

 

I can see drivers going off-track to overtake someone who they couldn't otherwise overtake, hoping to get just 5 or 10 seconds penalty. In many cases, it might be worth it to incur the penalty. That's in contrast to a drive-through, which usually causes loss of track position.

That's why the stewards may use their discretion when deciding upon penalties. In cases like that, a drive-through would be issued, to ensure that any advantage is correctly negated.

That's why the stewards may use their discretion when deciding upon penalties. In cases like that, a drive-through would be issued, to ensure that any advantage is correctly negated.

Experience tells me that relying on stewards' discretion doesn't always work out so well, but let's see.

How did they plan to implement the 5/10s penalties ? How do they know that the real pit stop has been anded ans that the 5s should start now ? how do they measure it ?

How did they plan to implement the 5/10s penalties ? How do they know that the real pit stop has been anded ans that the 5s should start now ? how do they measure it ?

Do it between when the car stops and the pitstop starts?

That way the team would have to leave to 5+ or 10+ to make sure they dont go under.

I cant be bothered to actually download the regs and find out, are the updated regs available?

They started drive through's so the drivers/cars finished in order rather than say a driver/car finishing second, the driver taking the podium, then being demoted by the stewards. It will happen again with retrospective time penalties.

It will be interesting to see how much of this practice time is actually used, with team probably facing headaches enough next year in terms of engine life. Extra running in FP is something that they will try to limit as much as possible imo.

They started drive through's so the drivers/cars finished in order rather than say a driver/car finishing second, the driver taking the podium, then being demoted by the stewards. It will happen again with retrospective time penalties.

That's not correct. Drive thru's started because the stop and go penalty that preceded them was, in many cases, too draconian. It has nothing to do with sorting the finishing order.

If they are going to extend FP1 so the young drivers can have the first 30 minutes, which is a great idea, then they should let the teams have the 3rd car available for them to drive for time.

I think all the teams carry a 3rd car but it currently cannot be assembled so maybe that could be an idea. Then the young drivers dont have the worry of potentially damaging a race car or running extra miles on already tight restrictions on the number of engines per season.

Just an idea

These seem like sensible changes.