Formula 1 2014: Tyres, Calendar and Sporting Regulations

Austria returns as Russia debuts, India and Korea removed from the calendar

The 2014 F1 season will see Russia hosting its first ever Formula 1 race, at the Sochi International street circuit, the same venue which completed a successful hosting of the Winter Olympics this year. This new circuit has been built on the streets of the Olympic Park at Sochi, spanning a massive 5.85 km, making it the second longest circuit of the calendar behind Silverstone and the longest street circuit.

13 May 2001: General view of the start of the Formula One Austrian Grand Prix at the A1 Ring in Spielberg, Austria.

Austria, which hosted its last F1 race back in 2003, has returned. It was the persistent requests of the Red Bull team, which forced Bernie Ecclestone to include the Austrian GP for 2014. Red Bull, like all the other teams, now have a home circuit, much to the delight of their fans.

The Indian and the Korean GP’s have been removed from the calendar for 2014. Korea will not witness an F1 race until its organizers find a plausible solution to their differences with the F1 boss. Indian GP though, has a more sensible reason for its removal from the list. Approving the organizers’ request of holding the event at an earlier date during the year, the Indian GP will be featuring in the 2015 calendar, mostly during the Asian stint. The Indian organizers had expressed difficulties in conducting two races in quick succession, i.e, in October 2014 and April 2015. So, the 2014 date has been sacrificed.

New Sporting Regulations: Pole Trophy, Permanent Numbers and Double Points

In an attempt to spice up the sport and increase their reach around the globe, the FIA have introduced a set of new rules, which not only increase the stakes for the drivers, but also provides an extra incentive for fans to watch the sport, in-turn spiking the entertainment quotient. Among the other, not so appealing rules, are the issuing of permanent numbers to the drivers, a new penalty system and mid-season testing.

This season FIA will award double the points to the winning driver and constructor in the final race of the season which will be held at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi. Also new this season is the Pole Position trophy which will be awarded to the driver with the most number of pole positions throughout the season. In an event of a tie it’ll be decided on the basis of most number of 2nd positions and based on 3rd place finishes if the drivers have equal number of 2nd place finishes as well. And this process goes on until they have a clear winner.

Also new is that drivers will have to select a number between 2 and 99 and will have to drive with this number on their cars throughout their Formula 1 driving careers. The number 1 will be reserved for the previous year’s world champion but the driver can still choose not to use it. Vettel chose no 5 for his driving career but he’ll be driving with the no 1 on his car and crash helmet. Alonso will drive with 14, Hamilton with 44, Raikonnen with 7 and Rosberg with 6.

Race stewards will also start dishing out 5 second penalties for minor driving or technical violations. A driver with 12 penalty points will also receive a 1 race ban.

Teams will also be allowed to try out 4 drivers in 2 cars in the Friday Practice Session. This should allow more on track time for rookies and backup drivers. This is a plus for both the teams and fans as the teams can look forward to check out driver performances from other teams and the fans can look to spot new and upcoming talent.

This season also marks the return of mid-season testing which will provide regulated but much needed testing period for the teams.