The 107% rule is a little bit of a relic hidden away inside the Formula One regulations. It is to do with qualifying, and separating those cars who might not be fast enough to complete in a race safely.
I remember its introduction in 1996 and it basically killing off the Forti team as they often didn’t manage to make the cut. It was removed in 2002, but reinstated in 2011 as part of the knock-out qualifying system.
The idea that the slowest cars need to be within 107% of the leading time – and means that qualifying sessions, like the recent Hungarian one (which began wet but dried out) can force a lot of cars out. In theory.
The reality is that in almost all cases these days, the cars are allowed to race due to demonstrating their pace in earlier practice sessions – as in, they were closer to faster cars in those sessions, so qualifying wasn’t a true reflection. On only four occasions out of the 28 times the rule has been broken have drivers been refused to take part in a race. Those competitors were Vitantonio Liuzzi and Narain Karthikeyan at the 2011 Australian Grand Prix, and Pedro de la Rosa and Karthikeyan at the 2012 Australian Grand Prix – all of whom drove for HRT.
In truth, I do see why it is part of the rules. But in reality, it is one example of the more useless rules. It is rarely applied, it makes the sport harder to understand, and it doesn’t really add anything to the spectacle.
This sport that I love should be exciting, and it really can be but more often than not, the fans have to battle through so much red tape to get to that excitement. I’m not advocating a blank page to begin again on as there is a lot right with the sport – but there is so much wrong with it too.