Throughout the season, the FIA implemented some radical rule changes that had Formula One fans asking why.
These rules appeared to only confuse what is a fairly simple sport and annoy fans with their inconsistent application. It was supposed to help make F1 more interesting and lure back the dwindling viewing numbers, instead, it only appeared to push them further away.
The three big rule changes of 2016 – elimination qualifying, a limit on radio messages and the implementation of track limits – caused a dispute among fans all year, as they wondered what the FIA were trying to achieve with some of the changes. It was enough to see most of these rules not make it to the end of the season.
As of the Belgian Grand Prix in 2015, the FIA had begun a radio ban meaning certain things could not be said to the drivers. It was to prevent viewers from thinking the drivers were being told how to drive and to make it more challenging. The beginning of the 2016 campaign saw the FIA activate a full implementation of radio limits having tested it out with a reduced ban since Belgium.
However, this rule caused confusion for teams and fans alike. It was never really known what the driver could or could not be told and it also lost an interesting aspect to the weekend for the fans, listening to decisions and strategies unfold over the team radios as they happened.
After the British Grand Prix, the confusing rule had to be amended. Mercedes told Nico Rosberg that he had a gearbox issue and to not use seventh gear otherwise the car may not make it to the finish.
As this was Mercedes instructing Rosberg how to drive the car, he was handed a time penalty demoting him from second to third. This brought up much debate about safety as Mercedes argued that it was a safety matter and that is why they told Rosberg not to shift. The FIA ignored the appeal but it did mean the rule had to be changed for the next race in Hungary to accommodate radio messages about safety.
Under the change, if a driver had an issue, the team had to call them to the pits and whilst they were driving down pit lane they could be instructed as to how to fix their car.
It was put to the test in that very race as Jenson Button was hit with an issue on his car. The team followed this precaution and told Button to pit before instructing him whilst he was on pit lane. However, the time lost ruined Button’s race and, to put the cherry on top, the FIA handed Button a 10 second stop/go for breaking the radio ban as when he was told to pit he was also given some instructions to get the car back to the pits safely.
It was seen there and then as a ridiculous rule, the fans were in outrage after Button had been handed the penalty and called for another change to be made.
After the summer break, the radio ban was lifted, a year after it had first been installed. The FIA’s intentions with the rule were good but the way it was introduced was confusing and rarely made sense.
Elimination qualifying was ridiculed before it was even tried out. The Strategy Group had a meeting before the start of the season and decided changing the format would help make the races more exciting.
The idea was to mix up the grid on Saturday’s so some cars had to fight through the field during the race. This is something that did not come to light.
The new format worked with a car being eliminated from qualifying every 90 seconds. Once six cars had been dropped, there would be the usual interlude before running started again and another six were dropped. This left the top 10 in Q3 (as was the case in the previous qualifying format) who would also be eliminated at 90-second intervals until the last two cars remained. They would have a shootout for the last 90 seconds to get pole position.
The Australian Grand Prix saw the debut of this qualifying session and it was a disaster. Q1 saw the system work as it was supposed to, but as of Q2, it started to fall apart.
Where it was supposed to be shuffling the grid, teams saved tyres and only ran once in Q2. They would then sit in the garage and wait for the clock to tick down because there was no point in starting a second flying lap because the 90 seconds would expire before they finished the lap. Q3 saw it fail even more as the pole sitter was crowned with five minutes still ticking down on the clock.
The format was ridiculed. Fans were angry and confused as to why qualifying even had to be changed. The old system had worked fine and had seen more competition and attempts to go faster than the elimination system had.
Christian Horner and Martin Brundle even came out after the qualifying session and apologised to the fans for the poor showing it had delivered. Teams, drivers and fans were asking for its immediate removal. It appeared at the end of the Australian Grand Prix that the qualifying format would not be reappearing in Bahrain. So when it did, it shocked everyone.
The elimination system did not survive past the Bahrain Grand Prix, however, as another poor showing saw the viewing figures drop again. An aggregated lap time system was proposed, like the one used in World Endurance Championship, but that was also ridiculed before it was even put into place as it meant that the driver setting the fastest lap of the session may not get pole position, which seemed to counter the purpose of qualifying. By the third race, qualifying was back to how it was in 2015.
Finally, another rule that caused much debate throughout the season: track limits. The rule used to be fairly clear cut, a driver had to keep at least one wheel on the white line and, if they crossed it, it was seen as exceeding track limits and they were penalised after multiple offences. The FIA started changing this rule in for some reason and, at the start of every race weekend, they would list corners that had zero tolerance on track limits.
The confusion started when drivers would exceed track limits at corners where there was not a zero tolerance policy or when no corners had been listed at the beginning of the weekend.
Fans were never sure where drivers could exceed the limits without being penalised and it also caused a few situations where drivers lost lap times or were handed penalties for exceeding limits when maybe they shouldn’t have.
It was all about whether a driver was gaining an advantage. If the FIA believed time could be gained by exceeding the track limits, there would be penalties, if not, drivers could take all four wheels over the white line with no penalty. But it was the inconsistency over when the rule was broken and when the penalties were being handed out that saw a lot of fans scratching their heads.
For a time the track limits rule was taken away, it was an area of frustration for Charlie Whiting, who was constantly attacked for his complicated and confusing rules. However, before the season ended the rule was back in place with specific corner observations.
It appeared throughout the season that the FIA was trying too hard to boost viewing numbers and potentially made the situation worse with the confusing rules and inconsistent penalties.
The erratic changes could also be a reflection on how the FIA is run. Maybe it is time for a change at the top to save the sport that seems to be more confusing than it ever used to be.
The sport does need looking at to increase the viewing figures, but the reason is due to a lack of wheel-to-wheel, close racing. Hopefully, the new regulations for the 2017 season will see the grid close up and produce those incredible races the fans are waiting for.
