Analysing the changes to the F1 regulations: What's welcome, what will work, and what's not popular at all

Weighing up the pros and cons of the changes to the F1 regulations announced by the FIA...

Five-second penalties for minor infringements
The fine detail has still to be agreed - 'In what form such a penalty will be applied will be discussed with Formula One's teams in order that a new regulation be introduced for 2014 season', reads the FIA statement and opinion will inevitably vary on what constitutes a 'major infringement'- but this is a sensible and overdue proposal, offering the stewards additional flexibility when imposing punishments having previously been strictly limited to choosing between black flags, stop-gos, drive-through and retrospective grid penalties. Such rigidity fails to reflect the complexity and spectrum of infringements committed (was, for instance, Felipe Massa's wrongdoing in Brazil when he crossed the white line at the pit entry as bad as another driver forcing a rival off the road?). The availability of a five-second penalty for such relatively trivial transgressions will be a welcome addition to the stewards' armoury and should, if reasonably applied, quell a great deal of last year's bickering. Phew. Permanent driver numbers
Unless the numbering on cars is made more prominent, it's difficult to appreciate the point of this proposal from the perspective of spectators. Drivers are most readily identified by their helmets, not their car number, and given the recent tendency of drivers to change their helmets on what seems to be a race-by-race basis, instructing the field to choose a number for the duration of their careers seems rather irrelevant. However, permanent numbering is a concept which has prospered in other sports and should, in the passage of time, provide some iconic imagery to F1 in the manner of Nigel Mansell's red number five. From a branding perspective it's an open goal - the wait is already on to learn what number Lewis Hamilton and his team of advisors select. In the meantime, expect every World Champion to reserve '1' for himself. F1 might be in a constant flux, but the number one digit in the sport will always be in the name. An extra tyre test at Bahrain next week
Won't they ever let them rest? After the gruelling conclusion of a season which ended with six races in eight weekends, the bad news for the grunts at Red Bull, Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren, Force India and Toro Rosso is that they will be back on the road next week, returning to Bahrain for a three-day Pirelli tyre test. All of the teams have been invited to attend and it shouldn't pass unnoticed that the five non-attendees finished at the bottom of the Constructors' Championship. Given that clear apparent divide between the haves and the have-nots, funds rather than fatigue is the likely explanation for the latter's collective absence, an understated but salient reminder of the present-day harsh realities for those suffering at the sharp end of F1. For the likes of Marussia and Caterham, F1 must still - and now perhaps more than ever - feel like a world apart. PG