1. Race start timing
Adjust your watches, as the races now start at 10 minutes past the hour. For this year’s edition, the five red lights will go out at 8.10pm local time.
2. Say hello to Halo
All cars now come with a new cockpit protection device called Halo. The wishbone-shaped part is designed to deflect large debris away from the driver’s helmet.
3. Goodbye to shark, fins and T-wings
2017’s introduction of shark fins and T-wings saw cars racing faster than before. But the side effects outweighed the benefits, leading to their removal in 2018.
4. Grid penalties
Any driver who earns a grid penalty of 15 places or more will start from the back. Drivers at the back will be arranged in order of when they changed power unit elements.
5. Fewer power units
To improve overall reliability and further reduce costs, power unit allocations have been reduced from four to three complete sets per driver per season.
6. New tyres
Pirelli has expanded its range of dry-weather tyre compounds to a total of nine. The sport also now has its softest tyre ever in the form of the pink-coloured Hypersoft.
7. Introducing the Grid Kids
The Grid Girls have been replaced by Grid Kids, young local racing drivers who compete in go-kart and other junior categories.
