The WEIRDEST rules in Formula 1 history
Lewis Hamilton has been in the news a lot lately. Struggling on the track, linked with a bid to buy Chelsea Football Club and he’s been warned by the FIA about wearing jewellery whilst in the cockpit of his Mercedes. Now this sort of thing seems really trivial, but it does take me back to my school days when people were told to cover up their ear rings in case they got caught on a fence or ripped out playing rugby. Now those stories teachers told us may have been fictional but Lewis Hamilton is competing in the most dangerous sport in the world so maybe the FIA have a point. However, we are getting away from the purpose of this video, today we’re going to explore the weirdest Formula 1 rules you may or may not have even heard about. The world’s most complicated sport, just got whole lot more complicated.
This has been a subject brewing on my mind for a while now, but I needed a reason to make a video on it, so thank you Lewis because your jewellery has given an opportunity. There are some really weird rules in Formula 1 that just make you ask, why?
Tyrrell's P34
Let’s jump in our time machine a moment. Formula 1, well known for it’s four wheel cars which are very very fast. Well they’ve not always had four wheels. Around this time last year I made a video on the most controversial F1 cars ever, and the highlight was Ken Tyrrell’s P34 six wheel car. Now do I have a soft spot for it because my name is also Tyrrell, absolutely but I think it’s brilliant and completely innovative. However, Formula 1 rules now state you must have a maximum of four wheels meaning we’ll never see anything like it ever again. This does open the question can you have less than four wheels?
Double Points
Another which isn’t around any more, double points, we only ever saw this once and that was back in 2014. The final race in Abu Dhabi was worth double points which meant Nico Rosberg went into the race with a chance of overhauling rival Lewis Hamilton. However, he retired from the race and Hamilton was victorious, meaning Hamilton’s title seemed even more emphatic than it actually was. It was the first and last time double points was ever used.
Elimination qualifying
So far F1’s rejig of the rules has gone pretty well. We are seeing plenty of competition across the board, and it has certainly bunched up the midfield, even if they haven’t quite bridged the gap to the front. However, one change that didn’t go to plan was elimination qualifying in 2016. Every 90 seconds the lowest ranked driver was booted out. A simple idea that would work right? Nope, teams would set one quick lap at the start, and then leave the track to preserve tyres making for a very uneventful qualifying session.
Post race traditions
Post-race traditions. Something that should be simple right? You win a race you stand on the podium, you spray champagne, and you sing the national anthem. Easy? Wrong!
At each race there must be a master of ceremonies, who from my understanding is the person who does the post race interviews and he is responsible for all of the following rules. The cool down room which isn’t mandatory, MUST be be suitably ventilated or have air conditioning if the temperature is above 25°C. I mean F1 racing is hard work so a cool environment is the least they can do. Water with no branding must be provided. Three bottles must be at parc ferme, with three additional bottles in the ‘cool down room’ – no other drinks are allowed in these areas. Speaking of drinks champagne must be available on each drivers’ podium position.
Even the anthems have regulations. National anthems need to be played via a “suitable sound system”. So I don’t think I’ll be bringing my Amazon Elexa to the British Grand Prix.
