Formula 1 is often seen as a very glamourous type of racing. Formula 1 is made up of a series of races known as Grands Prix. You can see the races all across the world, and all the tracks are top notch and some of the most beautiful ever seen, from Brazil to Singapore.
But the glamourous sport has received quite a bit of criticism because of its safety and how much money is spent on it. Let’s take a look at some weird and some interesting rules from F1.
Weirdest Formula 1 Rules
1. Tires with grooves
Tires on Formula 1 cars have been the cause of a lot of criticism over the years, especially over the last couple of years. But the thing that started it for a lot of people was the introduction of groove tires. That happened in 1998, the front tires has 3 grooves and the rear ones had 4 grooves. After some time had passed the grooved tires were once again replaced by slick tires which enabled the cars to go faster.
2. The last race gives double points
Formula 1 is ever under changes, but in 2014 a new rules was introduced that made the last race in a season give double the usual points, but only to the drivers who finishes first. The reason the rules was implemented was to make it harder for Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull since they had already won both the drivers and manufacturer championship.
3. Aggregate qualifying
The rules for qualifying are very annoying to most fans, but the hardcore ones have it the hardest. There have been a lot of horrible rules when it comes to qualifying. Aggregate qualifying was one of those horrible rules and it was first seen in races in 2005 and was implemented to fix a problem that didn’t really exist. It meant that drivers would do two one-shot laps, one on low fuel and one with a full tank and then get an aggregate time taken from both, it failed of course.
4. Elimination qualifying
Once again they messed with the qualifying process. This rules was introduced in 2016 and even after the disaster in 2005 the Formula 1 wanted to outdo themselves. This one was similar to the original three-part system but in every part the slowest car would eliminated every 90 seconds. A lot of people realized that this would be very boring and in the end the whole thing was canceled.
5. Fuel-credit qualifying
You thought it was over, another qualifying change. It seems like they see a non-existent problem with qualifying, but the fans, drivers and teams don’t really agree with them. This was introduced in 2006 and was disliked right away. The rule said that the top 10 drivers would go into the third part so that they spend another 15 minutes wasting fuel before finishing their laps and then get their fuel back before the race.
6. Closing the pit lane for safety car
The safety car has always posed a problem for F1 officials for some reason. But in 2007 the rules for the safety car changed. The rule said that once the safety car was on the track the pit lane would be closed and all the cars would line up and wait. After that it would open up but the exit would stay closed. The rule was scrapped.
7. Cars that are narrow
Another horrible rule that was introduced in 1998. It was decided that the cars should be more narrow which in turn made it much more difficult to drive the cars. And to add oil to the fire the cars looked terrible. The rule stayed there for years but in 2017 the cars were made wide again.
8. DRS
Fans have always been divided when it comes to DRS. But it looks like most of fans are against the idea. DRS stands for drag reduction system, basically it’s system that would promote overtaking. Of course that sounds really great but a lot of fans think it would be like cheating. A lot of fans say that there’s a lot more to races than just overtaking.
9. Point for the fastest lap
A lot of people think that the 50s were Formula 1’s best years, and some say that it was still trying to find its base then. Whatever you think it was definitely interesting and gave us the modern-day Formula 1 we love today. Another thing that era of F1 is famous for is a strange rule, it gave drivers an extra point for having the fastest lap, which led to a lot of confusion and inaccuracies.
10. V6 hybrid engines
You can never please everyone in the world of car racing, even when engines are in question. A lot of fans want to lose the V6 engines that are being used right now for V10 engines, since they think V6 engines aren’t for race tracks.
