1998 Rule Changes

External changes

Cockpit

The bodywork around the opening is now a minimum thickness of 6 cm. Concerns over safety are primordial. The width of the cockpit must be 35 cm at the extreme of the survival cell. In the event of an accident, the driver will be better protected, but will be able to get out of the car more rapidly.



Chassis

Some of the biggest changes come here. While last year's cars were 200 cm wide, this year's will be reduced to 180 cm. The narrow track will, of course, mean a reduction in cornering speed, which will increase the interest of the race. Overtaking, which has been almost impossible on the majority of circuits, will once again hit the headlines (see brakes).



Tyres

No more slicks. From now on, all tyres will be grooved, in order to reduce the amount of rubber in contact with the track. The introduction of grooves will lead to harder tyre compounds being necessary. The new tyre structure is sure to mean more skilful driving. In the same register, torque control on the electronic accelerator, which appeared anarchically last season, is banned this year.
 

Interior changes

Brakes

This is the biggest of the changes for 98. First of all, the double callipers in use last season now disappear. As do the double brake pads. Outlawed! Likewise the 8-pot callipers. The maximum now is 6 pistons. As far as the brake disks are concerned, they must have a maximum width of 28 millimetres. This is unquestionably the most important difference. Such a reduction will have an adverse effect on the reliability of braking. This will mean new race strategies for the teams.





What effects will these important changes have on the cars’ behaviour?


More changes:

Apart from the reduction of the car´s width and the introduction of grooved tyres, for 1998 the size of the car´s rear-view mirrors will be increased. Also, the drivers will be aided in what refers to observing the flag marshals´signals, by the incorporation of a set of light indicators in the cars´ dashboards.

In what refers to Friday´s and Saturday´s free practice sessions, there will no longer be a limit on the maximun of laps each driver may do. Until the end of 1997, a maximum of 30 laps was permitted during Friday´s practices and another 30 during Saturday´s ones.

However, there will continue to be a limit on the laps each driver may do during the qualifying session.

The car’s cockpit lateral headrests are to be extended as far as the steering wheel.

Size of the rear-view mirrors will be increased to 5 cm x 12 cm (previously, 5 cm x 10 cm).

Each driver will have a maximum of 40 dry-weather tyres at his disposal during each Grand Prix week-end (previously, 36). In what refers to wet-weather tyres, the maximum amount per week-end remains at 28.

If a car stops out on the circuit during qualifying and external assistance is needed in order to bring it back to the pits, its driver will lose the quickest lap he posted during qualifying.

In what refers to the race start, any car which at the "five minute" signalling does not have its 4 wheels fitted, will have to start from the rear of the grid or from the pitlane.


The World Champion's viewpoint

Never one to mince his words, Jacques Villeneuve has commented that these modifications "make it more difficult to set up cars" and that they will force drivers to "go back to square one... There is no team that can say that it has an advantage over the others, because the change of configuration of the cars and the grooved tyres have a big effect on setting up." Villeneuve considers that driving will be "slower and more careful. The new regulations claim to put everyone on an equal footing. But everyone knows that the best teams have a greater capacity to adapt, because they have big budgets available."

The World Champion has not said his last word on this very, very thorny subject!

* This page compiled using information supplied by F1 fans and from other sites, and was not written by Zelnak.





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