page_title: 2010 Formula One World Championship
section_title: Rule changes
hierarchical_section_title: 2010 Formula One World Championship / Changes / Rule changes
caption_attribution_description: Comparison of the front tyre widths from 2009 and 2010
context_page_description: The 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 64th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. Red Bull Racing won its maiden Constructors' Championship with a one-two finish in Brazil, while Red Bull Racing's Sebastian Vettel won the Drivers' Championship after winning the final race of the season. In doing so, Vettel became the youngest World Drivers' Champion in the sport's sixty-year history. Vettel's victory in the championship came after a dramatic season finale at Abu Dhabi where three other drivers could also have won the championship – Vettel's Red Bull Racing teammate Mark Webber, Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and McLaren's Lewis Hamilton.
  This was Bridgestone's final season as the sole tyre supplier in Formula One as the company announced that it would not renew its contract at the end of the season. After several months of deliberation, Pirelli was chosen as the tyre supplier for the 2011 season at the FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting in Geneva, in June 2010.
  The points system was changed, with 25 points being awarded for first place, 18 for second, 15 for third, then 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 and 1 for fourth to tenth.
context_section_description: Refuelling during the race was abolished for the first season since 1993. Despite the resolution over the budget cap and the decision for 2010 to fall back to the 2009 rules, FOTA expressed interest in a refuelling ban as it represents a way to cut costs.
  To accommodate the extra teams, the maximum number of cars allowed to take part in a race increased from 24 to 26 cars. Formula One Management offered financial support to all new teams for 2010, in the form of $10m (£6.25m, €6.8m) along with the free transportation of two chassis and 10,000 kg (22,049 lbs) of freight to each race. The increased number of teams now requires garages to be allocated on an equal basis at each Grand Prix.
  Teams had to homologate certain parts of the car, including the driver's survival cell, roll structures, all impact structures and the front and rear wheels, meaning they couldn't be modified over the course of the season without written approval from the FIA on safety or reliability grounds. The minimum car weight increased from 605 kg to 620 kg (1,334 lbs to 1,367 lbs) to better accommodate heavier drivers with KERS units, despite FOTA's agreement not to use the system.
  The qualifying system changed to accommodate the extra cars: 7 cars drop out of the first qualifying session, 7 from the second session and 10 cars will challenge for pole position in the third session. The third session was to be run in a low-fuel configuration due to the refuelling ban, although these drivers must start the race on the set of tyres used in the third session. In the event that a tyre is damaged in qualifying, the FIA technical delegate will assess the extent of the damage and may allow the car to switch tyres to a set he deems to be safe.
  Drivers were given eleven sets of tyres over the course of a weekend, reduced from the fourteen sets in 2009. Three of these sets were for practice only and were returned before the start of qualifying, regardless of whether they are used or not. The front tyres were narrowed from 270 mm (11 in) to 245 mm (9.6 in), in order to improve the balance of grip between the front and rear. Wheel covers and rim heaters were banned, and tyre blankets were only allowed to act on the tyre's outer surface.
  A new points system was ratified for 2010, in response to the increased grid. Since 2003, points had been awarded to the top eight finishers, on a 10–8–6–5–4–3–2–1. The 2010 system awards the top ten classified finishers on a 25–18–15–12–10–8–6–4–2–1 basis.
  The stewarding system had a fixed pool of stewards to draw from for each race, including former racing drivers, instead of a rotating line-up. This was to make the stewarding process more transparent, following recent controversies involving the stewards. Previously, stewards were only able to issue twenty-five-second penalties for infractions that occurred too late in the race for drivers to receive a normal penalty, but for 2010 they had the power to hand out twenty-second penalties to drivers who would have received a drive-through penalty and thirty-second penalties to those who would have received a stop-and-go penalty. A penalty had to be completed within two laps of the issuing rather than the three of previous years now.
  Replacement drivers were permitted to one day of testing, provided they have not participated in an F1 race in the last two calendar years. This was in response to several drivers in 2009 competing in their début weekend with no experience of their F1 car. Teams are also allowed to run a replacement driver in the Friday practice sessions.
  Powered devices that lift any part of the car during the pit stop were banned, and to prevent teams from releasing a car into the path of an oncoming driver in pit lane, the crew had to wait until the oncoming driver that is within a 25 m (82 ft) zone either side of the pit box has passed.
  The Concorde Agreement, which governs Formula One, was renewed at the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix. Several cost-cutting proposals were included, such as a limit on the number of aerodynamic upgrades permitted over the course of a seaso
caption: The front tyres changed from 270 mm (11 in) to 245 mm (9.6 in)
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