2017 Formula One World Championship (Alt)

This is a fictional account of an alternative version of the 2017 F1 season. For the real 2017 season, see the 2017 Formula One World Championship

The **2017 FIA Formula One World Championship** was the 71st season of Formula One motor racing. It featured the 68th Formula One World Championship, a motor racing championship for Formula One cars which is recognised by the sport's governing body, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), as the highest class of competition for open-wheel racing cars. Teams and drivers competed in twenty Grands Prix—starting in Australia on 26 March and ending in Abu Dhabi on 26 November—for the World Drivers' and World Constructors' championships.

## Teams and drivers

The following teams and drivers took part in the 2017 season. Teams competed with tyres supplied by Pirelli.

### Free practice drivers

Six drivers drove as free practice drivers over the course of the season. Alfonso Celis Jr. and George Russell both served as free practice driver for Force India. Antonio Giovinazzi, Sergey Sirotkin, Charles Leclerc and Sean Gelael served as free practice drivers for Haas, Renault, Sauber and Scuderia Toro Rosso respectively.

### Team changes

**Manor -> Alfa Romeo.** Just Racing, the parent company of MRT, went into administration in January 2017. The team was purchased by Ferrari and rebranded as Alfa Romeo.

Toro Rosso returned to using Renault power units (badged with their own name) in 2017, having used 2015-specification Ferrari power units in 2016. The team had previously used Renault power units in 2014 and 2015 before the relationship between Renault and sister team Red Bull Racing broke down, prompting Toro Rosso to seek out an alternative supplier.

### Driver changes

**Kevin Magnussen: Renault -> Haas.** Kevin Magnussen turned down an offer to stay with Renault and instead signed a deal with Haas to drive alongside Romain Grosjean.

**Esteban Ocon: Haas -> Force India**

**Nico Hülkenberg: Force India -> Renault.**

**Felipe Massa: Williams -> retirement**

**Lance Stroll -> Williams.**

**Pascal Wehrlein -> Sauber.**

**Jenson Button: Brawn -> Mercedes**

**Marcus Ericsson: Mercedes -> Sauber**

**Bruno Senna: Sauber -> Brawn.**

**Antonio Giovinazzi -> Alfa Romeo.**

## Season calendar

The following twenty Grands Prix took place in 2017:

### Calendar changes

* The Baku event was renamed, becoming the first Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The previous race at the Baku City Circuit ran under the European Grand Prix title in 2016. The date of the race was changed to avoid conflicting with the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which had been a source of controversy at the 2016 European Grand Prix.
* The Chinese and Bahrain Grands Prix swapped places in the schedule for the 2017 season. The Chinese Grand Prix became the second round of the 2017 season and was scheduled to take place on 9 April. This marked the earliest start ever in the Chinese Grand Prix history.
* The German Grand Prix was removed from the calendar after the owners of the Hockenheimring and Nürburgring circuits were unable to agree to commercial terms with Formula One Management.

## Changes

### General changes

* In September 2016, Liberty Media purchased a minority stake in the sport from CVC Capital Partners, and completed the purchase ahead of the 2017 season, with the long-term goal of adopting a model similar to that used by the U.S. National Football League and Major League Baseball, with teams entitled to purchase a stake in the sport. The commercial operation of the sport underwent a restructuring in January 2017, with Bernie Ecclestone leaving his position as chief executive of Formula One Group after forty years in the role. Former team principal Ross Brawn—who won World Championships with Ferrari and his own eponymous team—was appointed as managing director in Ecclestone's stead.
* With the acquisition of the sport by Liberty Media, teams were given more control over creating and uploading content to social media. Under Bernie Ecclestone's previous management, all footage filmed in the paddock was automatically controlled by Formula One Management with tight restrictions on the release of content.
* As a response to widespread changes in the technical regulations expected to increase cornering speeds by up to 40 km/h (24.9 mph), the FIA requested that every circuit on the calendar undergo revisions to update safety features.

### Technical regulations

* The technical regulations governing bodywork design were revised for 2017, with the objective of improving lap times by four to five seconds over the 2016 generation of cars. These changes include:
	+ Overall width of the car increased from 1,800 to 2,000 mm (71 to 79 in).
	+ Bodywork width increased from 1,400 to 1,600 mm (55 to 63 in).
	+ Front wing width increased back from 1,650 to 1,800 mm (65 to 71 in).
	+ Rear wing lowered by 150 mm (6 in), from 950 to 800 mm (37 to 31 in), and moved backwards by 200 mm (8 in).
	+ Rear diffuser height increased from 125 to 175 mm (5 to 7 in) and width increased from 1,000 to 1,050 mm (39 to 41 in), and leading edge moved from the rear wheel centre line to 175 mm (7 in) in front of it.
	+ The leading edge of the barge boards was brought forward to allow teams more freedom in controlling airflow.
	+ Tyre width increased by 25% to allow cars to generate more mechanical grip. Front tyre width increased from 245 to 305 mm (9.6 to 12.0 in) and rear tyre width increased from 325 to 405 mm (12.8 to 15.9 in). The tyre diameters (front and rear) were also slightly increased from 660 to 670 mm (26.0 to 26.4 in).
	+ The minimum weight of the car including the driver was raised by 26 kg (57 lb), from 702 to 728 kg (1,548 to 1,605 lb).
	+ Maximum fuel consumed increased from 100 to 105 kg (220 to 231 lb) to account for the heavier, wider, and faster cornering cars.
* 2017 saw teams adopt the "T-wing", a thin T-shaped wing mounted to the bodywork above and forward of the rear wing to generate additional downforce. Its creation prompted concerns about the use of moveable aerodynamic devices—forbidden under the rules—after several T-wings were observed to be vibrating during pre-season testing. However, the stewards chose to review the use of T-wings on a case-by-case basis rather than issue a technical directive.
* The token system used to regulate power unit development—where the power unit was divided into individual areas, and each area assigned a points value with development of these areas deducting points from a manufacturer's overall points quota—will be abandoned.
* Restrictions are to be placed on the dimensions, weight and the materials used to build each individual component of the power unit.
* Teams are restricted to four power units per season regardless of the number of Grands Prix in the season. Previous seasons had included a provision for a fifth power unit if the number of Grands Prix in a season exceeded twenty; from 2017, this provision is to be abandoned.
* The cost of a power unit supply is reduced by €1 million in 2017 ahead of a further reduction in 2018.
* Cameras are no longer permitted to be mounted on stalks located on the nose of the car.
* Pirelli continued to be Formula One's sole tyre partner and supplier in 2017, beating out a bid by Michelin to provide tyres for the championship. Continuing from previous seasons, the company offered a range of seven different tyre compounds, five for dry and two for wet conditions. While both wet compounds are available for every Grand Prix, only a choice of three dry compounds are made available to teams for a single race weekend. As in the previous season, teams are allowed to choose ten out of thirteen sets of tyres for a race weekend freely from the three compounds made available by Pirelli. However, due to limited testing time for the new compounds during the winter break, Pirelli chose to provide teams with a mandatory number of sets for the first five races.

### Sporting regulations

* Under rules introduced in 2015, grid penalties for exceeding a driver's quota of power unit components carried over from one race to the next if the penalty could not be fully served when issued. When this carry-over system was abandoned, teams could build up a reserve of spare components by introducing several at once while only serving a single grid penalty. From 2017, teams will only be able to use one new component over their quota per race, with any additional components incurring further penalties. This change prevents teams from "stockpiling" spare power unit components.
* Power unit suppliers will have an "obligation to supply", mandating that they supply power units to any team, should a team end up without an agreement. The rule was introduced following the breakdown in the relationship between Renault and their customer teams Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso at the end of the 2015 season that left both teams in limbo until deals could be arranged.
* In the event that a race is declared wet and must start behind the safety car, the grid will follow normal starting procedures once conditions are declared satisfactory for racing. Drivers will line up on the grid for a standing start once the safety car pulls into pit lane, although any laps completed behind the safety car will still count towards the total race distance.
* The FIA abandoned the rule governing driving standards under braking, in lieu of an all-encompassing rule against manoeuvres that could endanger other drivers. The rule was introduced in 2016 amid criticism of Max Verstappen for his habit of changing direction before braking late to defend his position, which led to concerns that such aggressive defensive driving could trigger an accident.
* Starting from the Spanish Grand Prix, teams were required to display a driver's name and racing number on the external bodywork of the car in such a way that they are clearly visible to spectators. Teams have the option to use the official timing screen abbreviation; for example HAM (Hamilton) and VET (Vettel).

## Results and standings

### Scoring system

Points are awarded to the top ten classified finishers in every race, using the following structure:

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 less than 75% of the race distance provided that at least two laps are completed. 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 best result used to decide the standings.

### World Constructors' Championship standings

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 Pos.