FIA Reveals 21-Race 2015 Formula One Calendar

News, Racing I By Winding Road Staff I December 04, 2014
The 2014 F1 season maintained a fairly busy schedule of 19 grand prix events, but for 2015, the FIA has scheduled a record-setting 21 events, besting the previous record of 20 events for the 2012 season. The Mexican Grand Prix, scheduled for November 1st, along with the Korean Grand Prix, scheduled for May 3rd, comprise the additional events over last year’s roster.
 
Also of note are a handful of new regulations for 2015, including the introduction of the Virtual Safety Car, a system in which a speed limit is imposed around the track for incidents that do not require a full safety car, and points for both titles will no longer be doubled for the final event of the championship.
 
The season will start on March 15 in Australia. The confirmed dates are as follows:
 
  •         March 15th AUS Grand Prix of Australia
  •         March 29th MYS Grand Prix of Malaysia 
  •         April 12th CHN Grand Prix of China 
  •         April 19th BHR Grand Prix of Bahrain 
  •         May 3rd KOR Grand Prix of Korea (TBC)
  •         May 10th ESP Grand Prix of Spain
  •         May 24th MCO Grand Prix of Monaco
  •         June 7th CAN Grand Prix of Canada 
  •         June 21st AUT Grand Prix of Austria
  •         July 5th GBR Grand Prix of Great Britain
  •         July 19th DEU Grand Prix of Germany
  •         July 26th HUN Grand Prix of Hungary 
  •         August 23rd BEL Grand Prix of Belgium
  •         September 6th ITA Grand Prix of Italy
  •         September 20th SGP Grand Prix of Singapore 
  •         September 27th JPN Grand Prix of Japan
  •         October 11th RUS Grand Prix of Russia (Sochi) 
  •         October 25th USA Grand Prix of USA (Austin)
  •         November 1st MEX Grand Prix of Mexico 
  •         November 15th BRA Grand Prix of Brazil 
  •         November 29th ARE Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi
 
Check out the press release included below for additional information regarding updated rules and regulations for the 2015 Formula One season.
 
World Motor Sport Council 2014 – Doha
WED 03.12.14
 
FIA President Jean Todt welcomed members of the World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) ahead of the FIA Annual General Assembly and FIA Prize-Giving ceremony on Friday 5 December. He thanked Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation President and FIA Vice-President, Nasser Khalifa Al Attiyah, for his hospitality and welcoming WMSC members to Doha.
 
FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
 
The 2015 FIA Formula One World Championship calendar is confirmed as follows:
 
15 March AUS Grand Prix of Australia
 
29 March MYS Grand Prix of Malaysia
 
12 April CHN Grand Prix of China
 
19 April BHR Grand Prix of Bahrain
 
3 May KOR Grand Prix of Korea (TBC)
 
10 May ESP Grand Prix of Spain
 
24 May MCO Grand Prix of Monaco
 
7 June CAN Grand Prix of Canada
 
21 June AUT Grand Prix of Austria
 
5 July GBR Grand Prix of Great Britain
 
19 July DEU Grand Prix of Germany
 
26 July HUN Grand Prix of Hungary
 
23 August BEL Grand Prix of Belgium
 
6 September ITA Grand Prix of Italy
 
20 September SGP Grand Prix of Singapore
 
27 September JPN Grand Prix of Japan
 
11 October RUS Grand Prix of Russia (Sochi)
 
25 October USA Grand Prix of USA (Austin)
 
1 November MEX Grand Prix of Mexico
 
15 November BRA Grand Prix of Brazil
 
29 November ARE Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi
 
 
2015 F1 SPORTING REGULATIONS
 
The following decisions were taken:
 
Points
 
Points for both titles will no longer be doubled for the final Event of the Championship.
 
Standing Restarts
 
After consultation with the Teams who raised a number of safety concerns, Articles 42.7 and 42.8 on standing restarts have been rescinded.
 
Virtual Safety Car (VSC)
 
Following tests of the VSC system at the final Events of 2014, the introduction of the system has been approved for 2015. The VSC procedure may be initiated to neutralise a race upon the order of the clerk of the course. It will normally be used when double waved yellow flags are needed on any section of track and competitors or officials may be in danger, but the circumstances are not such as to warrant use of the safety car itself. The full text of the article is available in Annex I.
 
Suspending a race
 
When a race is suspended, the pit exit will be closed and all cars must now proceed slowly into the pit lane, not the starting grid. The first car to arrive in the pit lane should proceed directly to the pit exit staying in the fast lane, all the other cars should form up in a line behind the first car.
 
Team personnel or equipment on grid
 
If any team personnel or team equipment remain on the grid after the 15 second signal has been shown the driver of the car concerned must start the race from the pit lane. A ten second stop-and-go penalty will be imposed on any driver who fails to do this.
 
Power Unit Penalties
 
The replacement of a complete power unit will no longer result in a penalty, instead as specified in the current regulations, penalties will be applied cumulatively for individual components of the power unit.
 
If a grid place penalty is imposed, and the driver’s grid position is such that the full penalty cannot be applied, the remainder of the penalty will be applied in the form of a time penalty during the race (not at the next race as was previously the case) according to the following scale :
 
o 1 to 5 grid places untaken: A penalty under Article 16.3(a) will be applied.
 
o 6 to 10 grid places untaken: A penalty under Article 16.3(b) will be applied.
 
o 11 to 20 grid places untaken: A penalty under Article 16.3(c) will be applied.
 
o More than 20 grid places untaken: A penalty under Article 16.3(d) will be applied.
 
Time Penalties
 
In addition to the existing five-second penalty (Article 16.3a), a new ten-second penalty (Article 16.3b) will also be introduced, to be applied in the same manner.
 
Unsafe Release
 
If a car is deemed to have been released in an unsafe condition during a race a ten second stop-and-go penalty will be imposed on the driver concerned. An additional penalty will be imposed on any driver who, in the opinion of the stewards, continues to drive a car knowing it to have been released in an unsafe condition.
 
Qualifying Procedure
 
The qualifying procedure was clarified: for cases when 24 cars are eligible seven will be excluded after Q1 and Q2, if 22 cars are eligible six cars will be excluded after Q1 and Q2, and so on if fewer cars are eligible.
 
Safety Car: lapped cars
 
Once the last lapped car has passed the leader the safety car will return to the pits at the end of the following lap, the race director will no longer have to wait for all the lapped cars to reach the back of the pack behind the safety car.
 
2015 F1 TECHNICAL REGULATIONS
 
– The weight of the car, without fuel, must not be less than 702kg at all times during the Event (up from 701kg).
 
– Changes have been made to the rules governing Wind Tunnel Testing and with regard to the aerodynamic reporting periods for 2015 and 2016.
 
– Any suspension system fitted to the front wheels must be so arranged that its response results only from changes in load applied to the front wheels.
 
– Any suspension system fitted to the rear wheels must be so arranged that its response results only from changes in load applied to the rear wheels.
 
– The Zylon anti-intrusion panels on both sides of the survival cell have been extended upwards to the rim of the cockpit and alongside the pilot’s head.
 
NEXT MEETING OF THE STRATEGY GROUP
 
The FIA President confirmed that the next meeting of the Strategy Group would take place on 18 December, and would focus reducing costs, improving the show, making cars quicker and more difficult to drive, and reviewing the technical and sporting regulations, with the aim of simplifying the rules where possible.
 
ACCIDENT PANEL
 
A review of all the evidence and other information about the events leading up to Jules Bianchi’s accident at the Japanese Grand Prix 5 October 2014, Suzuka, has been carried out by the 10-man Accident Panel, appointed by the FIA and chaired by Safety Commission President Peter Wright. The Panel has issued a 396-page report on their findings with recommendations for improvements, many relevant to all of motor sport. This has been presented to the FIA World Motor Sport Council, which accepted the findings and gave a mandate to implement the full recommendations and conclusions of the report. The summary issued by the panel can be found on fia.com.
 
CRITERIA FOR THE ISSUING OF SUPER LICENCES
 
A proposal on the conditions of attribution of the Super Licence was approved for 2016, on the basis of the following criteria:
 
1- Safety criteria
 
The following changes have been made compared to the current regulations:
 
– There is a valid driving licence requirement.
 
– There is a minimum age requirement (18yo).
 
– There is a verification of knowledge of the F1 Sporting Regulations/ISC rules.
 
2- Experience criteria
 
With the following changes compared to the current regulations:
 
– There is the 300km in F1 TCC or TPC_ as a minimum requirement.
 
– There is a 2 years minimum running in minor Formulas.
 
3- Performance criteria
 
With the following changes compared to the current regulations:
 
– There is a point system requirement, based on the driver results in previous Formulas.
 
ANNEX I
 
Article 41: Virtual Safety Car (VSC)
 
41.1 The VSC procedure may be initiated to neutralise a race upon the order of the clerk of the course. It will normally be used when double waved yellow flags are needed on any section of track and competitors or officials may be in danger, but the circumstances are not such as to warrant use of the safety car itself.
 
41.2 When the order is given to initiate the VSC procedure a message "VSC DEPLOYED" will be displayed on the official messaging system and all FIA light panels will display "VSC".
 
41.3 No car may be driven unnecessarily slowly, erratically or in a manner which could be deemed potentially dangerous to other drivers or any other person at any time whilst the VSC procedure is in use. This will apply whether any such car is being driven on the track, the pit entry or the pit lane.
 
41.4 No car may enter the pits whilst the VSC procedure is in use unless it is for the purpose of changing tyres.
 
41.5 All competing cars must reduce speed and stay above the minimum time set by the FIA ECU at least once in each marshalling sector (a marshalling sector is defined as the section of track between each of the FIA light panels). All cars must also be above this minimum time when the FIA light panels change to green (see 41.7 below). The stewards may impose either of the penalties under Article 16.3a), b), c) or d) on any driver who fails to stay above the minimum time as required by the above.
 
41.6 With the exception of the cases listed under a) to d) below, no driver may overtake another car on the track whilst the VSC procedure is in use.
 
The exceptions are :
 
a) When entering the pits a driver may pass another car remaining on the track after he has
 
reached the first safety car line.
 
b) When leaving the pits a driver may overtake, or be overtaken by, another car on the track
 
before he reaches the second safety car line.
 
c) Whilst in the pit entry, pit lane or pit exit a driver may overtake another car which is also in one of these three areas.
 
d) If any car slows with an obvious problem.
 
41.7 When the clerk of the course decides it is safe to end the VSC procedure the message "VSC ENDING" will be displayed on the official messaging system and, at any time between 10 and 15 seconds later, "VSC" on the FIA light panels will change to green and drivers may continue racing immediately. After 30 seconds the green lights will be extinguished.
 
41.8 Each lap completed whist the VSC procedure is in use will be counted as a race lap.

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