2017 Season

Driver changes

Nico Rosberg retired from Formula One in December 2016, five days after winning his first World Championship at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. It is the first season since 1994 in which the reigning champion does not compete. Valtteri Bottas joins Mercedes as his replacement, following a $10 million buyout by Mercedes from Williams. Felipe Massa, who had intended to retire at the end of 2016, unretires and extends his Williams contract by a year to replace Bottas, partnered by 2016 European Formula 3 champion Lance Stroll, who makes his Formula One début.

Esteban Ocon steps up from MRT to Force India, filling the vacancy left by Nico Hülkenberg’s move to Renault. Kevin Magnussen turned down an offer to remain at Renault and joins Haas, replacing Esteban Gutiérrez, whose contract was not renewed; Gutiérrez moves to Formula E. Stoffel Vandoorne joins McLaren as a full-time driver, replacing Jenson Button, who takes a sabbatical from racing while remaining as team reserve. Pascal Wehrlein moves from MRT to Sauber, replacing Felipe Nasr.

Team changes

Just Racing, the parent company of MRT, went into administration in January 2017 and closed entirely in March after administrators were unable to find a buyer. Sauber runs year-old Ferrari power units in 2017, mirroring the arrangement Ferrari had with Toro Rosso in 2016. Toro Rosso returns to Renault power units (branded under their own name) after using 2015-specification Ferrari units in 2016.

Liberty Media completed its purchase of Formula One from CVC Capital Partners ahead of the season. Bernie Ecclestone left as chief executive of the Formula One Group after forty years; Ross Brawn — who won World Championships with Ferrari and his own Brawn GP team — is appointed managing director. Teams are given greater control over creating and uploading content to social media under the new ownership.

Calendar

Twenty races take place, running from Australia on 26 March to Abu Dhabi on 26 November. The Baku City Circuit event is renamed the Azerbaijan Grand Prix; the 2016 race at the same venue ran under the European Grand Prix title, and the date is shifted to avoid a clash with the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Germany is dropped after the Nürburgring withdrew from the event-sharing arrangement with the Hockenheimring; the Hockenheimring was unwilling to host annually due to financial difficulties and could not agree commercial terms with Formula One Management.

Regulation changes

The technical regulations have been substantially rewritten for 2017, targeting a four-to-five-second lap time improvement and cornering speeds up to 40 km/h higher. Car width increases from 1,800 to 2,000 mm; front tyre width from 245 to 305 mm; rear tyre width from 325 to 405 mm. The rear wing is lowered and moved rearward; the rear diffuser is taller and wider; the barge board leading edge moves forward to give teams more freedom in airflow management. Minimum car weight rises 26 kg to 728 kg, and maximum fuel consumption rises to 105 kg per race. Every circuit on the calendar is required to revise safety features in response to the higher cornering speeds.

A new aerodynamic device appears across the field: the T-wing, a thin T-shaped wing mounted to the bodywork above and forward of the rear wing. Its legality as a potentially moveable aerodynamic device is queried but stewards choose to monitor on a case-by-case basis rather than issue a blanket directive.

The token system for regulating power unit development is abandoned. Teams are now limited to four power units per season regardless of calendar length; the previous provision for a fifth unit if the season exceeded twenty rounds no longer applies. Camera stalks on the nose of the car are no longer permitted.

On the sporting side, teams may use only one new power unit component over their quota per race — any additional components incur separate grid penalties, closing the stockpiling loophole. Power unit suppliers are now obligated to supply any team that finds itself without an agreement. When a wet race starts behind the safety car, once conditions are safe the field lines up on the grid for a standing start rather than taking the rolling start from behind the safety car. The specific rule against defensive moves under braking is replaced by a broader rule against manoeuvres that endanger other drivers. Starting from the Spanish Grand Prix, teams must display each driver’s name and racing number on the bodywork in a way clearly visible to spectators.

Pre-season testing

Testing took place at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Because tyre selection deadlines fell before teams could run the new wider compounds, Pirelli allocated all drivers identical sets for the first five races: seven sets of ultrasoft, four of supersoft, and two of soft per driver. Several T-wings were observed vibrating at speed during testing, prompting the FIA to monitor their use closely ahead of the opening round.