Alternate Formula One - Hydrogen Era Rules
This page is potentially meta. This page governs or refers to an aspect of canon, without being in-universe itself.
Rules
1.1) All rules are at all times binding for both the administration and all users running a team in Alternate Formula One - Current Era.
1.2) Unless the rule specifically describes the consequence of violating it, either the team owner representation or the administration decide the consequence of a rule violation, depending on whether the rule violation was committed by the administration or a user running a team in Alternate Formula One – Current Era.
1.3) Any change to the rules during the season must be announced unsolicited with at least two (2) races notice, unless force majeure prevents this.
1.4) Any rule change by the administration during the season is immediately reversed if at least four (4) or more users running a team in Alternate Formula One - Hydrogen Era object to the rule change.
1.5) Each user in the team owner representation can propose a vote on a rule change twice per season. The rule change takes effect immediately if at least eleven (11) users running a team in Alternate Formula One - Current Era agree.
1.6) During the period between the start of the last race of the previous season and the beginning of the driver market of the following season, the administration can change any rule with the exception of rule changes that were reversed during the season in accordance with §1.4.
1.7) No notice is required if the wording of the rule is changed to help clarify the rule's meaning, correct grammatical errors, misspellings or correct references to other rules, adjust numerical values relating to the number of teams should teams be added or removed (all values in the current version of the rules are based on the existence of thirteen (13) teams) or it is a rule change in accordance with §1.5 or 1.6
Administration
§2.1 The administration is defined as the GP Rejects Discord user (or any forum considered a successor or an alternative by the administration) running Alternate Formula One - Current Era.
§2.2 The administration may only be assigned to a new user if the current administration is either permanently and irrevocably banned from the GP Rejects Discord (or any forum considered a successor or an alternative by the administration), voluntarily surrenders the role of administrator, or the team owner representation declares them unable or unlikely to continue running the game.
§2.3 The decision on a new user according to §2.1 is to be made by the users of the GP Rejects Discord in a democratic manner as quickly as possible.
§2.4 For incomplete sections of the narrative period as defined in §7.1 not in the narrative present, the administration may permit any user of the GP Rejects Discord to run Alternate Formula One games which are not bound by these rules with the exception of §7.1, §7.3, §7.4 and §7.6.
Participation
3.1) Any user of the GP Rejects forums (or any forum considered a successor or an alternative by the administration) may run one team in Alternate Formula One - Current Era.
3.2) Any user not running a team in Alternate Formula One - Current Era may join a waiting list and will be given team(s) in order of joining the waiting list whenever a user running a team in Alternate Formula One - Current Era is excluded from the game. 3.3) Users on the waiting list must reaffirm their interest in being on the Alternate Formula One - Hydrogen Era waiting list once per season.
3.4) The administration may choose to not give the team of a user excluded from the game to users on the waiting list for whatever reason, unless the team owner representation objects to that decision.
3.5) The number of teams available for any season will be decided on by the administration before the start of the first race of the previous season. The administration does not need to inform users of this decision.
3.6) At no point Alternate Formula One - Hydrogen Era may have less than eight (8) or more than seventeen (17) two-car teams.
3.7) Any user running a team in Alternate Formula One - Hydrogen Era must have a Discord account for private messaging or alternatively must supply the administration with an option to contact them directly.
3.8) A user running a team in Alternate Formula One - Hydrogen Era agrees to fulfil deadlines for all actions necessary in the game announced by the administration unless external circumstances prevent this.
3.9) If a user fails to meet any announced deadline, the administration may either take any action necessary on behalf of the user or exclude the user from the game.
3.10) Each team must be given a name, nationality, name and nationality of the team principal and a backstory providing a narrative explanation of the source of its budget by the user.
3.11) When a new user enters the game, he may choose to continue using all or parts of the information provided according to §3.10 of the team of the user that has been excluded to free up their entry with the approval of the administration.
3.12) The administration may deny entry to any team if the information given in accordance with §3.11 is considered inadequate. Should the administration deny the entry in such a manner, the user may alter any such information until an acceptable entry is achieved.
3.13) Any information provided according to §3.10 can be changed after the conclusion of an Alternate Formula One season until the beginning of the driver market of the following season. The administration is entitled to reverse those changes until the start of the first race of the season, but has to inform the user running the team of the decision and explain their reasoning unsolicited.
3.14) If a new user chooses to use all or parts of the information provided in accordance with §3.10, the team’s world constructor championship position is equal to that of the team the new user is replacing unless a specific rule determines otherwise. Should a new user choose not to do that than their world constructor championship position will be treated as fifteenth (15th) unless a specific rule determines otherwise.
3.15) Should there be less users running a team in Alternate Formula One - Current Era and/or on the waiting list than there are teams available, the administration must first reduce the number of teams available.
3.16) Should the removal of teams in accordance with §3.15 lead to a violation of §3.3 or prove difficult to implement in the method of simulation used for Alternate Formula One – Hydrogen Era, the administration is entitled to run as many teams themselves for as long as is necessary for enough users to run all teams to become available or to change the number of cars run by each team.
3.17 if the administration runs a team in accordance with §3.12 or §5.7, the administration will be considered a user running a team in Alternate Formula One - Hydrogen Era for the purpose of the rules, but is not entitled to join the Team Owner Representation in accordance with §4 or vote in accordance with §4.1.
Team Owner Representation
4.1) After the conclusion of the Driver Market Phase, all users running a team in Alternate Formula One - Current Era may vote for three (3) users to take the role of team owner representation for the season.
4.2) Users voted for are free to not become part of the team owner representation. Should a user choose to not become part of the team owner representation, the administration may freely choose a user running a team in Alternate Formula One - Current Era as replacement.
4.3) Regardless of reason, only one (1) user in the Team Owner Representation at most may be excluded by the administration from the game during the season.
4.4) Should user(s) from the team owner representation be excluded during the season, the number of users in the team owner representation according to $§4.1 will be reduced to how many users of the team owner representation are left.
4.5) The team owner representation of the previous season will remain active until the voting according to $4.1 has concluded.
Exclusion
5.1) A user will be excluded from the game if their team are considered bankrupt in accordance to §8.2.
5.2) A user will be excluded from the game if the base grip of their chassis according to §10.3 is lower than ten thousand (10,000)
5.3) A user will be excluded from the game they are irrevocably banned from the Grand Prix Rejects Discord, the Discord service as a whole or demonstrate other behaviour making them unsuitable to keep their team.
5.4) Users can request to be excluded from the game unless the team owner representation objects to that decision.
5.5) The administration can decide to immediately reverse the exclusion of a user from the game in accordance to §3.9, §5.2 or §5.3 unless the team owner representation objects to that decision.
5.6) If a user is excluded from the game mid-season, the first member of the waiting list is installed as the caretaker user. He inherits the chassis of the current team for the remainder of the season.
5.7) If there are no users on the waiting list or the administration rejects users on the waiting list according to §3.4, the administration will be installed as the caretaker user until a user joins the waiting list or the administration decides to not reject users on the waiting list according to §3.4.
5.8) If the administration is installed as caretaker user during the season, it is not entitled to actively spend money beyond terminating and hiring drivers as is necessary to allow fictional drivers by a user who does not yet have a driver with a DEC in Alternate Formula One - Hydrogen Era to join the grid, unless other rules require a team to spend money at any given point.
5.9) Excluded users may join the waiting list in accordance to §3.2 unless the administration can provide evidence that doing so would be against the best interest of the GP Rejects forums (or any website considered a successor or an alternative by the administration). 5.10) Any user that has requested and received exclusion from the game in accordance to §6.4 on two (2) separate occasion is only entitled to rejoin the waiting list in accordance to §3.2 with permission from the team owner representation, regardless of whether the first request was accepted.
5.11) Any user currently running a team in Alternate Formula One - Hydrogen Era can decide to immediately take control of a team of a user that was excluded from the game and drop control of their current team, which will be treated as though the user running the former team was excluded from the game.
Simulation
6.1) Alternate Formula One - Current Era is simulated using the video game Grand Prix 2.
6.2) Changing the simulation method used to run Alternate Formula One - Current Era Grand must be announced by the administration with at least ten (10) races notice.
6.3) The administration may entrust other people with simulating the races within the game. If the responsibility of simulating the races is to be given to a third party by the administration, this must be announced by the administration with at least ten (10) races notice.
Narrative
7.1) The narrative period of Alternate Formula One includes all Alternate Formula One history from 1965 onwards.
7.2) Should no game displaying Alternate Formula One history until 1965 exist, the administration can extend the narrative period to include all of Alternate Formula One history from 1930 onwards.
7.3) Changes to previously simulated or role-played events can be undertaken by the administration or the user chosen according to §7.6 whenever deemed necessary, though the administration has to inform any involved users of the decision and explain their reasoning unsolicited.
7.4) Any change according to §7.3 is immediately reversed if at least eleven (11) users running a team in Alternate Formula One - Current Era or the user chosen according to §7.6 object to it.
7.5) For any gameplay element the administration has the exclusive right to invent an in-story reasoning.
7.6) If the GP Rejects Discord decides to anoint a user with the role of managing the narrative of all series sharing a fictional universe with Alternate Formula One - Current Era, the decisions of that user can override any narrative and gameplay decisions by the administration
7.7) If the user according to §7.6 also is a user running a team in Alternate Formula One – Current Era, any changes according to §7.3 is immediately reversed if the administration objects.
7.8) For the purposes of §3.10, §15.1 and §17.2, valid nationalities are any member country of the United Nations, any fictional country previously established in the series sharing a fictional universe with Alternate Formula One - Current Era, the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, the Murrawarri Republic and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.
Budget
8.1) All teams have, at all times, a budget representing their financial capabilities. The budgets of the teams are measured in EUR (€).
8.2) A team is considered bankrupt if ahead of the Lead Designer Market Phase, It is unable to pay for the following even with maximum potential sponsorship accounted for:
- Their active lead designer contract or, should the team not have one, the lead designer with the lowest wage demand available
- Their active motor contract or, should the team not have one, a motor contract with an annual payment of €25,000,000 (works teams according to §12.2 are not exempt from this requirement)
- Forty (40) staffers for the aerodynamic department
- Their active racing driver contracts or, should the team not have any, two entry-level contracts according to §15.14.
8.3) Any new team will be given a starting budget which is equal to the median budget of all teams that finished below 3rd (third) in the Constructors Championship before the start of the Lead Designer Market Phase, rounded up to the next full ten million. This applies even If the user running the new team decides in accordance to §3.11 to use some or all of the information provided in accordance with §3.10.
8.4) Any increase or decrease of the budget of a team may only be undertaken in steps of five-hundred thousand (500,000) EUR. Should any calculated increase or decrease not be an even five-hundred thousand (500,000 EUR), the sum to be added or reduced is to be rounded down to the next full million.
8.5) After the conclusion of the Driver Market Phase, teams may not make any transaction that would leave their budget below €1,000,000 until the conclusion of the first race.
8.6) Should gameplay elements change in a way that it would leave teams with budgets that would negatively affect player enjoyment, the administration is entitled to increase or subtract any sum equally from the budget of all teams except new teams in accordance with §8.3 ahead of the Lead Designer Market and teams where a subtraction would result in them becoming bankrupt according to §8.2. The sum increased or decreased must be announced to all users running a team in Alternate Formula One - Current Era unsolicited.
8.7) Teams can freely send money between each other for whatever reason. The Team Owner Representation can void any transaction for a period of up to six (6) races after it happened.
8.8) Any transaction must be confirmed by all parties before they become valid.
Season
9.1) Each Alternate Formula One season consists of the pre-season phases and from at least twelve (12) to at most twenty-six (26) races.
9.2) The pre-season phases are as follows and occur in the following order:
- Lead Designer Market Phase
- Sponsor Market Phase
- Motor Market Phase
- Driver Market Phase
- Team Owner Representation Voting Phase
- Car Development Phase
9.3) The administration may execute multiple pre-season phases at once as long as the order according to §9.2 is maintained.
9.4) For the purposes of the rules, a race consists of three (3) sixty (60)-minute practice sessions on Friday, Saturday and Sunday (narratively scheduled at 10:00 local time), two (2) forty (40)-minute qualifying sessions on Friday and Saturday (narratively scheduled at 14:05 local time), and a race on Sunday running over the nearest lap above 185 km (≈ 115 miles) or 120 minutes, whichever arrives first (narratively scheduled at 14:00 local time).
9.5) Practice sessions are not simulated, but fictional results can be supplied by the Team Owner Representation.
9.6) The in-character times for all session of a race can be moved back either two (2) or eight (8) hours at venues with floodlights.
9.7) All qualifying sessions and races have pre-determined weather conditions that affect car performance and driver performance and can be halted or aborted in progress by the administration as it sees fit, either as a reaction to events within the simulation or for narrative purposes.
9.8) Championship points are awarded to the eight (8) best-placed classified drivers of the race after penalties and exclusions in accordance with §9.9 as well as any team orders in accordance with §9.16 have been applied. A driver is considered classified if he has completed at least ninty (90) percent of the race distance according to §9.4 or §9.10. Should less than eight (8) drivers have completed at least ninty (90) percent of the race distance, the race distance required for classification is reduced until eight (8) drivers can be considered classified.
9.9) Misconduct by drivers and teams within a race can be punished by the administration with fines to the offending team, compensatory payments by the offending to the victimized team, time penalties, grid penalties or exclusion from single or multiple races.
9.10) Should an accident within the simulation method be deemed significant enough to narratively cause injury, the administration rolls an RNG determining whether a racing driver suffers an injury and how long said racing driver is unable to compete should an injury occur. The injury duration is measured in races and may go up to thirty (30) races.
9.11) Any RNG result in accordance to §9.10 is final, unless there is reasonable doubt about the quality of the RNG values and six (6) or more users running a team in Alternate Formula One - Hydrogen Era request a reroll.
9.12) The points system is 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1. An additional point is awarded to the driver who has set the fastest time in qualifying before any grid penalties were applied. For the final race of the season, the awarded points are doubled.
9.11) If less than sixty-six (66) percent of the scheduled race distance is completed before the race is aborted without being resumed, the awarded championship points as defined in §9.12 are divided by two (2). If less than thirty-three (33) percent of the scheduled race distance but more than four (4) laps have been completed before the race is aborted without being resumed, the championship points as defined in §9.12 are divided by five (5).
9.12) If the administration has violated any rule during the running of the session or failed to account for driver changes or upgrades, it can request permission from the Team Owner Representation to re-run the affected sessions.
9.13) The number of races in a season and the official names and venues of the races along with the race distance in number of laps according to §9.4 must be announced by the administration with three (3) races notice ahead of the start of a season.
9.14) The Team Owner Representation may cancel any scheduled race in a season with two (2) races notice as it sees fit.
9.15) The driver with the most points after all races have been completed is the Alternate Formula One - Hydrogen Era World Drivers Champions of that season. In case of a tie, the number of each position is compared, starting with first (1st) places. Whichever driver has more of any given position is awarded the position. Should all positions be equally shared between the tying parties, the position is given to the driver whose team has the worse World Constructors Championship position. Should both tied drivers drive for the same team, the user running the team must choose which driver the position is awarded to.
9.16) The team with the most points after all races have been completed are the Alternate Formula One - Hydrogen Era World Constructors Champions of that season. All drivers entered by a team can score points for the team in the World Constructors Championship. In case of a tie, the number of each position is compared, starting with first (1st) places. Whichever team has more of any given position is awarded the position. Should all positions be equally shared between the tying parties, the position is awarded to the team with the better championship position in the previous season.
9.17) Should the simulation method according to §6.1 not permit an accurate reflection of team-interested behaviour by drivers, any user running a team may request the administration to alter the race result accordingly to reflect a team order.
9.18) The alteration of the race results in accordance with §9.18 may only occur if the driver benefiting from that decision has a mathematical chance of winning the drivers championship with five (5) races or fewer left in the season and stays within less than seven (7) seconds of their teammate with no other cars between the drivers for the final three (3) laps of a race.
9.19) Prize money will be applied to the budget of all teams both for individual race results as well as position in the World Constructors Championship.
9.20) Prize money for the position in the World Constructors Championship in accordance with §9.19:
| Position | Prize money |
|---|---|
| First (1st) | €200,000,000 |
| Second (2nd) | €190,000,000 |
| Third (3rd) | €180,000,000 |
| Fourth (4th) | €170,000,000 |
| Fifth (5th) | €160,000,000 |
| Sixth (6th) | €150,000,000 |
| Seventh (7th) | €140,000,000 |
| Eighth (8th) | €130,000,000 |
| Ninth (9th) | €120,000,000 |
| Tenth (10th) | €110,000,000 |
| Eleventh (11th) | €105,000,000 |
| Twelfth (12th) | €100,000,000 |
| Thirteenth (13th) | €95,000,000 |
| Fourteenth (14th) | €90,000,000 |
| Fifteenth (15th) | €85,000,000 |
| Sixteenth (16th) | €80,000,000 |
| Seventeenth (17th) | €75,000,000 |
9.21) Prize money for each Grand Prix weekend in accordance with §9.19 is assigned according to the best-finishing car :
| Position | Prize money |
|---|---|
| First (1st)/Pole Position | €2,000,000 |
| Second to Tenth (2nd - 10th) | €1,500,000 - 10th |
| Eleventh to Fifteenth (11th - 15th) | €1,000,000 |
| Sixteenth to Twentieth (16th - 20th) | €500,000 |
| Twenty-first (21st)+/DNF etc. | €0 |
Chassis
10.1) Every team must build a new chassis during the Car Development Phase of a season. A narrative designation for the chassis must be chosen either by the user running the team or the administration.
10.2) The grip value of the chassis is determined by 3 separate factors: the base grip as decided by the aero department, the lead designer and the motor mass.
10.3) The base grip is determined by the sum of RNG rolls for five parts of the chassis. These parts are:
- Front Wing
- Monocoque
- Engine Cover
- Ground Effects
- Rear Wing
The RNG floor of each part is determined by thee number of staffers of the aerodynamic department assigned to it in accordance to §10.4. The RNG range for each part goes from the floor to three-thousand four hundred (3400) grip points.
10.4) One staffer increases the RNG floor of the section by two-hundred (200) grip points. At maximum sixteen (16) staffers can be assigned to any section.
10.5) The method of running the RNG in accordance with §10.3 is affected by the design philosophy, which can be either conservative or aggressive:
- Conservative: three RNG rolls, the median value is used to determine the base grip of the part
- Aggressive: one RNG roll, the value plus twenty-five (25) is used to determine the base grip of the part
10.6) No team can build a new chassis that is more than four (4) places in a base grip ranking below their previous year's Constructors Championship position.
10.7) Should a team build a new chassis that is more than four (4) places in a base grip ranking below their previous year's Constructors Championship position, the car will have additional base grip added as needed to move the team by raw performance into the nearest eligible position. Half of that base grip added will be subtracted during the season after the conclusion of the sixth (6th) race unless doing so would put the chassis below thirteen-thousand (13,000) final grip. The other half will be subtracted from the base grip of the chassis of the following season unless doing so would result in a violation of §10.6.
10.8) The administration or the Team Owner Representation can decide to forgo the reduction of base grip according to §10.7 unless at least four (4) or more users running a team in Alternate Formula One - Hydrogen Era object.
10.9) After the base grip of a car is decided, the grip factor of the lead designer is applied and the weight penalty of the motor is subtracted from the base grip to determine the final grip (rounded down to the next full 10).
10.10) Any car that is below twelve-thousand (12,000) final grip will have sufficient base grip added to reach thirteen-thousand two-hundred-fifty (13,250) final grip after the conclusion of the sixth (6th) race.
Lead Designers
11.1) Lead designers can only be hired during the Lead Designer Market Phase at the start of a season.
11.2) Lead designers contracts can be for a maximum duration of ten (10) seasons and cannot be terminated once signed. The annual wage is not adjusted after the performance modification in accordance with §11.4.
11.4) At the conclusion of every odd-year season, the performance of all lead designers is randomly modified by the administration.
11.5) The contract offer accepted by the lead designer is decided by a RNG with the odds determined by the following table (offer rank is determined by ranking the offers ascendingly according to the following formula: last year's World Constructors Championship position/seasons of the contract offer (tiebreakers are given to the team with the better World Constructors Championship position):
| Rank | 6+ offers | 5 offers | 4 offers | 3 offers | 2 offers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 45 % | 50 % | 55 % | 60 % | 65 % |
| 2 | 25 % | 25 % | 30 % | 30 % | 35 % |
| 3 | 12 % | 12 % | 10 % | 10 % | |
| 4 | 8 % | 8 % | 5 % | ||
| 5 | 6 % | 5 % | |||
| 6+ | 4 % |
Motors
12.1) At least two (2) and at most seven (7) motor manufacturers are always available to sign motor contracts with. The in-character designation for the motors are decided by the administration.
12.2) The motor manufacturers are represented by works teams, which are responsible for agreeing on motor contracts with customer teams. The decision on which teams are works teams is made by the administration.
12.3) Works teams have an infinite motor contract with themselves for a motor price of €0.
12.4) Each team that is not a works team must sign a motor contract with a works team. The motor contract must state the motor price and the duration of the contract in full seasons.
12.5) The maximum motor price is €50,000,000. The maximum contract length of a motor contract is fifteen (15) seasons.
12.6) Motor contracts may also contain clauses that specify additional conditions and privileges. Financial clauses (e.g. bonus payments) are not permitted, except for changing the motor price for future seasons of the contract.
12.7) If the administration considers a clause in accordance unclear, the administration will interpret the clause with the most works team-friendly interpretation possible.
12.8) Should a previously signed contract violate any rules, whether existing or new rules, or a new contract be found to violate these rules, the administration is entitled to change the terms of the contract as it sees fit, but must inform the works team unsolicited.
12.9) Any motor manufacturer may only have up to five (5) active motor contracts at any time. This includes the contract of the works team as defined in §12.3.
12.9) After the eighth (8)-to-last race of the season, thirty (30) percent of the motor price (rounded down to the next full half million) of each customer team that has had a valid contract with the same motor manufacturer in the last two (2) seasons is added to the budget of the works team.
12.10) Every season, the performance of all motors are determined through a development system which begins with the seventh (7th)-to-last race of the season. During that time period, the works teams have their testing team run a testing program testing days between races and 2 more after the conclusion of the final race and have them work on one (1) of three (3) options:
- motor power - the base performance output of the motor
- motor reliability - how likely retirements are
- qualifying mode - how much quicker your motor can go if fuel consumption is raised to the maximum
- motor mass - how the weight of the motor negatively affects cornering speed
12.11) The administration is entitled to increase the base BHP or decrease motor mass of one motor during the season with three (3) races notice once. After the conclusion of the season, all teams not using the altered motor that were ahead of one or multiple teams using the altered motor in the Constructors Championship when the notice of the altered values was given and finished behind those teams will be compensated for the lost prize money.
12.12) If a user is excluded from Alternate Formula One - Hydrogen Era, motor deals of the user's team are voided after the conclusion of the Sponsor Market Phase of the following season.
12.13) Should a new user decide to keep any or all of the information of the team excluded in accordance to §3.10, the new user may unilaterally decide to continue the contract before the conclusion of the driver market.
12.14) If a user running a works team is excluded from Alternate Formula One - Hydrogen Era, any running motor deals are unaffected.
12.15) If a works team is abolished, all running motor deals are voided and all customer teams are reimbursed the difference between the old motor price and the motor price of the contract signed as a replacement for the first (1st) season of the new contract.
Upgrades
13.1) During the season, teams can apply upgrades at any point after the first (1st) race until the second-to-last race.
13.2) Only one (1) upgrade to at most two (2) parts can be applied between any two races.
13.3) The upgrades are applied to any of the five parts of the chassis as defined in §10.3.
13.4) Should a team use upgrades in a manner that improves their car performance to the point where it exceeds the performance levels possible with the game mechanics, the difference between the mathematical performance and the actual performance is compensated financially, with a value agreed on between the administration and the team owner representation.
Drivers
14.1) Each team must employ two (2) racing drivers and may employ up to six (6) sim drivers.
14.2) Both real-life drivers and fictional drivers are permitted.
14.3) The performance of a driver is determined by the administration on basis of previous achievements in Alternate Formula One - Hydrogen Era, any series sharing a fictional universe with Alternate Formula One - Hydrogen Era and real-life performance for real-life drivers.
14.4) To be eligible to be signed as a racing driver in Alternate Formula One - Hydrogen Era, a driver must be over the age of seventeen (17) and be under the age of forty-eight (48) at the start of the calendar year of the season the driver is hired for and
- have either competed in seventy (70) percent of a full season or fourteen (14) races, whichever number is lower, in one (1) of the last three (3) simulated seasons of Alternate Formula One - Hydrogen Era or
- have finished in the top five (5) of a race in one (1) of the last four (4) simulated seasons of Alternate Formula One - Hydrogen Era or
- have been employed as a sim driver in at least two (2) of the last four (4) previous simulated season of Alternate Formula One - Hydrogen Era or
- have finished in the top five (5) in one (1) of the last three (3) simulated seasons of the FIA Formula 2 World Championship, the FIA Formula 3 Americas Championship, the FIA Formula 3 Asian Championship, the FIA Formula 3 European Championship or the ARWS or
- have won the championship in one (1) of the last three (3) simulated seasons of any series sharing a fictional universe with Alternate Formula One - Hydrogen Era from 2018 onwards or
- have finished in the top five (5) in one (1) of the last two (2) completed seasons of the real-life FIA Formula 2 Championship, the FIA Formula 3 Championship, the IndyCar Series or the Super Formula Championship or
- have won the overall championship in one (1) of the last two (2) seasons of any other real-life open-wheel, GT, motorcycle, prototype or stock car series based on the real-life starting date of the Driver Market Phase or
- have a contract as racing driver with a Formula 1, F1 Academy or Formula E team in real-life based on the real-life starting date of the Driver Market Phase or
- be active as a free practice tester as defined in §16.3
14.5) To be eligible to be signed as a sim driver in Alternate Formula One - Hydrogen Era, a driver must either be eligible to be signed as a racing driver in Alternate Formula One - Hydrogen Era according to §14.4 or be over the age of sixteen (16) and be under the age of twenty-five (25) at the start of the calendar year of the season the driver is hired for.
14.6) The administration is entitled to declare fictional drivers eligible despite not meeting any of these conditions if the Driver Market Phase falls in a period where a series sharing a fictional universe with Alternate Formula One - Hydrogen Era has not concluded a season yet and it can be considered possible that the driver in question may have fulfilled the requirements by the conclusion of that season.
14.7) If the driver is declared eligible in accordance with §14.6 fails to achieve the requirements to be declared eligible, their eligibility is not revoked.
14.8) The driver and team numbers are decided by the administration ahead of the season.
14.9) Active Alternate Formula One - Hydrogen Era drivers can freely participate in other series as well. For fictional drivers, it is the responsibility of the user running the team of the fictional driver to avoid schedule conflicts.
14.10) Any time paradoxes resulting as a consequence of double-dutying will be punished by having the fictional driver banned from Alternate Formula One - Hydrogen Era for five (5) seasons and any other DECs (in case of fictional drivers) by said user being banned for the rest of the currently running season.
14.11) For real-life drivers, it is the responsibility of the administration to avoid any time paradoxes.
14.12) Before the fourth (4th)-to-last race of the current Alternate Formula One - Hydrogen Era season, all real-life racing drivers over the age of thirty-seven (37) in the final year of their contract will be subject to a retirement RNG. The RNG values will be determined by the administration based on the real-life public persona of the driver as well as their current position in the World Drivers Championship.
14.13) Any RNG result in accordance to §14.12 is final, unless there is reasonable doubt about the quality of the RNG values and six (6) or more users running a team in Alternate Formula One - Hydrogen Era request a reroll.
14.14) A real-life driver that is rolled to retire is not eligible to be signed as a racing driver in Alternate Formula One - Hydrogen Era for the next three (3) seasons.
Driver Contracts
15.1) Drivers can be signed during the Driver Market Phase as well as at any point during the season until after the conclusion of the last race of the season, except during a race. Both real-life and fictional drivers can be hired. Fictional drivers must be given a nationality and a birthdate before signing a contract.
15.2) No driver can be hired while the position they are to be hired for is still occupied by another driver.
15.3) There is no limit to the amounts of offers a team can make to free agents.
15.4) A contract offer must specify the role of the driver, the contract duration, the driver's wage and state additional clauses.
15.5) Contract duration must be stated in a number of seasons. The minimum contract length is one (1) year, the maximum contract length is six (6) seasons (including any driver or team options).
15.6) Any contract offer during the season counts the current season as one (1) seasons, regardless of how many races are left in the season.
15.7) Racing driver contracts may not be prematurely extended.
15.8) The driver’s wages are separately agreed on for every year of a multi-year contract.
15.9) The minimum wage for a racing driver who has started a race in Alternate Formula One - Hydrogen Era is €4,000,000. Racing drivers who have won Alternate Formula One - Hydrogen Era races in the past are entitled to a minimum wage of €6,000,000 upon signing a new contract.
15.10) The minimum wage for a sim driver is €2,000,000.
15.11) Clauses specify additional conditions and privileges of the contract sides not covered in other parts of the contract.
15.12) Financial bonuses depending on a driver’s performance are not permitted except for those defined in §15.15. The bonuses defined in §15.15 are paid out as long as the driver in question started one race in the respective season.
15.13) If the administration considers a clause unclear, the administration will interpret the clause with the most team-friendly interpretation possible.
15.14) If a racing driver has not started a race in Alternate Formula One - Hydrogen Era in one (1) of the last eight (8) seasons, any offer contract offer must be an entry-level contract with a wage of €1,000,000 and a contract duration of two (2) seasons.
15.15) Should a team improve its position in the World Constructors Championship in comparison to the season before the racing driver was signed to an entry-level contract in accordance with §15.14, the driver is paid out a bonus of €1,000,000. Should a team improve its position in the World Constructors Championship in the second season of the entry-level contract, the driver is paid out a bonus of €2,000,000.
15.16) After the second season of the entry-level contract, a team may offer the driver a one-year contract with the minimum wage as defined in §15.9 and §15.10 ahead of the Driver Market Phase of the following season. If it does so, the team may match any accepted contract offer in the Driver Market Phase to retain the services of the driver. A contract offer is considered matched if it has the same total wage, a contract duration equal or shorter than the original offer and the same clauses in accordance with §15.11, unless the team owner representation declares the clause too team-specific to be matched.
15.17) If a team fails to offer the one-year contract in accordance with §15.16 and the driver accepts no other offer, the team may offer the driver a one-year contract with the minimum wage as defined in §15.9 and §15.10 ahead of the Driver Market Phase of the season thereafter. If it does so, the team may match any accepted contract offer in the Driver Market Phase to retain the services of the driver.
15.18) A driver under contract as a sim driver can be assigned as a racing driver if a position as a racing driver is not occupied, if the driver is eligible to be signed as a racing driver in accordance with §13.4.
15.19) Each team is limited to using four (4) racing drivers throughout the season unless force majeure forces a team to hire more drivers.
15.20) For real-life drivers, a RNG will determine whether they sign the contract unless it is a contract offered in accordance with §15.16 or §15.17, which is automatically accepted after the conclusion of the Driver Market Phase if no other contract offer is accepted by the real-life driver. The RNG values will be determined by the administration based on the real-life public persona if the driver and their previous business agreements in Alternate Formula One - Hydrogen Era.
15.21) Any RNG result in accordance to §15.20 is final, unless there is reasonable doubt about the quality of the RNG values and six (6) or more users running a team in Alternate Formula One - Hydrogen Era request a reroll.
15.22) During the Driver Market Phase, any team looking to re-sign a driver that was under contract with the team in the previous season can request the administration to assess the offer from the point of view of the real-life driver and offer advice to improve their RNG odds.
15.23) For fictional drivers, the respective DEC holder determines whether a contract offer is accepted unless it is a contract offered in accordance with §15.16 or §15.17, which is automatically accepted after the conclusion of the Driver Market Phase if no other contract offer is accepted by the DEC holder.
15.24) Should a fictional driver that has either contemporary narrative importance to Alternate Formula One - Hydrogen Era or achieved exceptional results in other series have its DEC abandoned, the administration can accept a contract in place of the DEC holder.
15.25) Fictional drivers signed in accordance to §15.24 may only sign one (1)-year contracts without any option seasons. Should the DEC holder return, they can choose to unilaterally void the contract.
15.26) Should a previously signed contract violate any rules or a new contract be found to violate these rules, the administration is entitled to change the contract as it sees fit.
15.27) The administration can modify contracts and contract offers with fictional drivers if it considers the contract either unfairly advantageous to the team hiring the driver or egregiously inconsistent with the actions of the character in previous appearances, but has to inform the respective DEC holder of the decision and explain their reasoning unsolicited.
15.28) A driver can be terminated or demoted to sim driver before the start of any race.
15.29) Any driver terminated or demoted to sim driver must be paid a compensation, which equals the lump sum of the wages a driver in future seasons (driver option seasons included) and all possible bonus payments in accordance to §15.14.
15.30) The compensation according to §15.29 can be voided for a real-life driver if the driver has scored less than fifteen (15) percent of the points of their teammate after nine (9) races after the start of their contract if said teammate has scored at least twenty (20) points.
15.31) The compensation according to §15.29 can be voided for a fictional driver if the DEC holder of a fictional driver has made roleplaying comments that can be interpreted as a desire to leave the team, interpreted as a desire to become a sim driver or interpreted as offensive to the team as decided by the administration.
15.32) If a user running a team is excluded from Alternate Formula One - Hydrogen Era, any running real-life driver contracts are unaffected, but any driver options are automatically declined. If an initial offer is made to a Restricted Free Agent according to §15.15, that offer is automatically accepted.
15.33) If a user running a team is excluded from Alternate Formula One - Hydrogen Era, any running fictional driver contracts are terminated. Any compensation according to §15.29 is voided.
15.34) After the conclusion of the Driver Market Phase, racing drivers who were under contract with the same team in the previous season and who are determined by the administration to be discontent with their current contract based on either their real-life public persona or on the results in Alternate Formula One - Hydrogen Era will be subject to a contract holdout RNG, after which they will refuse to participate in any race until their demand for a wage increase is met.
15.35) Any RNG result in accordance to §15.34 is final, unless there is reasonable doubt about the quality of the RNG values and six (6) or more users running a team in Alternate Formula One - Hydrogen Era request a reroll.
15.36) If a racing driver performs a contract holdout in accordance to §15.32 and is terminated, the compensation according to §15.29 can be voided. Any racing driver signed as a replacement must be offered identical contract conditions.
15.37) The conditions required according to §16.34 supersede the entry-level contract rules according to §15.14 and removes the rights defined in §15.15.
15.38) If the administration determines that a significant number of drivers would be found discontent in accordance with §15.34, it instead can once at any point within a period of thirty-six (36) in-character months roll an RNG about whether all drivers refuse to participate in any race.
15.39) Any RNG result in accordance to §15.38 is final.
15.40) If all drivers refuse to participate in any race in accordance with §15.37, the team owner representation must decide whether to agree the demands of the drivers or refuse them.
15.41) If the team owner representation agrees, the refusal of all drivers to participate in any race ends immediately.
15.42) If the team owner representation refuses to agree to the demand, the next race is cancelled and the end-of-season prize money pool is reduced by €10,000,000 for each position from first (1st) to sixth (6th). After each cancelled race, an additional RNG is run on whether the refusal of all drivers to participate in any race continues or ends.
Replacement Drivers
16.1) Should a racing driver be unable to compete due to contract holdouts, injuries or race bans, the user running the team must decide a replacement driver that is eligible to be signed as a racing driver in accordance with §14.4.
16.2) Any replacement driver signed to replace a driver that is unavailable to compete due to injury or bans will not be paid any wage.
16.3) A team that is in the minus during the season may additionally hire a free practice tester for four (4) races. That driver will be assigned to the team by the administration and will provide a lump sum of €5,000,000 and increase the random grip range of the active driver that is lower in the championship standings by two-hundred fifty (250) points.
16.4) If one of the racing drivers of the team that hired the free practice tester is unavailable to compete due to injury or bans, the free practice tester must be used as replacement.
16.5) A racing driver cannot be replaced if all drivers refuse to participate in any race in accordance to §15.38.
Sponsors and Manufacturer Support
17.1) Every team that is not a works team may pick a technical partner at the start of every season, which will pay out €60,000,000 for teams finishing in tenth (10th) or lower in last year's World Constructors Championship, €40,000,000 for teams finishing between fifth (5th) and ninth (9th) in last year's World Constructors Championship as well as any new teams and €20,000,000 for teams finishing in P1 to P4 in last year's World Constructors Championship and provide further benefits as decided by the administration.
17.2) Every team that is not a works team may pick a title sponsor at the start of every season, which will pay out €15,000,000 if it either hires a racing driver or four sim drivers with the nationality of a nation within a target region as defined by the administration. In the case of dual nationalities and other points needing clarification, the administration will decide in which region a specific driver belongs as it sees fit.
17.3) Priority in selecting sponsors is given in following order:
- teams selecting sponsors they selected in the previous season
- new users entering the game
- reversed championship order of the previous season.
17.4) The sim drivers hired in accordance with §17.2 must remain employed for all races of the season. The racing driver hired in accordance with §17.2 can be terminated or demoted to sim driver, but must be replaced a driver with the nationality of a nation from the target region.
17.5) Should any of the sim drivers hired in accordance with §17.2 be eligible to be signed as a racing driver in accordance with §14.4, they must be used as replacement drivers for racing drivers unable to compete due to contract holdouts, injuries or race bans unless schedule conflicts prevent this.
17.5) Should a racing driver hired in accordance with §17.2 be unable to compete due to injuries or race bans, the replacement driver must not have the nationality of a nation from the target region.
17.6) Works teams that finished fifth (5th) or lower in last year's World Constructors Championship and has one (1) or zero (0) drivers employed as racing drivers may request manufacturer support during the Sponsor Market Phase. Manufacturer support is a one-time payment of €70,000,000.
17.7) If a works team has chosen to request manufacturer support, it may not make any offers to drivers during the Driver Market Phase.
17.8) After the conclusion of the Driver Market Phase the administration will instruct the works team to offer a three-year contract with an annual wage of €12,500,000 and no additional clauses to a specific driver.
17.9) The driver hired in accordance with §17.8 cannot be terminated or demoted to sim driver for the duration of his contract.
17.10) No works team may employ more than one driver in accordance with §17.8 at any time.