Shaking up the F1 grid

If pre-season testing is anything to go by, the new Formula 1 rules for 2014 look like providing a shake up of the previous order, at least initially.

The best outfits usually remain at or near the top, but major upheavals do provide the opportunity to break the dominance of a team, shifting the pendulum to a new position.

But how often does that actually happen? We decided to look at the impact of 10 of the most significant rules revisions in world championship history to find out.

Backwards to go forwards - 1952

Alfa Romeo had dominated the first Formula 1 regulations - for 1500cc supercharged and 4.5-litre non-supercharged engines - with its powerful 158/159.

That was until Ferrari's less thirsty 375 model started matching it in 1951, narrowly missing out on denying Alfa's Juan Manuel Fangio the drivers' title.

With Alfa then announcing its withdrawal and BRM still struggling with its complex V16, there was a chance F1 would become all about Ferrari, so the world championship was changed to F2 regulations for 1952-1953.

The result? Thanks to the 500 model, it was all about Ferrari. The Scuderia was beaten only once in the two seasons of world championship F2 competition.

Verdict: NO CHANGE

Grand Prix racing returns to F1 - 1954

New F1 engine regulations came into force for 1954, with 2.5-litre normally aspirated cars becoming the norm.

Ferrari completely lost its previous advantage, struggling to keep up with Maserati's new 250F, and being blitzed by both the Mercedes-Benz W196 and Lancia D50, when the latter finally appeared.

Indeed, Ferrari wouldn't take the title again until it had inherited the D50 from a financially failing Lancia and Mercedes had withdrawn from the sport at the end of 1955.

Verdict: CHANGE

F1's smallest engines - 1961

Not for the first time, concern over increasing speed led to rule changes and F1 became a 1500cc unsupercharged formula for 1961.

The British-based teams, which had finally moved to the forefront during the rear-engined revolution, didn't want the change and railed against it.

In the meantime, Ferrari produced the fine 156 'Sharknose' and dominated 1961. Only two of Stirling Moss's greatest drives, at Monaco and the Nurburgring, prevented a complete rout.

Nevertheless, it wasn't long before the likes of Lotus and BRM had demoted the Italian squad once more.

Verdict: CHANGE

The return to power - 1966

Coventry-Climax, which supplied the engines for most of the British F1 squads, announced it was pulling out of the sport for 1966.

That left many teams, including 1965 champions Lotus and Jim Clark, searching for suitable suppliers as the new three-litre non-supercharged (and 1500cc supercharged) regulations arrived.

Ferrari produced arguably the fastest car in the 312 and John Surtees would probably have taken the title had he not fallen out with team manager Eugenio Dragoni and walked out.

The pragmatic Jack Brabham thus picked up the pieces with his eponymous Repco-powered squad. The team then made it two on the bounce with Denny Hulme as Lotus struggled to make its new gamechanger, the DFV-powered 49, reliable.

VERDICT: CHANGE

Bottoms go flat - 1983

Amid the FOCA-FISA war and after the serious accidents suffered by Gilles Villeneuve, Riccardo Paletti and Didier Pironi, F1 experienced arguably its first major set of aerodynamic rules changes for 1983.

Late in the day, flat bottoms were mandated and skirts banned, along with various other chassis tweaks.

Nevertheless, Ferrari retained its constructors' crown and Brabham's Nelson Piquet, the 1981 world champion who would have been higher up in 1982 had he not been pushing BMW's turbo programme forward, took his second crown.

The biggest change of the era, the rise of McLaren from 1984, was more about the team finally bringing the right ingredients together, chiefly designer John Barnard, TAG-Porsche turbo engines, and a Niki Lauda/Alain Prost driver line-up.

Verdict: NO CHANGE

End of F1's first turbo era - 1989

Turbocharged engines were outlawed for 1989, replaced instead by 3.5-litre normally aspirated units.

McLaren-Honda had dominated in 1988 and did so in 1989, albeit in a slightly less emphatic fashion, winning 'only' 10 races instead of 15.

Honda went from providing F1's most efficient engine to arguably its most powerful, allowing Prost and Ayrton Senna to continue their ever more acrimonious intra-team duel.

Ferrari soon challenged and Williams-Renault would finally topple the McLaren steamroller, but the engine change hardly knocked the Anglo-Japanese operation off its stride.

Verdict: NO CHANGE

Banning of the gizmos - 1994

Williams had led the way on the development of traction control and active suspension, so it made sense the double title-winning squad of 1993 would be affected the most when many of the electronic gizmos were banned for 1994.

Not only did Williams lose an area of its advantage, the FW16 proved tricky to drive and set up as a passive car, even with Ayrton Senna at the wheel.

Benetton's Michael Schumacher stepped up to win his first championship, albeit surrounded by controversy concerning the alleged use of traction control and the tragedy of Senna's death, though Williams narrowly held on to the constructors' crown.

Further changes, including a reduction of engine size to 3000cc, were introduced for 1995. Schumacher again took the title, but Williams would fight back the following season.

Verdict: CHANGE

Narrow cars and grooved tyres - 1998

In another bid to slow things down, grooved tyres and narrower cars were mandated for 1998.

Along with other developments, including 1997 pacesetter Williams losing its works Renault engine deal, this helped change the competitive order.

McLaren had shown pace but struggled for reliability in 1997, but moved back to the front with Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard the following season.

Ferrari narrowly missed out on both titles again, but this time it was to the rejuvenated McLaren-Mercedes squad rather than Williams.

Verdict: CHANGE

Two cylinders go AWOL - 2006

With the three-litre V10s heading ever closer to the 1000bhp mark, it was perhaps inevitable something would be done.

The loss of two cylinders and 600cc was F1's answer, and tyre stops were re-introduced after being banned in 2005.

Renault and Fernando Alonso successfully defended their titles, though McLaren - arguably producer of the quickest car of 2005 - slipped behind Ferrari and failed to win a race.

Alonso then left for McLaren, which fought Ferrari for the 2007 crown as Renault fell back.

Verdict: NO CHANGE

Weird-looking wings - 2009

In one of the more dramatic visual changes in F1, wider front wings, narrower rear wings and a return to slick tyres arrived in 2009.

There was also a big reduction in the small and numerous aerodynamic flicks and appendages that had spread during the proceeding decade.

Ferrari and McLaren, which had dominated in 2008, were jumped by both Red Bull and Brawn (formerly Honda), the latter partly thanks to the controversial double diffuser.

It was Adrian Newey's RB5, however, that set the benchmark under the regulations, laying the foundations for Red Bull's 2010-2013 title streak.

Verdict: CHANGE

Out now in stores and online, this week's AUTOSPORT magazine is the definitive 2014 Formula 1 season guide, featuring everything you need to know about the new technical rules and every driver and team on the grid