10 Of The Strangest Motorsport Rules

Undoubtedly one of the weirdest rules in motorsport at the moment is Formula E’s FanBoost system, which gives fans the chance to directly influence the race itself. They vote for their favourite drivers and the three with the most votes get a power boost to use during the race. It’s great to see FE doing something different, but there’s no denying it’s a strange and unique regulation.

2. Double points finale

So this one is quite a recent F1 regulation. It only lasted one season after a huge amount of criticism from fans. For 2014 the final race in Abu Dhabi would be worth double the points of any other race, in a bid to keep the title fight going right to the end. It was very unpopular and was (thankfully) scrapped for the next season.

3. Sprint All-Star format

Sprint All-Star is a Nascar exhibition race format that confused not only fans but the drivers too when it was used this year. It’s split into two 50-lap segments and then a 13-lap final dash to the flag. Already confusing, but here’s what happens for the final stint:

“The starting order for the final segment will be determined following a random draw that decides if the top running nine, 10 or 11 cars have to pit for a mandatory four-tyre stop between segment 2 and segment 3. Pit road will be closed for all other cars, and those for which pit stops were mandated must resume position for the final sprint, lining up behind the cars that did not pit.”

Why? We don’t know… surely there’s a better and easier format that makes for fun and enjoyable racing?

4. Car swap

Up until 1958, F1 drivers were able to switch to their team-mate’s car if their own broke down. This would add complications to following the races back in the day and was also pretty unfair too. Imagine if that remained in F1 today? Sebastian Vettel jumping out of his broken Ferrari and taking over Kimi “Bwoah” Raikkonen’s car. Thankfully it’s been in the rubbish F1 rules bin for some time.

5. Elimination qualifying

The F1 qualifying format has changed quite a lot over the years, but the elimination-style system brought in for the start of the 2016 season went down as well as a bowl full of sick and did nothing to improve the show. Despite it bombing hard, it stayed for a second race before F1 saw sense (finally) and went back to the old format.

This rule was brought in for good reason to stop F1 engineers from coaching the drivers and telling them how to handle the cars. But it all went too far and it brought a huge amount of confusion, with drivers asking mid-race for information and not understanding why they couldn’t be told the answer. Fortunately, it was binned altogether earlier this year.

7. 2014 nose regulations

Changes to front wing nose rules for the 2014 F1 season produced bizarre-looking cars. The tips of the nose had to be closer to the ground and with a smaller, lower cross section at the tip too, producing some really ugly and photoshop-worthy designs. This was resolved for 2015 to make them easier on the eye.

Electric battery technology in motorsport is still very new, so seeing drivers change cars during a Formula E race isn’t all that surprising. But it’s still an odd thing to watch, even with two seasons still gone.

The batteries can’t last a full race, so drivers have two cars to use and switch over at mid-distance. There’s a minimum pitstop time so drivers don’t gain or lose massively but it’s a bizarre thing to see!

9. Joker laps

OK, so this has been in Rallycross racing for some time, but the whole concept is a little strange. Each driver has to do a joker lap – taking a longer route – per race, so why not just forget about it and get the drivers to race on the normal track for the whole time? It adds a bit of unpredictability, but it’s still an odd rule to have in racing.

10. Dropped scores

This rule just made things far too complicated. It was brought to F1 with good intentions to try and stop unreliability impacting the championship. But it made things tough to follow and meant a certain number of races, often the lowest scoring by the driver, wouldn’t mean anything at all. It was scrapped in 1980 but the system has been used in other championships over the years.

What other weird motorsport rules can you remember or have you come across? Let us know in the comments!