Together with our Official Trading Partner AvaTrade we guide you through Formula One's winding rules and regulations. This time around, we look at trophies, which are regulated to a greater degree than one might realise.
Every Formula One team has a desire to fill their trophy cabinets with silverware. These symbols of success serve as reminders of the best times and incentives to strive for more. We head to Las Vegas, where more trophies are up for grabs, after securing our eighth of the season in São Paulo.
The regulations behind Formula One trophies are listed in Appendix 5 of the Sporting Regulations, which specifies the correct procedure for a podium ceremony.
Cup to the task
Section 4 states that only four trophies will be presented during the podium ceremony, going to the top three drivers and a representative of the winning constructor. The trophies are not to weigh more than five kilogrammes and 'must be of a design that is capable of being handled and transported without damage' – which rather rules out ice sculptures.
So far, so normal, but the regulations also state the trophy must be in the form of a traditional cup, with a height between 50cm and 65cm for the winner and constructor’s trophies, and between 35cm and 45cm for the second and third-placed drivers.
It's fair to say this regulation is one more honoured in the breach, given the deluge of distinctive trophies that now grace the F1 podium – many of which are new but some pre-date the creation of the regulations and, indeed, predate the very concept of a Formula One World Championship.
Give and take
Who gets to collect the constructors' trophy is also quite strictly controlled. It has to be a member of the team.
The boundaries on this one get a little blurred when one considers how closely technical partners are integrated into a team in the modern era.
Nowadays, it's also common to see a representative of an engine partner or fuel supplier collecting the trophy on the podium.
There are rules also for who can present a trophy.
Article 11 states the winners' trophy be presented by the head of state or prime minister of the host country, or the president of the FIA – but also has the catch-all caveat that, 'a comparable person within the host country'… 'a dignitary of international status' or, failing that, the president of the local FIA affiliate should fill in.
The exception is Monaco, where tradition has a member of the Monegasque royal family presenting the trophy.
The Constructors' Trophy is presented by a representative of the race's title sponsor, and the second and third place trophies are to be presented by local dignitaries in a strict order of hierarchy.
No one is allowed onto the podium unless they're involved in the ceremony, which means there's strictly no admittance for bodyguards, police or assistants. Finally, the drivers are under very strict instructions that they aren’t allowed to start into the celebrations until the podium has been cleared.
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