Postby JoKeR1980 » March 10th, 2010, 1:09 pm
The big rule change for the 2010 is the ban on in-race refuelling. How will that impact the season? In lots and lots of ways. For drivers and teams, a fine-lined balancing act is being demanded...
Extra Quick Pit-Stops
Pit stops will still occur because every driver will have to use both dry-weather tyre compounds during a Grand Prix. However, with refuelling no longer permitted, the stops will be blink-of-the-eye pauses in 2010. The cars are likely to be stationary for just a couple of seconds and so every tenth will count - which is why Ferrari's attention to detail has even focused in on the miniscule matter of testing different types of wheel nuts...
The Weighty Issue Of Fuel Efficiency
Whilst all the teams will have to start with enough fuel to finish the race, that doesn't mean that each car will be carrying the same amount of fuel. The fuel efficiency of each engine will be the determining factor in the actual amount of petrol on board and thus how heavy the car is. And, of course, the heavier a car, the more petrol it requires...
The spectre of that nightmare catch-22 will be causing plenty of sleepless nights ahead of the season and a number of races may be run before the comparative levels of efficiency are revealed. More than most, Ferrari will be anxiously awaiting the reading - they've been dogged all winter by persistent rumours that their engine is a guzzler...
Consistency Over Speed
Identifying the fastest car over a single lap could be the red herring of the season because it's the car that achieves the greatest consistency whilst running light and heavy that will win the day. It's not quite a retelling of the tortoise and the hare but there's a perverse possibility that the fastest car of all will, over the course of an entire grand prix, prove to be one of the slowest. Outpacing the rest of the field by a couple of tenths will count for nothing if a slight superiority in sheer speed is achieved at the expense of competitiveness over long runs. And, of course, there's far more time to be won and lost over long runs than there is over short stints.
But how to strike the right balance? The impossibility of attaining perfection is one of the great fascinations of the 2010 season. Every team will know that a trade-off is required between consistency and pace but who can know what the optimum balance is? On the one hand, the teams will want their cars (and drivers) to be quick and hard on their tyres on Saturday afternoon. Twenty-four hours later, with no set-up changes permitted in between and the top-ten qualifiers denied the luxury of changing their tyres, the demand will be for consistency and tyre preservation. Good luck staying upright on that fine line...
Less Discrepancy From Track To Track
And if it is the case that the teams have prioritised consistency rather than outright pace when building their 2010 chargers, it stands to reason that we'll see less fluctuations in form through the season depending on a circuit's characteristics and relative speed.
Better Safe Than Sorry Driving
For the teams, fuel efficiency will be the season's ongoing concern. For the drivers, it will be tyre management. Those drivers who are gentle on their rubber will reap a considerable benefit towards the end of their stint, whilst those who are hard on their tyres - or, worse still, wreck their rubber with a lock-up or excess - will be sitting ducks.
But even if none of the drivers will be racing at 100% on every lap in order to save their tyres, they will all have the nagging doubt in the back of their mind - and maybe in their ear via the car-to-pit radio - that they are being overly-cautious and losing ground...
Adjusting The Technical Jargon
For 2009's 'double diffuser', read 'an adjustable front wing' in 2010. The device - and its use - will be a critical force in determining the overall pecking order. In non-technical speak, it will be a driver's best friend during races. When the boffins are speaking technically, expect to hear how the device 'trims' a car as its fuel load diminishes and serves to protect the tyres.
The drivers who master the art will gain a substantial advantage over the rest and it was perhaps a telling indication of the difference the device can make that McLaren leapt to the top of the timesheets on the final day of Barcelona testing only after introducing it. "We didn't have an adjustable front wing for most of the winter so it's been quite difficult doing long runs, because the way the cars now work with the high fuel you really are adjusting the front wing a lot," commented Jenson Button. "So having the wing at the last test was great, you're really playing with that a lot as the fuel load comes down - and through the stint you're doing the same. So that is key - the reliability of the wing is important."
Friday Splits
To repeat: every car must use two different tyre compounds during a race. In preparation, teams are likely to split into two on Friday with one driver doing long-run donkeys while the other focuses on setting up the car for a different range of fuel loads. How long, though, before the split is a source of discord and accusations of preferential treatment?
Varied Lap Times
Whilst winter testing only offered a few hints as to the pecking order going into the new season, it did confirm that the difference in lap times between those set at the start of a race and those towards the end of a stint could be as much as five seconds - a lifetime by F1's regular standards.
Slow Opening Laps And Longer GPs
Nor will it only be slow going at the start of races compared to the times set later on in the grand prix. With their tanks full to the brim, the cars will be approximately 100kg heavier than in 2009 and a substantial number of laps will have to be run before the times set match those of yester year. The overall upshot will be longer races.
Strange Strategies Made On The Cuff
To quote the reigning World Champion: "I think the top teams will have similar strategies but I think you're going to have teams trying to stop two or three laps before their rivals for new tyres and maybe bump them. You'll also have the teams that maybe aren't so competitive trying crazy strategies like pitting after lap one and putting on a new set of tyres to run to the end of the race. So there'll be lots of different strategies, which will make it exciting for the viewers. But for us the problem is that it's very difficult to know what the strategy is. You can't plan in advance really - all you can do is go through every scenario and hope that you're ready when you have to jump on a strategy change."
Longer Than Long Runs
Long distance runners will be even truer to their description than before: Previously rarely-seen stints of 40 to 50 laps are expected to become regular forays this season, if not the norm.
More Off-Track Action...
Whilst the onus will be on the drivers to protect and save their tyres, it's inevitable that mistakes will occur - the point, after all, is to race as fast as possible - and tyres will lose their grip long before they are due a change. When that happens, expect to see cars running wide and, sometimes, into the gravel.
And More On-Track Action...
Some cars will be on tired tyres, some cars will have pitted earlier for fresh rubber, some drivers will have saved their tyres, some will have overcooked theirs. Outcome: Plenty of overtaking. Hopefully.
