Historic Formula One Championship

Regulations

The championship was divided into four classes based on each vehicle's age and technical specification. The HFO Competition featured classic Grand Prix racing cars from the 20-year period between 1966 and 1985, a time of design innovations and regulatory changes that created significant performance differences and a wide speed gap between earlier cars like the Tyrrell 001 and later machines such as the Tyrrell 012 and Brabham BT49. Drivers earned points within their specific car class, and all had the opportunity to claim the overall FIA trophy at the end of the season.

Effectively, four competitions ran concurrently within every race, each awarding points to a driver based on their finishing position in that class and the number of competing cars in that class. An additional point was given to drivers who achieved the fastest lap in each class during the race. The champion was the driver who accumulated the highest total points, regardless of class, and a driver could switch classes during the season. Besides the overall champion, awards were also given to drivers with the highest points in each class, excluding the overall champion: the Historic Formula One Historic Cup for Class A, the Historic Formula One Classic Cup for Class B, the Historic Formula One Cup for Class C, and the Historic Formula One Sporting Cup for Class D. These were all FIA awards presented at an official FIA Historic Awards event.

HFO also presented its own awards at a less formal and usually more boisterous event: the Chairman's Trophy, introduced in 2009 by Tony Smith, awarded to the competitor who best exhibited the 'Spirit of the Championship'; the Geoff Richardson Trophy, provided by an engine builder, for the best newcomer; the Nicholson McLaren Trophy, provided by another engine builder, for the 'best' team; and the Ensign Trophy, provided by former HFO CEO Mike Wheatley, an Ensign fan who had raced an example successfully in HFO, awarded to the winner of Class B.