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• Where can I buy FORMULA DÉ ?
• What's different between the 3 editions available to date?

Q&A - GAME RULES

• [General] Is it required to stop in between the corners ?
• [General] Trajectories: the "do and don't" or what is an illegal move ?
• [Handling] When is a road-handling hazard created?
• [Handling] I drive "over" a dangerous space and stops 3 spaces later. I roll a 2 (oops!), therefore I loose a handling wear point. Does the space where I stopped becomes a dangerous space as well ?
• [Pit Row] What happens if I overshoot the last corner before the pit lane?
• [Pit Row] When a car is entering Pit Row and enters either one of the two
  double-arrow spaces that are adjacent to its assigned pit, must the car
  have an additional space of movement to move from the double-arrow space
  to the pit area or is this transfer automatic?
• [Pit Row] Does a player have to announce his intention of going or not to the pit lane before he throws the dice?
• [Pit Stop] If a player reaches his pit with a 20 or 30, does he check the weather before or after he chooses his new kind of tires?
• [Slipstream] Can I slipstream the car in front of me if we're both in 4th gear ?
• [Slipstream] What happens when a slipstream helps me getting into a corner?
• [Tires] What's the advantage of using hard tires?
• [Wear points] Why do all the drivers in 5th or 6th gear have to roll a dice to test their engine when someone rolls a 20 or a 30?
• [Wear points] Crossing out the last point of "Brake" or "Gas" is ok, but if I cross out my last "Body" or "Engine", I'm out of race. Why is that?
• [Weather] When exactly does a 'Weather Change' roll happen?
• [Weather] What happens when the weather changes from "rain" to "changeable"?

Where can I buy FORMULA DÉ?

Formula De is now out of print.
FORMULA DÉ was distributed in the following countries: France, Germany, England, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland, Canada and recently, United States...

What's different between the 3 editions available to date?

1ST EDITION (released in April 97) : Initial release from Descartes / Eurogames.
characteristics:

• On the box cover, the driver's helmet is plain black
• English Edition - a few translation errors make some rules confusing (e.g. slipstreaming - read the related FAQ)

2nd EDITION (released in Oct. 97)
Modifications:

• top of the box: a black & white checker flag surrounds the central picture
• top of the box: driver's helmet is now blue with stars
• Jack now appears on the bottom of the box, throwing the 6 dice.
• English edition: translation errors have been fixed in both basic and advanced rules.

3rd EDITION (released in April 98)
Modifications :

• The back of the box has been completely redesigned, to match the product line of Jeux Descartes.
• Game presentation has been rewritten on the back of the box.
• Publisher's web site address is now mentioned on the box.
• New illustration for the Monaco race track. (layout didn't change)

No. The English rules (first printing edition) are misleading. The only required stops are inside the corners. The number of stops is indicated in the yellow flag posted at the entrance of each corner.
If you can manage to "jump" from corner to corner without making any stop in the "straights", you're probably on your way to win the race!

When is a road-handling hazard created?

In only 3 cases:

• When someone looses a "Body" point.
• When someone looses an "Engine" point.
• When someone is eliminated from the race because the car is blocked and cannot brake enough. in this case, the car in front of the "kamikaze" automatically looses a "Body" point.

What happens if I overshoot the last corner before the pit lane?

Whenever someone overshoots a corner, he or she has to go straight while overshooting. This is always true. You cannot swerve, change lane, slipstream, or even enter the pit lane when overshooting.

When a car is entering the pit lane and reaches either one of the two double-arrow colored spaces that are adjacent to its assigned pit, must the car move an additional space to make a "pit stop", or is this transfer automatic?

No, the transfer is not automatic. The car must ENTER the pit, off of the pit lane. In other words, other cars must be able to go through the entire pit lane during your pit stop.

When you come out of your pit, you start counting "1" on EITHER one of the two "double-arrow" spaces adjacent to the pit.

Can I slipstream the car in front of me if we're both in 4th gear ?

YES. This is one of the confusing rules, introduced during the English translation of the game.

The *correct* rule is:

A car can only benefit from a slipstream if it is in the same or higher gear as the car in front of it. Both cars must be in 4th gear, at least.

In other words, simply replace "cannot" with "can only" in your printed rules!

The following table tells you when slipstreaming is allowed, and when it's not. (Car B is coming from behind car A, just like in the graphic on page 2 of the advanced rules)

		Car A is in gear #
		1,2,3	4	5	6
Car B is in gear #	1,2,3	NO	NO	NO	NO
	4	NO	YES	NO	NO
	5	NO	YES	YES	NO
	6	NO	YES	YES	YES

What happens when a slipstream helps me getting into a corner?

Again, the English rules are quite misleading... Here's what you *really* need to know about this situation:

• The rule says "In order to benefit from slipstreaming, car B must end its normal movement on the space just behind car A.". If you use soft tire, you can use your movement bonus (+1) either BEFORE or AFTER the slipstreaming. If you slipstream more than one car, this bonus can be used any time in between the cars on the track, but can be used only once!
• The rule says "If a driver is carried into a corner by his slipstreaming bonus, he is not considered to have made a corner stop". This is wrong. the stop COUNTS. (that's the whole point of spending a BREAK point for "late breaking"!)

What's the advantage of using hard tires?

When using hard tires, you will not double the penalties if you overshoot a corner, as opposed to soft tires. Also, you can keep the same "set" of hard tires for more than one lap without additional penalties.
Therefore, if you save your car enough during the first or second lap, you can plan on not making a pit stop to gain positions.
This can be a good strategy which is hardly possible to consider if you use soft tires... except for kamikaze drivers!!
(soft tires "lose" their +1 bonus if you don't make a pit stop to "renew" them)

Why do all the drivers in 5th or 6th gear have to roll a dice to test their engine when someone rolls a 20 or a 30?

Because that's the rule. :-)
The idea behind this rule is that in Formula 1, you can randomly explode your engine, with no apparent reason. This is to test how reliable engines are, affecting all drivers considered "at high speed" whenever someone "pushes his engine to the limit" by throwing a 20 in 5th or a 30 in 6th gear.
Note: Some leagues have modified this rule so that *only* the driver who got the 20 or 30 tests the reliability of his engine. It's up to you!

Crossing out the last point of "Brake" or "Gas" is ok, but if I cross out my last "Body" or "Engine", I'm out of race. Why is that?

There are 3 categories of points on your "dash board"

• Vital Points : Body, Engine, Handling (right side of the sheet)
  • These points are considered as "vital". Your car need at least one for you to be able to drive it. If you cross out the last point in any of these categories, your car is eliminated. If the reason for retirement is Body or Engine, a hazard is created where you ended your last move. If elimination occurs because of handling, no additional hazard is created on the track.

• Major points: Brake & Gas (left side of the sheet)
  • These 2 categories a "less" important. You can continue to drive your car even when you're out of Brake or Gas points. Of course, you won't be able to brake if needed, nor downshift more than one gear at a time... Be ready to drive slowly!

• Tires:
  • Tires is a special category : if you cross out the last one, you spin! Next turn, you'll play in 1st gear and won't be able to overshoot any corner until you pit and change your tires.
    If you cannot complete your move because you're out of tires (and out of brake too!), trouble : you're eliminated from the race.
    Notes: No hazard is created unless the car is blocked "on" the track by other cars. In this particular case, not only a hazard is created on the far most space where the car can move, but the car just in front automatically looses a point of Body... major crash!

When exactly does a 'Weather Change' roll happen?

The weather condition can change during a race when:

1. The race started under "Variable" conditions.
2. Someone throws a 20 in 5th or a 30 in 6th gear.

Note: both conditions need to be fulfilled. If a race starts under the "Sun" or the "Rain", the initial weather remains for all the race.

Proceeding order:

1. The driver who threw the 20 or 30 moves his car first.
2. If there is a contact with another car, concerned players throw a "Body" roll
3. If the player who moved is now in his pit, he decides on his kind of tire.
4. All drivers in 5th or 6th gear throw an "Engine" roll
5. The driver who threw the 20 or 30 now throws a "Weather" roll.
6. Next player can enjoy (or not) the new weather and play.