Alfa Romeo Returns To F1 After 33 Years: Here Are Other Highlights From Upcoming 2018 F1 Season
Alfa Romeo, the Italian brand owned by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, is going to participate in the 2018 F1 world championship after a gap of 33 long years.
In this regard, it has signed a multi-year technical and commercial partnership agreement with Swiss Sauber F1 Team.
The 2018 FIA Formula One World Championship is going to start from 25 March and will extend up to 25 November. Take a look at some other highlights from the championship, which will span over a period of 9 months and 21 Grand Prix.
1. Lewis Hamilton is scheduled to start the season as the defending Drivers' Champion, and his team, Mercedes as the defending Constructors' Champions.
2. McLaren has terminated their engine partnership with Honda, citing the latter's repeated failure to supply a competitive power unit, and signed Renault. Honda was offering engines to McLaren from 1983-1993, and then from 2015-2017.
3. Driver Changes - Pierre Gasly and Brendon Hartley have joined Toro Rosso as full-time drivers, and Charles Leclerc is scheduled to make his competitive debut with Sauber.
4. Calendar Changes - the French Grand Prix is scheduled to return to the F1 2018 for the first time since 2008, and the German Grand Prix after a gap of 1 year. Meanwhile, the Malaysian Grand Prix has been discontinued for the upcoming season.
5. Sporting Changes - The number of pre-season test days will be reduced to seven. Two significant sporting regulation changes for season 2018 are granting race stewards the power to issue penalties for improper race starts, and requiring drivers to wear gloves containing bio metric sensors to assess their condition during an accident.
6. Technical Changes - In 2018, each driver can use 3 each of internal combustion engines, heat motor generator units and turbochargers, and 2 each of the kinetic motor generator units, energy stores and control electronics. Moreover, usage of number of power unit components have also been reduced.
Use of shark fins, and T-wings have been banned by the sports authority of Formula One. Restrictions have also been imposed against the practice of oil burning.
A new cockpit protection device, halo, will be introduced for the 2018 championship.
