2023 Formula 1.5 Season

The 2023 Formula 1.5 season is the 74th season of the Formula 1.5 World Championship. The season started at the 5th of March with the Bahrain Grand Prix and is expected to end on 26th November with the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Drivers and teams compete for the titles of World Drivers' Champion and World Constructors' Champion, respectively. Lando Norris, driving for McLaren- Mercedes, is the reigning Drivers' Champion, while Alpine are the reigning Constructors Champions.

Lando Norris won his third title, successfully defending his crown from the previous 2 years, becoming only the second driver in F1.5 history to win 3 in a row (Nico Rosberg 2009-2011). McLaren took the constructors title.

## Entries

The teams and drivers for the 2023 season were announced earlier than usual due to a clear gap in the pace of teams. Ahead of the Miami Grand Prix it was announced that for the first time since 2009 F1.5 would consist of less than 7 teams with Aston Martin being removed from the roster.

### Team Changes

* Honda returned as a named engine supplier to AlphaTauri, with the engine being badged as Honda- RBPT
* Aston Martin were promoted to F1.0
* The excluded teams are Red Bull. Ferrari, Mercedes and Aston Martin.

### Driver Changes

* Fernando Alonso left Alpine to join Aston Martin which ended up with him being promoted to F1.0.
* Lance Stroll joined F1.0 for the first time in his career
* Mick Schumacher left Haas after two seasons
* Nico Hulkenberg made a full time return to F1.5 at Haas, replacing Schumacher
* Daniel Ricciardo was dropped by McLaren after two years
* Oscar Piastri made his F1.5 debut at McLaren, replacing the outgoing Ricciardo
* Pierre Gasly joined Alpine, replacing Alonso.
* Nyck De Vries made his full time F1.5 debut with AlphaTauri, replacing the outgoing Pierre Gasly.
* Nicholas Latifi was dropped by Williams.
* Logan Sargeant replaced Latifi at Williams.

### Mid-season changees

Nyck De Vries was let ago at before the Hungarian Grand Prix, with Daniel Ricciardo being his replacement until the end of the 2023 season. Ricciardo broke his rist at the Dutch Grand Prix and therefore withrdrew from the event and from the next few races, he was replaced by Liam Lawson until round 18.

## Calendar

The 2023 calendar contains twenty-three Grands Prix. The Azerbaijan, Austrian, Belgian, Qatar, United States and São Paulo Grands Prix feature the sprint format.

### Calendar Expansion and Changes

* The Qatar Grand Prix is scheduled to return to the calendar, after last being held in 2021. The Grand Prix, along with the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, was initially planned to be moved to a new purpose-built circuit, before both being retained in Lusail and Jeddah, respectively.
* The Las Vegas Grand Prix is due to make its debut, with the race planned to be held in November on a new street track across the Las Vegas Strip. The last Grand Prix held in Las Vegas was the 1982 Caesars Palace Grand Prix. Three races will be held in the United States in the same season for the first time since 1982.
* The Russian Grand Prix was under contract to feature on the 2023 calendar. It was originally meant to switch its venue from the Sochi Autodrom to Igora Drive, in Novozhilovo, located about 54 kilometres (34 mi) from Saint Petersburg. However, the Grand Prix had its contract terminated in response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.
* The French Grand Prix will not feature on the 2023 calendar although the promoters of the Grand Prix stated that they would aim for a rotational race deal by sharing its slot with other Grands Prix.
* The Chinese Grand Prix was initially due to be part of the calendar after last being held in 2019, but it was cancelled for the fourth consecutive year due to the ongoing difficulties presented by the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. It was not replaced.
* The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, which was scheduled to take place on 21 May as the sixth round of the championship, was cancelled on 17 May due to flooding in the area.

## Regulation Changes

### Technichal Regulations

#### Reducing porpoising

Following large amounts of porpoising during 2022, the FIA introduced changes to the regulations to limit excessive porpoising. Floor edges were to be raised by 15 millimetres (0.59 in) and the throat of the diffuser were also to be raised by 10 millimetres (0.39 in). The diffuser edge stiffness was increased and an additional sensor was mandated to monitor the porpoising phenomenon more effectively. Lateral floor deflection tests also became more stringent.

#### Changes to roll hoop design regulations

Following Zhou Guanyu's crash at the 2022 British Grand Prix, a rounded top is now required on the roll hoop, which reduces the chance of it digging into the ground during an accident; a change was made to ensure a minimum height for the point of application of the homologation test; a new physical homologation test was introduced where the load pushes the roll hoop in the forward direction; new tests were defined to be carried out by calculation.

#### Mirror size

The size of the side-mirrors was increased from 150 mm × 50 mm (5.9 in × 2.0 in) to 200 mm × 60 mm (7.9 in × 2.4 in) in an effort to improve rear visibility.

#### Weight and fuel temperature

The allowed weight of cars was set to be decreased from 798 kilograms (1,759 lb) to 796 kg (1,755 lb). However, this initially planned change was later abandoned mainly due to the introduction of heavier Pirelli tyres. The allowed weight of power units was increased for 2023 from 150 kg (331 lb) to 151 kg (333 lb). The minimum fuel temperatures has been changed to 10 °C (50 °F), down from 20 °C (68 °F) in 2022, or 10 °C (18 °F) below ambient temperature when cars are operating outside designated garage areas.

#### Slot gap separators on front wing

The FIA initially altered the wording of the aerodynamic regulations after Mercedes produced a front wing which exploited a potential loop-hole in the regulations. Mercedes introduced slot gap separators on their front wings at the 2022 United States Grand Prix, although they did not intend to run them at the event. Rival teams argued that the new front wing was illegal. Mercedes argued that the regulations allowed slot-gap separators as they were "primarily" there for "mechanical, structural or measurement reasons", and therefore any secondary aerodynamic benefit would be allowed. The FIA ruled that the brackets were illegal at the following 2022 Mexico City Grand Prix. The wording of the regulation was altered so that the slot gap separator brackets must perform a structural role, and the sentence explaining that the primary purpose can not be aerodynamic has been removed. This rule change was intended to outlaw slot gap separators. However, this rule change had the opposite effect, as it means that slot gap separators are legal if they provide structural support, how much aerodynamic benefit they provide no longer has any bearing on their legality.

### Sporting Regulations

With the intention of making tyre usage more sustainable in the future, Formula 1.5 will trial a reduction in allocated tyre sets from 13 to 11 at two races in 2023. At these races the use of tyres in qualifying will be mandated as hard in Q1, medium in Q2 and soft in Q3, assuming that the weather is dry. Teams are usually free to choose which tyre compound they run during qualifying.

Pirelli announced a change to the available tyre compounds for 2023, as a new compound was inserted between the old C1 and C2 compounds. This change provides teams with more flexible strategy options after criticism towards the original C1 compound for a large drop in grip compared to the other tyres. Additionally, following criticism over the raceability of its full wet tyre in previous seasons, Pirelli has produced a new full wet tyre in the hope of reducing the need for safety car and red flags in wet race conditions. This new full wet tyre is scheduled to be in service from the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix onwards. The sport will also aim to trial wet weather-specific bodywork designed to improve visibility and reduce spray during 2023 with the aim of fully introducing it by the start of the 2024 championship at latest.

There were only three days of pre-season testing, a reduction from 2022 when there were six days. During the F1 Commission held in February 2023 it was decided to relax the restrictions on team radio communications.

#### Sprint events

The sprint format is due to be run at six Grands Prix from this season onwards, compared to three in 2021 and 2022. During Sprint weekends, teams will be given greater scope with which parts they are permitted to change under parc fermé conditions.

A new weekend format for sprint events (as compared to that used in 2021 and 2022) consists of a single practice session on Friday, followed by the qualifying session which determines the grid for the Sunday's Grand Prix. On Saturday, a new qualifying session called "sprint shootout", in place of the old second practice session, is run, determining the grid for the sprint. The Grand Prix (the main race) takes place on Sunday. The new sprint shootout qualifying is run shorter than the traditional qualifying: SQ1 is 12 minutes, SQ2 is 10 minutes, and SQ3 is 8 minutes. In addition, new tyres are mandatory for each phase, with a single set of mediums for each of SQ1 and SQ2, and a single set of softs for SQ3.

#### Points awarded for shortened races

The 2022 sporting regulations only specified that races ended early by a red flag used a points system that gradually increased points awarded based on the completed race distance. This caused confusion at the 2022 Japanese Grand Prix, where full points were awarded despite less than 75% of the scheduled distance being completed, as the race ended under green flag conditions. The wording of the regulation has now been amended: all races where less than 75% of the race distance is completed now use the sliding scale system to determine the points being given, regardless of whether they finish under red or green flag conditions. This rule change satisfied the original intention of the gradual scale points system when it was introduced in 2022.

#### Enactment of political gestures

The FIA's International Sporting Code (ISC) was updated to include stricter controls on drivers and teams making "political, religious and personal statements". Article 12.2.1n was introduced stating that drivers and teams must receive the FIA's permission before conducting a political statement or protest and that any protest without permission would be considered a breach of the FIA's neutrality rules. The FIA stated the update to the ISC was done to move it in line with the ethical principles of political neutrality laid out by the International Olympic Committee, which gave formal recognition to the FIA in 2013 through the Olympic Charter. FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem stated that the rule change was made to ensure that the FIA's platform was not used to help fulfil drivers' "private personal agenda".

Following concerns from drivers and teams on how these rules would affect freedom of expression and the ability of drivers and their teams to express views about what they believe to be a worthwhile cause, the FIA clarified in February 2023 that drivers would be prohibited on making political or religious statement on the following: politically sensitive persons living or dead, military or political conflicts, separatist movements, national governments, any statements referencing a key religious figure or any statement that could be deemed offensive to the religious beliefs of the hosting country. Stewards at each Grand Prix meeting will be required to adjudge whether a driver has breached FIA neutrality rules on a case-by-case basis. Drivers remain free to share their opinions regarding political or religious topics without facing potential sanctions on their personal social media platforms, in an official FIA press conference providing it is in response to a media question or outside of a race weekend. Any driver looking for a special exemption to from the FIA to make a statement that may contravene the neutrality rules must notify the FIA four weeks in advance of an event.

#### Relaxation of COVID-19 protocols

The FIA took further steps to relax COVID-19 safety protocols that were first introduced in 2020. This relaxation of restrictions included the removal of the need for proof of vaccination for those working in the paddock. The FIA previously dropped the requirements for mandatory face masking and COVID-testing in 2022.

### Financial regulations

The budget cap has been reduced to 135 million US dollars. It was originally set at US$140 million in 2022 before being increased to US$142.5 million to account for inflation. It was initially agreed by the F1 Commission to increase the cost cap by US$1.2 million to account for additional costs caused by the increased number of races. The commission subsequently agreed to adjust to the level of future cost cap increases to US$1.8 million per race when a calendar is over twenty-one races to account for the greater costs of flyaway races compared to European races. Teams have also agreed to give the FIA easier access to factories when cost cap audits are being carried out in order to more easily ensure that teams adhere to the cost cap. A winter shutdown of factories was introduced alongside the existing summer shutdown.

#### Technical directive – "special project" divisions

Some teams operate "applied technology" divisions which design for and consult on projects outside of Formula 1.5. Since these projects are not related to the teams' Formula 1.5 operations, their expenditure falls outside of the cost cap regulations. Between the Canadian and Austrian Grands Prix, the FIA introduced a technical directive that prevents teams from transferring intellectual property from their "special project" divisions to their Formula One operations cost-free, closing a loophole.