Nigel Mansell believed in 2001 that the Formula One was getting ruined by all the regulations in the sport. He told Autosport that there were too many dos and don’ts. Race drivers should be race drivers again and no to have to study a complete rulebook before they can enter their cars. 24 years later and I believe Nige was right on the spot with his comments regarding the regulations.
While I do not really recall the amount of regulations back in the early 2000s, the comparison with today’s regulations and those of twenty or thirty years ago is massive. Sure, a lot of regulations that were introduced during the years had to do with safety. For those who don’t recall a lot of bad crashes happened in the period between 1990 and 1996. With the dark chapter during the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix where both Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna left their lives.
However, that is not the case. The issue is over regulating the sport itself. Who recalls the strange regulation from around 2005? All cars had to be proper lined up behind the safety car, when it was deployed, before pit stops were allowed to be made. Also the ban on radio communication between driver and engineer regarding the performance of the car. I believe Hamilton had at least one race that got ruined due to a defect on the car that could not be told. A regulation I don’t like is the introduction of same liveries. Back in 1999 when BAR appeared in the Formula One they had two different liveries. Yet it got forbidden by the FIA.
Another example were the double points for the last race of the season in 2014. Hamilton was 17 points ahead of Rosberg in the championship. If Rosberg had won the Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi and Hamilton finished 3rd or lower he would have lost the championship.
The regulations that are introduced the past decade or so did not improve the races if you ask me.
I’m still not a fan of track limits and penalties when drivers are fighting for their positions. I am aware that many think differently about this one. Same goes for removing gravel for plain tarmac. I truly hope some revision will follow soon and get rid of many of the strange and useless rules.
