Williams F1

Engines
Each driver has eight sealed engines to use per season. During the season each engine will be run to around 2500km. If a driver is required to use an additional engine, the driver/car will be given a 10 place grid penalty at the race where the new engine is first used. 

Before third practice (on Saturday), the engine that is selected will be known as the ‘race engine’ and cannot be changed from the start of qualifying until after the start of the race. If an engine needs to be changed after qualifying starts, then the driver will take a grid penalty of 10 places. If a team elects to break a seal and reuse the engine, it is classed as an additional engine and the driver receives a 10 place penalty.

Gearboxes
Gearboxes must be used for five consecutive ‘events’ (comprising P3, qualifying and race) without changing. The ratios within the gear box are permitted to be changed. If the gearbox needs to be opened and changes made, the scrutineers will inform the race officials and the driver/car will take a penalty. 

KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System)
KERS takes the waste energy generated under braking and turns it into additional power. This is then made available to the driver in fixed quantities per lap via a steering wheel-mounted ‘boost-button’.

DRS (Drag Reduction System)
Drivers can adjust the rear wing from the cockpit, altering its angle of incidence through a set range. 

The system is electronically governed, and can be used at any time in practice and qualifying (unless the driver is on wet weather tyres). 

During the race, it can only be activated when a driver is less than one second behind another car at pre-determined points on the track. The system is then de-activated as the driver brakes.

Free Practice
No driver must start a race without taking part in at least one practice session. There are three free practice sessions in total. Two 90 minute sessions occur on Friday of a race weekend (Thursday in Monaco) and the third session of 60 minutes occurs on Saturday before qualifying. 

Qualifying
Qualifying is made up of three sections, Q1, Q2 and Q3. 

• Q1 involves all cars that are fit to compete at the start of qualifying. The session lasts 20 minutes and at the end of this time the slowest seven cars will not take part in any further qualifying and the lap times of the remaining 17 cars will be deleted.

• Q2 is 15 minutes in duration and includes the 17 remaining cars. At the end of the 15 minutes, the cars in the top 10 will go through to the final stage of qualifying, and the lap times of the remaining 10 cars will be deleted. 

• Q3 is the final qualifying section and lasts 10 minutes. At the end of this period, the grid positions for the remaining 10 cars will be set. 

These positions will only be changed if drivers or teams are given a penalty. Those cars that have been unable to complete a time during qualifying will start the race from the pit lane/ the last grid position.

All cars must qualify within 107% of the quickest time set in Q1. Failure to do so could see the cars unable to race, although a decision on this will be made in each individual case.

Parc Ferme
Although physically the cars need to be in Park Ferme from within three and half hours of the end of qualifying on Saturday until 5 hours before the start of the formation lap on Sunday, they are said to be under Park Ferme conditions from when they leave the pit lane for qualifying until the start of the formation lap before the race. 

Parc Ferme rules state that only certain work can be done on the car during this time: fuel may be added to the cars, tyres changed, brakes bled, minor front wing adjustments are also allowed, as is changing the oil and making routine checks to the engine, but little else. 

Any work other than that stated in the FIA regulations may only be undertaken with the approval of the FIA technical delegate following a written request from the team. At the end of qualifying, at least six cars will be selected at random to undergo further checks.

Safety Car
Overtaking whilst the safety car is on track is forbidden until the cars reach the ‘safety car line’ and the safety car has returned to the pits. During a safety-car period, all lapped cars will be allowed to un-lap themselves and then join the back of the pack, ensuring a clean re-start without slower cars impeding those racing for the leading positions.

Suspending a Race
If the race has to be suspended because the circuit is blocked by an accident or because weather or other conditions make it dangerous to continue, the clerk of the course will order red flags to be shown at all marshall posts.

There will now be a maximum race time of four hours to ensure that a lengthy suspension of a race does not result in a race that could run up to eight hours.

If a race is suspended and cannot be resumed for whatever reason, no points will be awarded if the leader has completed less than 2 laps, half points will be awarded if the leader has completed more than 2 laps but less than 75% of the original race distance, and full points will be awarded if the leader has completed more than 75% of the original race distance.

Driving etiquette
Drivers may no longer leave the track without a justifiable reason, i.e. cutting a chicane to save time and fuel. Drivers may no longer move back onto the racing line having moved off it to defend a position.

Crash tests
There is now more rigorous side impact testing and new cars are now required to pass all FIA crash tests prior to any on-track testing.

Tyre Use and Allocation
Pirelli are the sole supplier of tyres in F1. At each Grand Prix every team is given access to two specifications of dry-weather tyre. Unless conditions are wet, drivers must use both specifications during the race. There are four specifications of dry tyres in total: supersoft (red); soft (yellow); medium (white); hard (silver).

Over the race weekend, each driver has access to 11 sets of dry-weather tyres (six of the harder ‘prime’ specification and five of the softer ‘option’ specification) four sets of intermediate tyres and three sets of wet tyres.  At the start of the race, those cars who took part in Q3 (top 10) must be fitted with the tyres the driver used to set his grid time. All tyres allocated to a driver may now be used on the first day of practice.

World Championship Points
Points are awarded to the drivers who finish from first to tenth place on the following scale:

1st – 25 points
2nd – 18 points
3rd – 15 points
4th – 12 points
5th – 10 points
6th – 8 points
7th – 6 points
8th – 4 points
9th – 2 points
10th – 1 point