It’s only been three weeks since we last did a Formula One post but given the news from last week, I think we’re definitely due. Last week, the FIA announced some new rules for the 2014 and 2015 seasons and I believe that they’ve earned themselves some rants with their decisions.

Even I, with my limited knowledge of the internet, know that I’m not going to lead with double points because that’s the part that everyone is going to want to (rightly) rant about.

Instead, let’s start with the new numbering system. Starting next year, drivers will select a number from 2 to 99, with #1 reserved for the prior year’s World Drivers’ Champion, and will keep that number for the rest of their career. Should two drivers select the same number, the preference goes to the driver who finished higher in the prior year’s drivers’ championship.

I don’t like this move because Formula One historically had numbers assigned to teams. I remember seeing Ferrari run #27 and #28 while I was growing up which was also what they used historically. They were also fond of running #11 and #12. It would be nice to see the team bring those numbers back. Instead, we’ll get whatever numbers Kimi and Fernando choose to run.

I know that Formula One keeps trying to distance itself from its history with just about every decision that they, and especially Bernie, makes. I really don’t like this one, though. Following MotoGP rather than every other form of motorsport just doesn’t seem fitting for F1. I’d much rather teams establish an identity for themselves. Though people often forget, Formula One is a team sport.

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Qualifying rules have changed ever so slightly heading into 2014. Previously, if multiple drivers didn’t set a time in qualifying, their spots on the grid would be determined based on their car number. Seeing as everyone is choosing their own car numbers, it wouldn’t make sense to continue that.

Now, drivers will be assigned their starting spot based on their finish in the most recent session. In the case of Q2 and Q3, that would be the driver’s classification in Q1 or Q2. Should drivers not set a time in Q1, they will revert to the standings from Free Practice 3 to set the grid.

It only makes sense and I wonder why this was not implemented sooner. This is making the drivers earn their spot on the grid somehow, someway. Both NASCAR and IndyCar set their grids for rained out sessions based on practice speeds. That may not be the most accurate reflection of what qualifying speeds could be but it’s certainly more accurate than car numbers.

Also, the FIA has introduced a pole position trophy to be awarded at the end of the season to the driver who scores the most pole positions over the course of the season. If there is a tie for the most poles, they go to the most second place starts and so on down through the grid until the tie is broken.

Since they aren’t introducing points for scoring poles, it doesn’t really affect anything. I’d like to see a point introduced for pole at some point. Given that passing is more common now than, say, five years ago, a point for scoring the pole might make the championship more interesting.

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The big rules change that has everyone talking, or yelling and screaming incoherently with rage, is the announcement that the final race of the season will have double points awarded in both the Drivers’ Championship and Constructors’ Championship. This means that the race will see 50 points awarded to the winner.

This is sort of halfway to a recent Bernie Ecclestone idea in which there would be select races of historical importance that would have double points and the season finale would have quadruple points. At least the FIA didn’t go ahead with Bernie’s plan in full.

I’m not saying that this is a good idea. This is far from a good idea and far from a sane idea. At least it’s not the most insane championship idea I’ve ever heard, like Bernie’s medal system and the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

The idea that the Championship needs to be still up for grabs late into the season to keep people interested is a ridiculous reason to screw around with the points formula. The idea that a single race could completely change the championship based on a gimmick completely undermines the point of a season-long points championship. All it takes is a mechanical failure in the final race and the championship lead could change hands. If it happens one week earlier, it’s not no harm, no foul but it doesn’t cripple your championship chase.

It should be plainly obvious why introducing a one-race gimmick that could have massive championship implications is a bad idea. As much as we all want to complain about it, the rules are the rules and everyone has to compete under the same set of rules. When our favourite drivers and teams are affected by dumb rules and gimmicks, though, we reserve the right to complain.

And, naturally, this new rule is introduced in the year that Abu Dhabi gets the season finale back and when the FIA introduces entry fees with a rate increase based on points scored. It gets them back to the equivalent of 20 races worth of points scored in a season. In 2015, they might get to 21 or more races worth of points. Talk about cashing in.

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As I already told you three weeks ago in the Brazilian GP recap, the two seats at Force India, the lead seat at Sauber and the second seat at Lotus have all been confirmed.

Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez are officially going to Force India. For Hulkenberg, this is his third season with the team having spent 2011 as a test/reserve driver and 2012 in a race seat. Perez joins his third team in as many seasons after driving for Sauber in 2011 and 2012, McLaren in 2013 and now Force India in 2014.

Adrian Sutil leaves one mid-pack team for another as he leaves Force India for Sauber. He’s bringing his personal sponsorship along with him. Personal sponsorship also sees the unsurprising move of Pastor Maldonado to cash strapped Lotus F1.

That leave just four seats open in the sport for next season. There’s the second seat at Marussia alongside Jules Bianchi and the two seats at Caterham. There hasn’t been any indication of who will have the Marussia drive. It does look like GP2 driver Marcus Ericsson is the frontrunner for a Caterham drive. The other seat may come down to Heikki Kovalainen, Charles Pic and Geido van der Garde. Eddie Jordan has Marussia retaining Max Chilton and Caterham keeping Gary VDG in his projections but it’ll likely all come down to money.

The remaining seat is the second Sauber seat. It will come down to whether Russian pay driver Sergey Sirotkin is given an FIA Super License. He’s relatively unheralded having won only one championship which was the 2011 Formula Abarth European Championship which no one else writing about Formula One had ever heard of before looking this guy up. His 9th in last year’s Formula Renault 3.5 Series doesn’t exactly scream hot F1 prospect. Eddie Jordan thinks that Esteban Gutierrez is likely to have to stay on another season after the FIA turns down Sirotkin’s super license application.

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There’s going to be more Formula One coverage for you next week too. That’s because there’s going to be a Pirelli tyre test starting tomorrow (December 17th) in Bahrain. They’ll be testing some prototype 2014 tyres. Pirelli is trying to reduce the number of marbles off-line while continuing to have higher wearing tyres that force pit stops and encourage alternate strategies.

While all the teams were invited to the test, only Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes, McLaren, Force India and Toro Rosso have accepted the invite. The remaining five teams, including 4th in the Constructors’ Championship, Lotus, have declined attendance at the test.

We’ll have coverage of the test next week.