Top 5 Weirdest F1 Rules of All-Time

The FIA met in Paris recently to provide a new set of rules and regulations for the 2018 Formula One season. At the end of every season, the FIA defines the following season’s regulations. The rules have altered the look of the cars since 1950. But sometimes, the Fia have come up with some seriously strange rules. So without further ado, here are some of the weirdest F1 rules in the sport’s history.

Weirdest F1 Rules

This was one of the weirdest F1 rules in the 2000s. This rule stated that all the drivers had to run two qualifying sessions consisting of a single flying lap. The first lap could be with no fuel restrictions, so the teams could run a low fuel setting. However, the second qualifying lap had to be run using the fuel load that they would start the race with. These times were then added together to produce the grid.

This did not go down well with the fans who thought that the system was too complicated. Another disgruntled group were the media and newspaper outlets. Their gripe was that they were unable to publish the grid for Sunday’s race as it still hadn’t been decided. Until 2002, F1 was using the 1 hour qualifying format where drivers had 12 laps to set the fastest time. But in 2003, Bernie Ecclestone decided that qualifying wasn’t exciting enough so he proposed this new system of aggregate qualifying. In the end, the system was scrapped after 6 races of pure confusion. As in-race refuelling was permitted at the time, the system promised to add a gambling element where teams could assess their position on the provisional Saturday night grid and use that to decide how much fuel they could risk putting in the car on Sunday: run light for a better grid position, or risk carrying more fuel in the hope of benefitting their strategy.

In the first years of the championship the driver who set the fastest lap at each race got a bonus point. The plan was dropped in 1958 and ever since drivers have only scored points based on where they finish in the race. The simplicity of that approach is something F1 would do well to preserve. There were discussions in 2016 about reviving the practice, but giving the bonus point to the pole sitter instead.

F1 should tread carefully when tinkering with the points system. They must think carefully about exactly what incentive it is giving to competitors. If rules like this were implemented, it could lead to farcical scenarios could unfold if rules like this were implemented. The 2015-16 Formula E season is the perfect example of this. In the last race of the season, title contenders Lucas Di Grassi and Sebastien Buemi took each other out on the opening lap. Both drivers promptly pitted into their second cars and gave up on the win, instead focusing on setting the fastest lap. In the end, Sebastien Buemi won by 2 points as he got the fastest lap.

Formula One in the 1950s was an era of experimentation. It was also the time where F1 and courtesy could be spoken in the same breath and not sounded strange. Flashback Friday to 61 years ago to the finale of the 1956 season. 24-year-old Englishman Peter Collins was on the verge of winning his maiden Formula One title when teammate and rival Juan Manuel Fangio stopped on track. Collins voluntarily gave up his chance of the world championship and his car to Fangio. Fangio ran out of petrol with a handful of laps to go and stopped a mile away from the pits.

Can you imagine Max Verstappen taking over Daniel Ricciardo’s car when his own Red Bull broke down? or vice versa when Ricciardo’s RB13 conked out? This overly complicated rule is why it is on our list of weirdest F1 rules.

In all honesty, this was not only one of the weirdest F1 rules, but also the most idiotic. Currently, the sport uses a 3 segment qualifying system where at the end of a fixed time limit, the slowest few cars are eliminated. The FIA had a ‘brainwave’ to tweak the system. The new elimination system will retain the current idea of three separate qualifying segments to decide the grid, albeit under a changed format. The first segment of qualifying would last 16 minutes. After 7 minutes the slowest driver would be eliminated. This process would continue every 1 minute 30 seconds thereafter until the chequered flag and 7 drivers were eliminated. So 15 cars would progress to the second segment. The second session would las 15 minutes and after 6 minutes the process repeats until the chequered flag waves and another 7 drivers got eliminated. Instead of a top 10 shootout, the final session would be a top 8 shootout. Q3 would be a 14 minute session. This time, the eliminations would begin after 5 minutes. The process begins again until 2 drivers were left in the final 1 minute 30 seconds. In each session, the final elimination will occur at the chequered flag, rather than when the time is up.

Confused? So am I. Evidently, the FIA themselves were stumbling around blindfolded too. The ‘new’ and ‘improved’ qualifying system lasted 2 races before sense was knocked back into the FIA’s heads.