Guide to 2018 FIA Formula One World Championship

Greetings from Earth.

Today, I am going to talk about 2018 FIA Formula One World Championship.

This year's Formula One will be the 69th FIA Formula One World Championship, started in 1950.

As for 2018, there will be major changes in this season of Formula One, ranging from logo, schedules, teams and drivers, and the rules.

Firstly, there will be a major change for drivers in Williams and Sauber. Felipe Massa, a loyal Ferrari and Williams driver, retired after the 2017 Formula One season.

Started his F1 career in 2002 as Sauber-Petronas driver, Massa became a development driver for Scuderia Ferrari in 2003, before returned to F1 in 2004, and became Michael Schumacher's Ferrari teammate in 2006, after Rubens Barichello had left Ferrari to join Honda Racing in 2006. Known his 1st runner up in 2008, when 2008 World championship was taken over by Lewis Hamilton after grabbing his fifth place and took enough points for world champion, while Ferrari was the last year to be the constructor champion. Massa joined Williams in 2014 as Valtteri Bottas's teammate, after Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado, joined Lotus F1 in 2014.

One of non-champion great like Sir Stirling Moss OBE,

he showed his modest performance when partnered with Valtteri Bottas in 2014-16. Massa secured one-year deal after Bottas joined Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport as Nico Rosberg's replacement, whom he retired five days after getting his World Champion on December 2, 2016, and became ambassador of Mercedes-Benz, and also a full time vlogger with his own YouTube channel. Massa partnered with Lance Stroll, a Canadian Jewish F3 European Champion of 2016, whom he is son of Jewish billionaire Lawrence Stroll and Belgian fashion designer Claire-Anne Callens. Massa appeared in all rounds durinf 2017 seasons, with the exception of Hungary due to illness, and was replaced by Paul Di Resta, an Anglo-Italian DTM Champion in 2010, driving Mercedes-AMG DTM.

Shortly after Massa's retirement, Williams recruited Sergey Sirotkin, a Russian former F2 and WEC driver from Moscow, whom he serviced for SMP Racing in WEC, while he was Sauber and Renault's test and reserve driver, before gaining his seat. His number is 35.

As for Robert Kubica, a Polish F1 driver, active from 2006-2010, he will be joining Williams F1 as development driver, just as Susie Wolff's did, before became ambassador of Mercedes-Benz in 2016, followed by Nico Rosberg in 2017.

Sauber will welcome Charles Leclerc, a Monegasque racing driver and Formula 2 2017 Champion, as Sauber Formula One full driver, with the number of 16.

Leclerc will be a replacement for Pascal Wehrlein, a German-Mauritian F1 Driver, whom he is the youngest DTM champion in 2015 at the age of 20. He has his Mauritian descent from his mother who comes from Mauritius, a full democracy African island republic.

As 2015 DTM Champion, he is a part of Mercedes-AMG F1 Junior Team, whom he started his career in F1 from 2016, driving in Manor Racing, along with Esteban Ocon, a French-Spanish racing driver, whom he replaced Rio Haryanto at the 2016 Belgian Grand Prix. When Manor Racing was terminated, Wehlrein secured a seat from Sauber, while Ocon joined Force India as replacement for Nico Hulkenebrg, a German Le Mans-winning driver, driving for Porsche, whom he joined Renault Sport in 2017, shortly after Dane Kevin Magnussen joined Haas F1 with Romain Grosjean the Swiss-French F1 driver from Geneva, to replace Esteban Gutierrez as he joined Formula E in 2017. Although Wehrlein is no longer in Sauber due to the end of sponsorship, he still belongs to Mercedes-Benz Junior Team as being DTM champion.

For Toro Rosso, there will be new drivers starting at October round of 2017 Formula One Grand Prix, with Pierre Gasly from French, started F1 in 2017 Malaysia Grand Prix as replacement for Daniil Kvyat, while Brendon Hartley, a New Zealand-born FIA WEC winning driver, made his debut at 2017 United Stares Grand Prix as replacements for Carlos Sainz Jr, whom he joined Renault following the withdrawal of Jolyon Palmer the "scholar" F1 driver, that he has bachelor degree from University of Nottingham, a prominent public research university in East Midland.

As for Daniil Kvyat, whom his seat was replaced by Pierre Gasly, he will be Scuderia Ferrari's development driver, besides terminating his unemployment as F1 driver, and it will be a great path for him to return as F1 driver in Ferrari, as he has high interest in Scuderia Ferrari.

For the team changes, first, Force India, a medium success descendant of Jordan Grand Prix, which is active in 2008, will change the new name that will be announced at the end of February. The change of the name will help Force India to be a frontier, henceforth will be more competitive with new name.

In addition, McLaren will start using Renault engine for 3 years, to replace the inferior performance-Honda. Honda was highly successful in 1980's to 90's, when Ayrton Senna claimed Honda s "the greatest company in the world". From 1995 to 2014, Mercedes-Benz was used in McLaren exclusively before the use of Mercedes-Benz F1 engines in Force India and Brawn GP. In 2015, Mercedes-Benz left McLaren to focus on it's work team, Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, and it's customers team, including Williams, Force India, Lotis F1 (2015), and Manor (2016). The use of Renault engines for McLaren will make McLaren rise from inferiority, with 2 times Formula One World Champion, Fernando Alonso and young, aspiring Belgian GP2 Champion, Stoffel Vandoorne. Meanwhile, Toro Rosso will use Honda, to replace Renault that was used in 2017 season. Toro Rosso will be the first Italian F1 racing team to use Honda engine.

As for Red Bull Racing, team will add Aston Martin as title sponsor, effectively becomes Aston Martin Red Bull Racing.

Aston Martin had participated in Formula One as work team in 1959-60, but retired due to poor results. In 2016, Aston Martin became technical partner of Red Bull Racing, following Infiniti's withdrawal from Red Bull Racing to become sponsor of new Renault Sport F1 Team. The Red Bull Racing still uses Renault engine, which is now rebadged as TAG Heuer from 2016 as TAG Heuer is team partner for Red Bull Racing. From 2017, Red Bull Racing uses ExxonMobil fuel, with Esso brands worldwide along with Australian Grand Prix, though Mobil is exclusively used in Australia, along with Exxon in United States and Mobil in Mexico, as Mobil will be the exclusive fuel brand by ExxonMobil in Mexico, beginning with Q1 2018. Within the joining of Aston Martin, Aston Martin will have enough chance to become a work team with it's own engine and this will be a good move to be a Formula One frontier. As a title partner and

As for Sauber F1 Team, it's now named as Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team, with Alfa Romeo as title sponsor and technical partner for Alfa Romeo from 2018, while Ferrari will continue to be used for engine, beginning with 2010. The use of Alfa Romeo will be help for Alfa Romeo to return F1 as work team, with Italian licence and chassis, headquartered in Switzerland, just as Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, with German licence and British headquarters with engine and chassis factory in Northamptonshire.

Alfa Romeo has history of success in Formula One, in 1950 and 1951, won by Giuseppe "Nino" Farina from Turin, Italy,

and Juan Manuel Fangio Deramo from Argentina, known as the El Maestro in Formula One universe.

They drove Alfa Romeo 158 and Alfa Romeo 159 during Alfa Romoe's debut career in Forrmula One, which enjoyed success.

Alfa Romeo returned to F1 in 1979 as works team, in which it ended in 1985, while Alfa Romeo was engine supplier for various F1 teams from 1961 to 1987, supplying Brabham, McLaren, Benetton and etc.. The return of Alfa Romeo is a good move from a title sponsor, and will be a redeem for BMW Sauber when BMW bought Sauber for 2005 and became a work team based in Hinwil, the Sauber's place, using Petronas fuel before the withdrawal of BMW after 2009 season due to poor performance and economic turmoil. When BMW sold back the team to Peter Sauber at the end of 2009, the Sauber was branded as BMW-Sauber Ferrari under Concorde Agreement in 2010, before removing BMW in 2011.

This year's Formula One season will begin from 25th March 2018 in Australia, where there will be major change in this year's schedule.

First, the return of German Grand Prix in Hockenheimring. The German Grand Prix is a biennial Formula One Grand Prix, due to unavailability of both Hockenheimring and Nurburgring to sign an agreement for hosting the race in odd-numbered years. This also marks the return of French Grand Prix that was absent since 2008, with Circuit Paul Ricard.

The circuit is located in south-eastern France of Le Castellet, which is within a stone throw from Marseilles. Built in 1969, this circuit is named after Paul Ricard, an eccentric pastis magnate with Ricard brand, before merged with Pernod Pils to crete Pernod Ricard in 1975. When Paul Ricard was died of natural causes in 1997, the circuit was acquired by Excelis, a company owned by Formula One promoter Bernie Ecclestone, in 1999. This is the first French Grand Prix at Paul Ricard in anti-clockwise start since 1985, when Paul Ricard was converted to a short clockwise F1 track in 1986. This race also features Mistral chicanes on Mistral straight.

Finally, Malaysia Grand Prix was discontinued after 2017 season due to the poor ticket sales, that the race appeal was damaged by more glamorous Singapore Grand Prix that is first night race in street.

The first night race on permanent circuit is Bahrain, beginning with 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix.

The poor ticket sales was caused by the infeasible date of the Malaysia Grand Prix in Asian rounds in favor of Russian Grand Prix on Spring. That move is a risky because of the stiff competition among Singapore and Malaysia Grand Prix since Singapore and Malaysia are neighboring ASEAN countries from 1965, when Singapore became an independent nation from Malaysia and sharing same culture.

As Malaysia Grand Prix is no more, the Russian Grand Prix will move back after Singapore Grand Prix, on 30 September 2017, while Azerbaijan Grand Prix will move to April in favor of German and French Grand Prix. Well, Malaysia Grand Prix will be able to return with the change of Sepang Circuit management, as well as change of date from Asian rounds to opening rounds, best with first or second round of Formula One season, so that Malaysia can have a smooth Formula One Grand Prix without pressure, as long as with new sponsor to replace Petronas, that five major sponsors including Heineken, will help to sponsor it if Malaysia Grand Prix is unbale to find a new sponsor. Five major sponsors of Formula One are Heineken International, Pirelli SpA, Rolex SA, Deutsche Post AG under DHL Express, and The Emirates Group. These sponsors are commonly used in Australia, China, Spain, Azerbaijan, Russia, Japan, United States, Mexico, Brazil, and etc, as these sponsors are multinational corporation with worldwide markets.

Now, there will be update on technical and sporting rules and regulations in 2018 season. While each F1 cars will use 1.6 L V6 hybrid turbo engine that can goes 900 hp and above at 15000 rpm, there will be some change for power units, reducing from four major power units to a new system where each of the power unit components is considered separately. For 2018 races, each driver will be permitted to use up:

• 3 each of internal combustion engines (ICE), heat motor generator units (MGU-H), and turbochargers (TC)

• 2 each of the kinetic motor generator units (MGU-K), energy stores (ES), and control electronics (CE).

Under new oil burning policy, the oil burning will be restricted from 1.2 L per 100 km, to 0.6 L per 100 km. Meanwhile, from 2018, each F1 cars are banned to use shark fin, a carbon fiber extension to the engine cowling aimed at directing airflow over the rear wing.

The ban of shark fin is a suggestion from McLaren Racing Limited. The first F1 car to use shark fin is Sauber C29, where Sauber is a pioneer in the use of shark fin. Shark fin is highly used in LMP from 2011, as both LMP1 and 2 are using shark fins for endurance racing.

Along with the ban of shark fin, the T-wing, a horizontal secondary wing mounted forward of and above the rear wing, is banned too for 2018 F1 season.

Besides the ban of these things, each Formula One car will be installed with Halo cockpit, a wishbone-shaped frame mounted above and around the driver's head and anchored to the monocoque forward of the cockpit. The idea was introduced following the death of Jules Bianchi and Justin Wilson, and also Dan Wheldon and Henry Surtees.

After the mass criticism over questionable aesthetic value, FIA revealed plans to allow teams some design freedom in the final version of the halo, with the device being incorporated into the chassis design from its inception rather than attached once the design was completed. Once used, it will be used for Formula 2 and Formula 3 too. In addition a strict car crash check will be imposed to make sure the car goes well during the race, and to prevent the tragedy like Ayrton Senna and Jules Bianchi. FIA required each team to purchase pre-fabricated models from approved supplier to prevent the teams from exploiting the halo for aerodynamic gain and potentially compromising its purpose.

For a driver, there will be start penalty for improper race starts even if a driver's start does not trigger the automated detection system. FIA has issued new super licence regulation that if he has to race in F1, he needs to have a minimum race in F2, and also minimum points for super licence points is 25 points, so that he can get a super licence to drive. There will be seven pre-season testing days in Barcelona, replacing Bahrain.

For tires, Pirelli will continue to be exclusive F1 tire supplier, with the introduction of hypersoft as the softest tire while Superhard is the hardest trey. Hard tire for F1 will be marked sideline in pale blue color, while Hypersoft will be marked sideline in pink along with orange sideline marked in Superhard. Thee will be also Ultrasoft, Supersoft and the Medium tires, while Pirelli also produce demonstation-exclusive Pirelli F1 tires, so that there will be no illegal and informal testing for each teams during demonstration.

Finally, there is also a change on the Formula One logo. The new logo was created in 2017 by Wieden + Kennedy London.

The new logo was created to re-engage its global fanbase regardless of Global North and South, whereas it's a replacement for traditional signature Flying One logo, which was introduced at the end of 1993.

The logo was used from 1994, the year that Michael Schumacher won his maiden world champion in Benetton Ford, while this was also the saddest year with the death of Ayrton Senna in 1994 San Marino Grand Prix due to a horrible accident in Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, Italy. Between 1994 and 2005, the logo was used along with 1987 F1 logo, when 1987 F1 logo was never appeared in TV from 2002, while last seen in F1 trophies and uniforms of the stewards , as well as safety car, in 2005.

These are the guidelines for 2018 FIA Formula One World Championship. Writing for some hours and I hope you can make a reference. Thanks for enjoying my article. This is Manuel Smith, a loyal and hardcore Formula One fan, signing off.