1990
Large mirrors and quick release steering wheel made mandatory, all marshals and medical staff must practice driver extrication exercises.
1991
More stringent testing of survival cell by FIA including seat belts, fuel tanks and rollbar.
1992
Yet more exhaustive testing of survival cell including rear impact testing, height of kerbing lowered, minimum width of pit lane increased to 12 metres, pit lane entry chicane mandatory, safety car introduced, points scoring system overhauled, win now secures 10 points and all results to count instead of best 11 scores (in effect till the end of 1991).
1993
Rear tyre width reduced from 18 inches to 15 inches to reduce the grip and so the speed of the cars, CVT (continuously variable transmission) banned before ever appearing at a race, end of race crowd control measures implemented, 50 km/h speed lane restriction during free practice, head rest area increased from 800mm2 to 4000mm2, rear wing height reduced from 1000 mm to 900 mm, distance of front end plates from flat bottom increased from 25 mm to 40 mm, fuel used restricted to that available to the general public.
1994
Ban on electronic driver aids such as active suspension, traction control, launch control, ABS, 4 wheel steering at the beginning of the season, mid race refueling allowed for the first time since 1983, post Imola sweeping changes introduced to slow cars down, between the Spanish Grand Prix and the German Grand Prix these changes are phased in and include a reduction in the height of the rear wing of 10 cm, an increase in the height of the front wing, no front wing trailing assemblies to extend behind front wheel, a 10 mm wooden plank fitted to the under tray (permitted to be worn by no more than 1 mm by the race end), a ban on rear wing assemblies extending beyond the rear axle line to sidestep the new wing restrictions, depressurising the engine airbox to reduce power, minimum headrest thickness of 75 mm introduced, more stringent fire extinguisher regulations and driver helmet criteria implemented,a pit lane speed restriction of 80 km/h in practice and 120 km/h in race conditions introduced. also for first two rounds the parade lap was to be completed behind safety car (abandoned from Imola onwards), pit spectator area to be fire shielded, 27 corners identified as very high risk and as a result changes to circuit layouts implemented to remove or modify these parts of the track.
1995
A reduction in engine capacity from 3500 cc to 3000 cc to further slow cars, longer cockpit openings to reduce chance of drivers head hitting it in the event of an accident, survival cell side impact tests introduced, obligatory automatic neutral selection when engine stops, increase in length chassis must extend beyond drivers feet from 15 cm to 30 cm, frontal impact test speed increased from 11 m/s to 12 m/s, kerbs made smoother, pit wall debris shield installed, 3 inch safety straps mandatory, super licence criteria made more stringent.
1996
Front wing end plates to be no more than 10 mm thick to reduce damage to tyres of another car in the event of collision, all harness release levers must point downwards, to qualify for a race all cars must now be within 107% of pole time, car numbers now allocated on the basis of previous seasons performance, Friday qualifying abandoned but number of free practice sessions increased from two to three and number of laps allocated each day increased from 23 to 30, standardisation of all FIA safety cars and medical cars, more fire drills for marshals, starting procedure improved, data storage unit to be mounted within survival cell.
1997
Test tracks now require FIA approval and supervision, kerbing standardised, bolted tyre wall construction obligatory, cars to carry FIA ADR (accident data recorder) to analyse success of implemented safety measures, FIA approval required for all chief medical officers and medical centres, safety car made more powerful and may now be used for wet weather starts, accident intervention plan revised.
1998
Narrow track era begins in Formula One, width of car reduced from 2 metres to 1.8 metres with teams now running rubber with grooves in (4 on the rear and 3 on the front) to reduce the speed of the cars, asymmetric braking banned, X-wings banned, single fuel bladder mandatory, refueling connector must be covered, cockpit dimensions increased, side impact test now to use 100% more energy, tyre barrier effectiveness increased, pit lane must now have 100 m of straight running before first pit garage, increased use of pit lane lights alongside flags.
1999
Number of grooves on front tyres increased from three to four, flexible wings banned, pit lane shielding standardised, some run off areas to have asphalt instead of sand traps, at least four medical intervention cars and an FIA doctor car required, ADR required to be in operation during testing, wheels must be tethered to car to reduce the risk of launched components during an accident, rear and lateral headrest assembly made one piece and quick release, engine oil breathers must vent into engine air intake, extractable driver's seat madatory, frontal impact test speed increased to 13 m/s.
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2001
Traction control allowed again as FIA admit they are unable to police whether teams are using the system effectively, use of beryllium alloys in chassis or engine construction banned.
2002
Team orders banned after Rubens Barrichello hands victory to Michael Schumacher at final corner of the Austrian Grand Prix.
2003
Bi directional telemetry banned HANS (head and neck safety) system mandatory, change to point scoring system, points now being awarded down to 8th place, actual points scored now to run 10,8,6,5,4,3,2,1 from 1st to 8th place, testing allowed on a Friday of a race meeting in exchange for a reduction of testing mileage allowed outside of the Grand Prix calendar to make it more affordable for smaller teams, changes to qualifying session with only one flying lap now allowed for grid position, cars may not be refueled between final qualifying and the race start.
2004
Engines required to last a whole race meeting, any engine change to result in 10 place grid penalty, minimum weight set at 605 kg during qualifying and at no less than 600 kg at all other times (including driver and fuel), pit lane speed limited to 100 km/h at all times, each driver must select his wet and dry weather tyre compounds before the start of the race, minimum size of engine cover and rear wing end plates set to maximise advertising space, launch control banned for the second time, fully automatic transmission banned.
2005
Rear diffuser size reduced to limit downforce, all engines now required to last two race weekends, qualifying format changed to two aggregate times from Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning to count towards grid positions (this format lasted until the European GP when qualifying reverted back to a driver's fastest single lap to count from Saturday afternoon qualifying), further changes to dimensions of front and rear wings and nose of car to make overtaking easier, restriction on tyre changes during qualifying and the race itself, if a driver stalls on the grid after the parade lap the other cars will now complete a second lap whilst the stalled vehicle is removed, in the event of a red flag the two hour race clock will no longer freeze between race sessions.
2006
Only 14 sets of tyres allowed all weekend (seven dry, four wets and three extreme wets), in race tyre changing permitted again, qualifying format changed to three 15 minute shoot outs where the slowest cars are eliminated in the first two sessions leaving the 10 quickest to start with a clean slate and to go for pole position, the final session was reduced from 20 minutes to 15 minutes from the French Grand Prix onwards, Saturday free practice increased from 45 minutes to an hour in length.Engine capacity limited to 2400 cc and number of cylinders allowed reduced to eight in an attempt to reduce horsepower, restriction in the use of non ferrous materials in engine construction along with limiting the number of valves per cylinder to four, all engines must be of a 'V' configuration and at an angle of 90 degrees,
2007
Tuned mass damper system banned, rev limit of 19,000 rpm introduced, rear wing structure strengthened to prevent flexing, increased strength required from rear crash structure, single tyre supplier (Bridgestone) after withdrawal of Michelin, revised tyre regulations mean drivers must use both hard and soft compound tyre during the course of race (soft compound tyres are identified by a white stripe in one of the front tyre grooves), engine development frozen until the end of 2008 to cut costs, further restrictions to regulations means no teams may run a 3rd car on Friday, both sessions on Friday extended to 90 minutes in length, engine changes on first day of practice no longer subject to grid place penalty, pit lane restrictions during any period the safety car is on the track, annual testing limited to 30,000 km to reduce costs.
2008
Traction control banned for the second and final time by means of all teams using a standard ECU (electronic control unit) to eliminate the possibility of teams concealing the technology within their own engine management systems, strict limits placed on the amount of CFD and wind tunnel testing allowed each year.
2009
Engines to last three races (with a rev limiter set at 18,000 rpm to assist in this), banning of almost all aerodynamic devices other than front and rear wing, slick tyres allowed once more(keeping to narrow track dimensions), engines must now last three whole races, reduction of rear wing width from 1000 mm to 750 mm and in increase in height from 800 mm to 950 mm, reduction in the ground clearance of front wing from 150 mm to 50 mm and an increase in width from 1400 mm to 1800 mm, rear diffuser to be longer and higher, variable front aerodynamic devices permitted (with limited in car control by driver) and the introduction of KERS (kinetic energy recovery system)to store some of the energy generated under braking and convert it into a temporary horsepower increase of around 80 bhp that can be used by the drivers for overtaking.
2010
Drastic cost cutting measures to be introduced including a ban on testing during the season, race engines to last four whole races, tyre warmers banned, agreement with teams about reducing the number of staff employed, rumours of a return to turbocharged engines, if not in 2010 then in the near future, driver with most wins to win the title and an optional 30 million a year budget cap with teams following this having more freedom in the aerodynamic design of the car, no engine rev limiter and no restrictions on in season engine development.
