2019 F1 Season (JacksFuture)

The 2019 FIA Formula One World Championship is an ongoing motor racing championship for Formula One cars which marks the 70th running of the Formula One World Championship. It is recognised by the governing body of international motorsport, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), as the highest class of competition for open-wheel racing cars. Starting in March and ending in December, the championship is being contested over 21 Grands Prix. Drivers are competing for the title of World Drivers' Champion, and teams for the World Constructors' Champion. The 2019 championship also saw the running of the 1000th World Championship race, which was held in China.[1][2]

Lewis Hamilton is the defending World Drivers' Champion, after winning his fifth championship title in the previous season, and Mercedes are the defending World Constructors' Champions, after winning their fifth consecutive championship in 2018.

Contents

 * 1Entries
 * 1.1Team changes
 * 1.2Driver changes
 * 2Calendar
 * 2.1Calendar changes
 * 3Changes
 * 3.1Technical regulations
 * 3.2Sporting regulations
 * 3.3Driver safety
 * 3.4Tyres
 * 4Season report
 * 5Results and standings
 * 5.1Grands Prix
 * 5.2Scoring system
 * 5.3World Drivers' Championship standings
 * 5.4World Constructors' Championship standings
 * 6Footnotes
 * 7References
 * 8External links

Entries
Ten teams, with two drivers each, are competing in the championship in 2019.

Team changes
Red Bull Racing ended its twelve-year partnership with Renault and switched to Honda engines.[22] In doing so, Red Bull Racing joined sister team Scuderia Toro Rosso in using Honda power after Scuderia Toro Rosso joined the Japanese manufacturer in 2018. Neither team will be recognised as Honda's official factory team under the terms of the agreement.[23]

Racing Point F1 Team completed their transition from the Racing Point Force India identity that they used after their purchase of the assets of Sahara Force India in August 2018.[24]

Sauber was renamed Alfa Romeo Racing in an extension of the sponsorship deal that began in 2018.[25] The Sauber name will disappear entirely from the Formula One grid, but will still be used in the Formula 2 and Formula 3 support categories.[26][27]

Driver changes
Alexander Albon (left), Lando Norris (center) and George Russell (right) made their Formula One débuts with Scuderia Toro Rosso, McLaren and Williams respectively.

The lead up to the 2019 championship saw several driver changes. Daniel Ricciardo moved to Renault after five years with Red Bull Racing,[28][29] replacing Carlos Sainz Jr. Ricciardo's drive at Red Bull Racing has been taken by Pierre Gasly, who was promoted from Scuderia Toro Rosso, the team with whom he made his first Formula One start in 2017.[30] Daniil Kvyat rejoined Toro Rosso after last racing for the team in 2017.[31] He was partnered with Formula 2 driver Alexander Albon, who replaced Brendon Hartley.[32] Albon subsequently became only the second Thai driver to race in Formula One after Prince Bira.[33]

Sainz, who was on loan to Renault in 2018, did not have his deal with Red Bull renewed and subsequently moved to McLaren to replace two-time World Drivers' Champion Fernando Alonso,[34] who had earlier announced that he would not compete in Formula One in 2019.[35][36] Sainz was partnered with 2017 European Formula 3 champion Lando Norris.[37] Stoffel Vandoorneleft McLaren after the 2018 season to race in Formula E with the Mercedes-affiliated HWA Team.[38][39]

Charles Leclerc left Sauber after one year with the team, joining Ferrari where he took the place of Kimi Räikkönen.[40] Räikkönen returned to Sauber, now renamed Alfa Romeo, with whom he had started his career in 2001.[41] He was partnered with Antonio Giovinazzi, who made two starts for Sauber when he replaced the injured Pascal Wehrlein in 2017.[42][43] Marcus Ericsson moved to race in the IndyCar Series in 2019 with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports but will remain at Alfa Romeo as third driver and brand ambassador.[42][44][45]

Reigning Formula 2 champion George Russell joined Williams.[46] Robert Kubica made his return to Formula 1, replacing Sergey Sirotkin at Williams. Sirotkin returned to Renault as a reserve driver. Kubica's return comes after an eight-year absence brought on by a near-fatal rally car crash in 2011 that left him with serious arm injuries.[47][48]

Esteban Ocon left Racing Point Force India and joined Mercedes as reserve driver. Ocon will share the role of simulator driver with Stoffel Vandoorne.[49][50] Ocon has been replaced at Racing Point by Lance Stroll, who left Williams.[51]

Calendar
Nations that are scheduled to host a Grand Prixin 2019 are highlighted in green, with circuit locations marked with a black dot. Former host nations are shown in dark grey, and former host circuits are marked with a white dot.

The following twenty-one Grands Prix are due to be run as part of the 2019 World Championship. Each race is run over a minimum number of laps that exceeds a total distance of 305 km (189.5 mi); the only exception to this is the Monaco Grand Prix, for which the distance is 260 km (161.6 mi).[52]

Calendar changes
The Mexican and United States Grands Prix swapped places on the calendar so that the United States round follows the Mexican Grand Prix.[53][56]

Changes
Race Director and Technical Delegate Charlie Whiting died unexpectedly just days before the opening race of the season in Australia.[57] Deputy Race Director Michael Masi was named as his successor.[citation needed]

Technical regulations
In a bid to improve overtaking, teams agreed to a series of aerodynamic changes that affect the profile of the front and rear wings. The front wing endplates were reshaped to alter the airflow across the car and reduce the effects of aerodynamic turbulence, and winglets above the main plane of the front wing have been banned. The slot in the rear wing was widened, making the drag reduction system (DRS) more powerful.[58] The agreed-upon changes were drawn from the findings of a working group set up to investigate potential changes to the technical regulations in preparation for the 2021 championship.

Parts of the technical regulations governing bodywork were rewritten in a bid to promote sponsorship opportunities for teams.[59] The agreed changes are to mandate smaller bargeboards and limit aerodynamic development of the rear wing endplates to create more space for sponsor logos. The changes were introduced as a response to falling revenues amid teams and the struggles of smaller teams to secure new sponsors.

The mandated maximum fuel levels were raised from 105 kg (231 lb) to 110 kg (240 lb) so as to minimise the need for drivers to conserve fuel during a race.[60][note 3] Driver weights are no longer considered when measuring the minimum weight of the car. This change was agreed to following concerns that drivers were being forced to lose dangerous amounts of weight in order to offset the additional weight of the post-2014 generation of turbo-hybrid engines.[60] Drivers who weigh less than 80 kg (180 lb) will have to make up this weight with ballast, located around the seat to minimise possible performance gains. The changes were introduced (1) to eliminate the advantage drivers with a naturally smaller body shape had over taller and heavier drivers and (2) to discourage unhealthy diet and exercise regimes to improve performance.[61]

Sporting regulations
The regulations introduced a bonus point to the driver (and the constructor) that sets the fastest lap in a race. The point is only awarded if the driver is classified in the top ten at the end of the race. This makes 2019 the first time since 1959 that a bonus point gets awarded for setting the fastest lap.[62][63]

Driver safety
The FIA introduced a new standard for driver helmets with the intention of improving safety. Under the new standard, helmets will be subjected to a more thorough range of crash tests aimed at improving energy absorption and deflection as well as reducing the likelihood of objects penetrating the helmet's structure. All certified helmet manufacturers were required to pass the tests in advance of the 2019 championship to have their certification renewed. Once introduced to Formula One, the new standard will gradually be applied to all helmets used by competitors in every FIA-sanctioned event.[64]

Tyres
See also: Formula One tyres

Tyre supplier Pirelli renamed its range of tyres following a request from the FIA and the sport's management. The governing body argued that the naming conventions used in 2018were obtuse and difficult for casual spectators to understand.[65][66] Under the new plan, names given to particular compounds, such as "hypersoft" and "ultrasoft", will be replaced by referring during each race to the three compounds teams have available for that race as soft, medium and hard. This is hoped to aid fans in understanding the tyre compounds used at each round. The actual compounds for the season will be referred to by number, from the firmest ("1") to the softest ("5").[note 4] Pirelli will continue to decide which three compounds are made available for each race. The practice of using colours to identify the specific compound (such as pink for the hypersoft) will be discontinued, with white, yellow and red being used for the three compounds available for each race where white denoted the hardest available compound and red the softest. As all five compounds are available in testing there will be slight variations in the details on the tyre sidewalls to distinguish between the different compounds during testing.[68][69]

Season report
The season started with the Australian Grand Prix, won by Valtteri Bottas from second on the grid in dominant fashion, finishing 20 seconds ahead of Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton who himself only narrowly beat Red Bull's Max Verstappen to second.[70] Verstappen's third place marked the first podium for a Honda powered car in over 10 years, last achieved at the 2008 British Grand Prix.[71]

The second race of the season was the Bahrain Grand Prix. Ferrari topped every practice session and then went on go to lock out the front row in qualifying. Charles Leclerc earned the first pole position of his career by setting a lap time 3 tenths of a second quicker than his team mate Sebastian Vettel. In the race, Leclerc fell down to 3rd in the 1st corner behind Vettel and the championship leader Valtteri Bottas. However, he then climbed back up the order to take the lead despite being told by his team, Ferrari, not to overtake his team mate.

Late in the race, Leclerc was leading by around 10 seconds before his engine developed an issue, allowing Lewis Hamilton to take the race lead. A few laps later, Valtteri Bottas also overtook Leclerc pushing him down to 3rd and making it a Mercedes 1–2. Just as it was looking like Max Verstappen was going to overtake Leclerc as well, a safety car was called out due to both of the Renault cars of Nico Hülkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo having engine and power issues at turn 1 and 3. The race finished behind the safety car for the eighth time in F1 history.[72] As a result, Lewis Hamilton won, Valtteri Bottas came second, and Charles Leclerc came home third for his first podium and Ferrari's first podium of the season. After the race Valtteri Bottas led the Drivers' Championship by 1 point over team mate Lewis Hamilton.

At round 3 in China, Hamilton led away at the start and won the Grand Prix, resulting in him taking the championship lead by 6 points over his teammate Bottas, whilst Mercedes extended their lead over Ferrari, becoming the first team since Williams in 1992 to start a season with 3 consecutive 1–2 finishes.[73] Pierre Gasly set the fastest lap and finshed in sixth, after pitting with 3 laps remaining as Ferrari got their second podium of the season with Vettel.

At the next round in Baku, it was a different story. In the first practice session, George Russell's Williams made contact with the drain cover down the straight on the floor after Charles Leclerc, who was fastest in the session because it was suspended, also made contact with the drain cover but with his left front tyre. The next two practice sessions were all about Leclerc, being fastest in all three practice sessions. In qualifying, Pierre Gasly was fastest in the first session but did not set a time in the second because it was irrelevant since he would start in the pitlane for not stopping for the weighbridge in one practice session. Charles Leclerc, the favourite for pole, timed 2nd in the first session and was 5th in the second session, but crashed at turn 8 in the same session, locking up his tires and missing the apex, going into the barrier. This meant that Leclerc's qualifying was over, at least physically; he did make it into the final session but did not set a time as a result of the crash. Valterri Bottas took pole ahead of championship leader Hamilton. Kimi Räikkönen originally qualified ninth, but started from the pitlane after his car failed a front wing deflection test and joined Red Bull driver Gasly in starting in the pitlane as his teammate, Antonio Giovinazzi, received a ten-place grid penalty for using a third control electronic in his power unit and started 17th. In the race, Lewis Hamilton did get the better start, but Bottas had better pace and stayed in the lead. Charles Leclerc, who started 8th, was 4th after losing two spots in the opening lap and was getting steady pace with leader Bottas in those fresh set of medium tyres as a result of his crash during qualifying. After Bottas, Hamilton, and Sebastian Vettel pitted for tyres, Charles Leclerc took the lead and led the race for a long time. Eventually, Bottas retook the lead from Leclerc who had not pitted yet at that time. A virtual safety car was deployed after an incident with Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat at a runoff area. Bottas won the race by 1.5 seconds over teammate Hamilton and took a 1-point lead in the Drivers' Championship. Charles Leclerc took his 2nd fastest lap after pitting with less than 5 laps remaining as his teammate, Sebastian Vettel, took 3rd place for the team.

Scoring system
Further information: List of Formula One World Championship points scoring systems

Points are awarded to the top ten classified drivers in every race, using the following system: In order for full points to be awarded, the race winner must complete at least 75% of the scheduled race distance. Half points are awarded if the race winner completes at least two laps but less than 75% of the race distance.[note 5] The fastest lap point is only awarded if the driver is classified in the top 10 places. In the event of a tie at the conclusion of the championship, a count-back system is used as a tie-breaker, with a driver's/constructor's best result used to decide the standings.[note 6]

World Drivers' Championship standings
Notes:
 * – Driver did not finish the Grand Prix, but was classified as he completed more than 90% of the race distance.

World Constructors' Championship standings
Notes:
 * – Driver did not finish the Grand Prix, but was classified as he completed more than 90% of the race distance.