FIA Formula 1 World Championship Technical Rules and Regulations

Dimensions and bodywork

The overall width of the car, including wheels and tyres, must not exceed 1800mm while the length of the car must not exceed more than 4200mm. The maximum height of the car should be no more than 950mm and the width of the bodywork ahead of the rear wheels must not exceed 1400mm. In order to prevent tyre damage to other cars the extremities of any bodywork forward of the front wheels must be a least 10mm thick with a radius of at least 5mm. There must be a 50mm radius (+/-2mm) on each front corner when viewed from directly beneath the car; this being applied after the surface has been defined. The overall width of the car, including complete wheels must not exceed 1800mm with the steered wheels in the straight-ahead position.

Wings and aerodynamics

The rear wing must not exceed 100cm in width and the depth of the wing chords must not exceed 30cm.

Engines Specification

Engine capacity must not exceed 3000cc and only 4-stroke engines with reciprocating pistons are permitted. Supercharging is forbidden. All engines must not have more than 5 valves per cylinder and all engines must have 10 cylinders.

Engine materials

The basic structure of the crankshaft and camshafts must be made out of steel or cast iron. Pistons, cylinders heads and cylinder blocks may not be composite materials which use carbon or aramid fibre reinforcing materials.

Exhaust system

Variable geometric length exhaust systems are forbidden.

Starting the engine

A supplementary device can be temporarily connected to the car to start the car from the pits or from the grid.

Weight

The weight of the car must not be less than 600kg including the driver. Ballast can be used to bring the car up to the minimum weight but this cannot be added during a race.

Brakes

All cars must be equipped with only one braking system which must comprise of two hydraulic circuits, one circuit operating on the front wheels, and the other on the rear wheels. Any power braking system or anti-lock system is forbidden. No more than one brake calibre, with a maximum of six pistons is permitted on each wheel and no more than one brake disc per wheel can be used. These discs must have a maximum of thickness of 28mm and a maximum outside diameter of 278mm.

Speed limiter

The purpose of the speed limiter is to improve safety by ensuring a driver is less likely to exceed the pit lane speed limit. Car speed limiters may only operate in first, second and third gears and may only be activated in the pit lane.

Wheels and Tyres

The number of wheels is fixed at four. All wheels must be made from metallic materials. Rear wheel width must be between 365-380mm. Front wheel width must be between 305-355mm. Complete wheel diameter must not exceed 660mm with dry weather tyres and 670mm with wet weather tyres.

Suspension and Steering

Cars must be fitted with sprung suspension and there must be movement of the wheels to give sufficient travel in excess of any flexibility in the attachments. Suspension geometry must remain fixed at all times. Any powered device which is capable of altering the configuration or affecting the performance of any part of the suspension system is forbidden. No adjustment can be made to the suspension system while the car is in motion. The suspension cables and their attachments must be designed in order to help prevent a wheel making contact with the driver's head during an accident. Power assisted steering systems may be electronically controlled or electrically powered. No such system may carry out any function other than reduce the physical effort required to steer the car.

Transmission

Only two wheels may be driven and automatic gearboxes are banned. The driver must initiate each individual gear change and the minimum number of forward gear ratios is 4 and the maximum is 7. All cars must have a reverse gear operable any time during the race when the car's engine is running.

Fuel tank

The tank must be a single rubber blade conforming to FIA regulations. The fuel tank must be located between the driver and the engine and no fuel can be stored more than 300mm forward at the highest point where the driver's back makes contact with the seat.

Refuelling

All the refuelling during the race must be conducted with the FIA approved refuelling rig; any modification to this rig must be made following written consent from the FIA.

Clutch Control

All cars must be fitted with a means of disengaging the clutch for a minimum of 15 minutes in the event of the car coming to rest with the engine stopped.

Steering wheel

The steering wheel must be fitted with a quick release mechanism operated by pulling a concentric flange installed on the steering column behind the wheel.

Safety Belts

It is mandatory to wear two shoulder straps, one abdominal strap and two straps between the legs.

What's new on the technical regulation front for the 2002 season

The rear "rain" light, used in poor visibility is 50% larger than last year.

Rear viewmirrors are bigger: up from 120 x 50 mm to 150 x 50 mm.

There is a new lateral static test for the rear of the car: a force of 4 tons is applied to a 100 x 300 mm area for 30 seconds and no deformation must result from this force.

Tethers designed to prevent wheels flying off the cars in the event of an accident now have to withstand a load of 6 tons, up from 5 and each wheel now requires two tethers.