The 2019 FIA Formula One World Championship was the motor racing championship for Formula One cars which marked the 70th running of the Formula One World Championship. It is recognised by the governing body of international motorsport, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), as the highest class of competition for open-wheel racing cars. Starting in March and ending in December, the championship was contested over twenty-one Grands Prix. Drivers competed for the title of World Drivers' Champion, and teams for the title of World Constructors' Champion. The 2019 championship also saw the running of the 1000th World Championship race, the .
Lewis Hamilton successfully defended the World Drivers' Championship for the second year running, winning his sixth championship title at the . Mercedes successfully defended the World Constructors' Championship, securing the title for the sixth consecutive year at the to tie Ferrari's record from to .
The season also saw the debuts of future world champion Lando Norris, future race winner George Russell, and Alexander Albon.
Entries Ten teams, with two drivers each, competed in the championship in 2019. All teams competed with tyres supplied by Pirelli.
+EntrantConstructorChassisPower unitRace drivers Driver nameRounds Alfa Romeo RacingAlfa Romeo Racing-FerrariC38Ferrari 064799 Kimi Räikkönen Antonio GiovinazziAllAll Scuderia FerrariFerrariSF90Ferrari 064516 Sebastian Vettel Charles LeclercAllAll Haas F1 TeamHaas-FerrariVF-19Ferrari 064820 Romain Grosjean Kevin MagnussenAllAll McLaren F1 TeamMcLaren-RenaultMCL34Renault E-Tech 19455 Lando Norris Carlos Sainz Jr.AllAllMercedesF1 W10 EQ Power+Mercedes M10 EQ Power+4477 Lewis Hamilton Valtteri BottasAllAll SportPesa Racing Point F1 TeamRacing Point-BWT MercedesRP19BWT Mercedes1118 Sergio Pérez Lance StrollAllAll Aston Martin Red Bull RacingRed Bull Racing-HondaRB15Honda RA619H102333 Pierre Gasly Alexander Albon Max Verstappen1–1213–21All Renault F1 TeamRenaultR.S.19Renault E-Tech 19327 Daniel Ricciardo Nico HülkenbergAllAll Red Bull Toro Rosso HondaScuderia Toro Rosso-HondaSTR14Honda RA619H231026 Alexander Albon Pierre Gasly Daniil Kvyat1–1213–21All ROKiT Williams RacingWilliams-MercedesFW42Mercedes M10 EQ Power+6388 George Russell Robert KubicaAllAllSources:Official entry lists:
Free practice drivers Across the season, two drivers drove as a test or third driver in free practice sessions. Nicholas Latifi drove for Williams at six Grands Prix, while Naoki Yamamoto drove for Toro Rosso at the .
+ ConstructorNo.DriverRoundsScuderia Toro Rosso-Honda38 Naoki Yamamoto17Williams-Mercedes40 Nicholas Latifi7–8, 13, 18–20Source:
Team changes Red Bull Racing ended its twelve-year partnership with Renault and switched to full-works Honda engines. In doing so, Red Bull Racing joined sister team Scuderia Toro Rosso in using Honda power after the latter joined the Japanese manufacturer in . Neither team was recognised as Honda's official factory team under the terms of the agreement. This was the first time Honda had supplied more than one team in the sport since the 2008 when Honda supplied both its own full works team and the customer Super Aguri team.
Racing Point F1 Team completed their transition from the Racing Point Force India identity that they used after a consortium led by Lawrence Stroll purchased the assets of Sahara Force India in August 2018.
Sauber was renamed Alfa Romeo Racing in an extension of the sponsorship deal that began in , though continued to operate from the same base in Hinwil and under the Swiss racing licence. The Sauber name disappeared entirely from the Formula One grid, but was still used in the Formula 2 and Formula 3 support categories with Charouz Racing System for one year. The Sauber name would return to the Formula One grid in as Kick Sauber after the expiration of the Alfa Romeo partnership.
Haas F1 Team signed a title sponsorship agreement with energy drinks manufacturer Rich Energy for 2019 before the end of the 2018 season. However, this agreement was later terminated on 9 September 2019, due to a series of off-track disputes between Haas and Rich Energy, and legal issues for Rich Energy.
Driver changes
The lead up to the 2019 championship saw several driver changes. Daniel Ricciardo moved to Renault after five years with Red Bull Racing, replacing Carlos Sainz Jr. Ricciardo's drive at Red Bull Racing was taken by Pierre Gasly, who was promoted from Scuderia Toro Rosso, the team with whom he made his first Formula One start in . Daniil Kvyat rejoined Toro Rosso after last racing for the team in 2017. He was partnered with Formula 2 driver Alexander Albon, who replaced Brendon Hartley. Albon subsequently became only the second Thai driver to race in Formula One after Prince Bira.
Sainz, who was on loan to Renault in , did not have his deal with Red Bull renewed and subsequently moved to McLaren to replace two-time World Drivers' Champion Fernando Alonso, who had earlier announced that he would retire from Formula One in 2019, albeit he returned to the sport in 2021. Sainz was partnered with 2017 European Formula 3 champion and Formula 2 runner-up Lando Norris, who replaced Stoffel Vandoorne, who would move to Formula E to race with the Mercedes-affiliated HWA Racelab, as well as join Mercedes as a reserve driver.
Charles Leclerc left Alfa Romeo Racing after one year with the team, replacing 2007 World Champion Kimi Räikkönen at Ferrari. Räikkönen returned to Alfa Romeo, previously named Sauber, with whom he had started his career in . He was partnered with Antonio Giovinazzi, who made two starts for Sauber when he replaced the injured Pascal Wehrlein in 2017. Marcus Ericsson moved to race in the IndyCar Series in 2019 with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports but remained with Alfa Romeo as a third driver and brand ambassador.
Lance Stroll would join the Racing Point UK F1 team, replacing Esteban Ocon, who joined Mercedes as a reserve driver. Ocon shared the role of simulator driver with Stoffel Vandoorne. Reigning Formula 2 champion and Mercedes junior George Russell joined Williams replacing Stroll. Sergey Sirotkin would depart Williams due to his backer deciding to stop sponsoring Williams due to the lack of performance and development of the car. Sirotkin returned to Renault as a reserve driver. He would be replaced by Robert Kubica; Kubica's return comes after an eight-year absence brought on by a near-fatal rally car crash in 2011 that left him with serious arm injuries.
Mid-season changes In the build-up to the Belgian Grand Prix, Red Bull Racing announced that Pierre Gasly would be demoted to Toro Rosso and Alexander Albon would be promoted in his place so that his performance would be evaluated in view of the team's 2020 line-up. The decision to demote Gasly was criticised as he had only completed twelve races with the team, while Albon and Toro Rosso team-mate Daniil Kvyat had both previously been released from contracts with the Red Bull Junior Team and Red Bull Racing respectively.
Calendar
The 2019 calendar features the same twenty-one Grands Prix as the previous season. Each race was run over a minimum number of laps that exceeds a total distance of ; the only exception to this is the Monaco Grand Prix, for which the distance is .
+Schedule of eventsRoundGrand PrixCircuitDate1Australian Grand Prix Albert Park Circuit, Melbourne2Bahrain Grand Prix Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir3Chinese Grand Prix Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai14 April4Azerbaijan Grand Prix Baku City Circuit, Baku28 April5Spanish Grand Prix Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Montmeló12 May6Monaco Grand Prix Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo26 May7Canadian Grand Prix Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montréal9 June8French Grand Prix Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet23 June9Austrian Grand Prix Red Bull Ring, Spielberg30 June10British Grand Prix Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone14 July11German Grand Prix Hockenheimring, Hockenheim28 July12Hungarian Grand Prix Hungaroring, Mogyoród4 August13Belgian Grand Prix Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot1 September14Italian Grand Prix Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza8 September15Singapore Grand Prix Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore22 September16Russian Grand Prix Sochi Autodrom, Sochi17Japanese Grand Prix Suzuka International Racing Course, Suzuka13 October18Mexican Grand Prix27 October19 Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas3 November20Brazilian Grand Prix Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo17 November21Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi1 DecemberSources:
Regulation changes Race Director and Technical Delegate Charlie Whiting died days before the opening race of the season in Australia. Deputy Race Director Michael Masi was named as his successor for Race Director.
Technical regulations In a bid to improve overtaking, teams agreed to a series of aerodynamic changes that affect the profile of the front and rear wings. The front wing endplates were reshaped to alter the airflow across the car and reduce the effects of aerodynamic turbulence and winglets above the main plane of the front wing have been banned. The slot in the rear wing was widened, making the drag reduction system (DRS) more powerful. The agreed-upon changes were drawn from the findings of a working group set up to investigate potential changes to the technical regulations in preparation for the championship. The front wing was made wider, higher, and moved further forward. The rear wing was made wider and higher, with a larger DRS opening.
Parts of the technical regulations governing bodywork were rewritten in a bid to promote sponsorship opportunities for teams. The agreed changes are to mandate smaller bargeboards and limit aerodynamic development of the rear wing endplates to create more space for sponsor logos. The changes were introduced as a response to falling revenues amid teams and the struggles of smaller teams to secure new sponsors.
The mandated maximum fuel levels were raised from to to minimise the need for drivers to conserve fuel during a race. Driver weights are no longer considered when measuring the minimum weight of the car. This change was agreed to following concerns that drivers were being forced to lose dangerous amounts of weight in order to offset the additional weight of the post- turbo-hybrid engines. Drivers who weigh less than 80 kg (176 lb) are required to make up this weight with a ballast, located around the seat to minimise possible performance gains. The changes were introduced to eliminate the advantage drivers with a naturally smaller body shape had over taller and heavier drivers and to discourage unhealthy diet and exercise regimes to improve performance.
Sporting regulations Reintroduction of fastest lap point The regulations introduced a bonus point to the driver (and the constructor) that sets the fastest lap in a race. The point is only awarded if the driver is classified in the top ten at the end of the race. This makes 2019 the first time since 1959 that a bonus point gets awarded for setting the fastest lap.
Driver safety The FIA introduced a new standard for driver helmets with the intention of improving safety. Under the new standard, helmets will be subjected to a more thorough range of crash tests aimed at improving energy absorption and deflection as well as reducing the likelihood of objects penetrating the helmet's structure. All certified helmet manufacturers were required to pass the tests in advance of the 2019 championship to have their certification renewed. Once introduced to Formula One, the new standard will gradually be applied to all helmets used by competitors in every FIA-sanctioned event.
Tyres