The Winds of Change Blow Over Formula One
March 21, 2009 by Warren Hayashi
Filed under Racing
The winds of change will be blowing over the 2009 Formula One season when the cars pull up to the start line of the first race the Australian Grand Prix at Melbourne. This year the FIA has made alterations to the Sporting Regulations in order to increase the reliability of the cars and decrease the inherent costs involved in Formula One racing for the teams and sponsors. In addition, they are changing the Technical Regulations to try to decrease the role aerodynamics plays in a cars’ performance, make it easier to pass during a race, and to get a handle on the lap times.
The changes will mean that after ten years driving on grooved tires, Formula One will be using slicks in 2009; with no grooves the performance gains will be noticeable for both the drivers and the fans in the straight parts of the track. The corners will be a little different, however, since the revised aerodynamic regulations implemented will mean the down-force in the corners will be significantly reduced, which will definitely decrease the cars performance when traveling through the corners.
The winds of change are coming through
Teams will also have the option of employing a Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) to recover kinetic energy generated when the car brakes, store it, and then make it available to the driver in quantum amounts per lap using a “boost button” located on the steering wheel.
The FIA wants to increase reliability even more, so they are putting in limits on the revs, from 19,000 to 18,000 rpm; limiting drivers to 8 engines for the F1 season; implementing new dimensional regulations to reduce the cars aerodynamic performance, and hopefully increase a drivers’ ability to pass during the race. Teams and drivers won’t be allowed to test during the F1 season from the week before the first race until December 31 and 15,000 kilometers will be the maximum limit for testing. The pit lane will stay open during safety-car periods, so drivers will have the option of refueling during this time without being penalized and if two drivers are tied in wins at the end of the season, the championship will be awarded to the driver and team with the most race points.
March 26th, well get to see just what effect these changes really have when the drivers take the track in Melbourne, it should be interesting, and informative.
See you there!
Image: Newscom.com
