How the regulation changes have affected Formula 1

Regulations and vehicle requirements change every season - but will those changes affect the way you should bet on Formula 1?

Learn about the latest changes from the 2022 season as we analyse the most important changes to regulations and vehicle setups for the 2023 F1 season and identify probable betting strategies.

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How the regulation changes have affected Formula 1

The amazing and exciting sport of Formula 1 motor racing evolves every single year.

Some changes are widely accepted by fans, drivers, teams, and governing bodies, but some others are often thought to be a detriment to the sport.

Ultimately, changes usually come about to address vital needs, such as improved safety, adhering to the changes in environmental requirements, or to simply improve the standard of racing.

In 2022, a significant amount of changes were made, mostly to the vehicles, but also the regulations. 2023 has seen further changes too.

It is important to be aware of these changes as a F1 sports bettor. Changes to vehicles and regulations can affect predictions in both the Drivers’ Championship and Constructors’ Championship markets.

They can also affect the result of races throughout the year.

Why changes were needed

Romain Grosjean’s crash in 2020, and Anthoine Hubert’s sadly fatal crash in 2019, brought about substantial changes to vehicle chassis.

2022 chassis were required to absorb more energy, and the vehicles’ power unit needed to be separated from the chassis without exposing the fuel tank.

2021 was a less than exciting season, and many experts attributed this to the lack of parity between the highest and lowest ranked teams. The vehicle changes promoted closer racing that provided better opportunities for overtaking.

A 30% increase in overtaking between 2021 and 2022 was recorded by Pirelli – with 599 overtakes in 2021 compared to a staggering 785 in 2022.

Further changes to 2022 vehicles affected the porpoising effect –a unique aerodynamic phenomenon - that makes it incredibly difficult for drivers to run nose to gearbox and closely follow other vehicles.

Even Sir Lewis Hamilton declared he very nearly lost control of his vehicle in high speed corners due to this effect, and the changes made Mercedes far less dominant in 2022.

Racing was indeed closer last year. However, besides Mercedes’ victory in Brazil, only Ferrari and Red Bull notched Grand Prix victories.

2023 changes – Vehicle

The porpoising effect was still prevalent in 2022, and the FIA has addressed the issue once again.

The minimum ride height of the 2023 vehicles has been raised by 15mm, new sensors have been added to measure vertical forces accurately, the diffuser throat has also been raised, and the minimum weight of the vehicles has dropped from 798kg to 796kg.

Drag reduction system (DRS) zones are being tweaked, and a DRS trial will be in affect during the six sprint races.

The FIA will likely bring the DRS activation forward by one lap during the trials, and look to make the change permanent in 2024.

2023 Regulations changes

There haven’t been as many significant regulation changes as we saw in 2022, but the campaign ahead still looks a little different.

The number of sprint events has been doubled from three to six following the reintroduction of the event type last year.

Sprints are shorter, faster races that force constructor teams to think on their feet due to shorter prep time, and drivers should be able to aggressively chase.

However, this aggressive racing style has seen more hype from F1 marketing than we’ve actually witnessed. However, as vehicles become more evenly matched, we could finally see aggressive driving and more overtaking during the sprints.

The calendar has been extended this year to a record-breaking 23 races. This means fans are in for more racing, but it is unlikely that these additional races will affect the closeness of the championship too much.

The qualifying format will be revised for two Grand Prix weekends in 2023.

While F1 qualifying is tried, tested, and simply works, Formula 1 have decided it might be time for a change. Drivers will be forced to use the hard tyre compound for Q1, medium for Q2, and soft for Q3.

Work hours for F1 teams across entire GP weekends have been reduced, and this trend will continue into the next season. Grid penalty rules have been clarified by the FIA and simplified.

What impact could it have in 2023?

Jan Monchaux, technical chief at Alfa Romeo, has already stated teams are able to make up half a second per lap thanks to the aerodynamic changes that minimize porpoising.

Historical data might not play into making betting predictions either, as the cars should, in theory, behave entirely differently to the 2021 and 2022 versions.

Max Verstappen finished with a 12 second gap at Bahrain in 2023, and frankly, the lead could easily have been larger. Even with all the regulations attempting to close the gap in the field, the Dutchman was still able to absolutely dominate from lap one.

While the new regulations should make it harder to predict the winner, the result in Bahrain may foreshadow the season ahead – another Red Bull championship.

Mercedes driver George Russell has already gone on record stating: “I expect they [Red Bull] should win every single race. That’s my bet.”

Tyre strategies will change this year, which in turn will affect in-race strategies for each team. We saw this on display at Bahrain as teams all went down different routes.

Only Red Bull used a soft-soft-hard strategy, while other teams went for soft-hard-hard.

Bettors’ eyes will need to be fixed on the practice laps and qualifiers before making their final predictions.

How to make sure you stay successful

First and foremost, bettors will need to do their research. Head over to the Pirelli website and learn about the tyres. Comb through practice data and look for drivers with an edge.

Fernando Alonso’s performance at Bahrain came as a shock to many, but a strong Aston Martin performance was easily predictable if you considered Bahrain pre-season testing data.

All the insights you’ll ever need can be discovered during the weekend’s practice and qualifiers.

Finally, be sure to read the F1 Grand Prix predictions at Pinnacle Betting Resources for expert analysis and insights from Pinnacle’s outstanding odds.

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